Cbeyond brings dark fiber access to SMBs in six Tier 1 markets

Cbeyond, a competitive telco that's in the process of being purchased by Birch Communications, is extending dark fiber to small to medium businesses that reside in large, multi-tenant buildings.

The CLEC will focus on six markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

This dark fiber service builds on the TotalNetwork fiber-based service it launched in 2012. Later in 2013, the service provider extended its Ethernet footprint to more than 190,000 multi-tenant units (MTUs) in the United States.

Customers will now be able to get access to the dark fiber facilities that are already on its network (on-net) or are in close proximity to its fiber rings. Leveraging Zayo's facilities, Cbeyond's fiber network now has over 10 percent of its metro Ethernet customer base on its fiber network. In addition to fiber, the service provider offers Ethernet over Copper (EoC).

"SMBs have typically been excluded from fiber network availability, but now there is no reason for that market to be underserved," said Mark Masi, vice president, fiber implementation and administration, at Cbeyond.

Cbeyond's effort to bring dark fiber to SMBs is helping to close what Vertical Systems Group calls the "fiber gap."

According to a recent report by the research firm, service providers continued to narrow the fiber gap in 2013 by expanding facilities to 39.3 percent of commercial buildings with 20 or more employees. The remaining 60.7 percent of buildings are in the Fiber Gap with no accessibility to fiber.

For more:
- see the release

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Cbeyond extends Ethernet reach into 190,000 U.S. MTUs