Tech Valley targets Tier 2, 3 markets with its 10 Gbps service drive

Tech Valley Communications, a fiber-centric competitive provider, has introduced a new capability that will enable it to deliver 10 Gbps Ethernet and optical wavelength services in 10 days.

This accelerated turnup program for 10G services will be offered to new and existing customers that are located in the 1,300 on-net fiber buildings it has in upstate New York and northern New England.

Served over a network that runs through five states, the majority of its lit buildings are in upstate New York, but it also has presence in the former Tel Jet territory in Vermont and Seg Tel market in New Hampshire.

In addition to the network infrastructure, the service provider has put in the necessary back office elements to support any 10G order.

Kevin O'Connor, president and CEO of Tech Valley, said the initiative is about reducing service activation times for its growing base of multisite customers that reside in Tier 2 and 3 markets and are often ignored by large telcos.

"Because of the network we have built here this is a service we can do and we'd like to roll this out as a category killer for our customers and give them an opportunity to leapfrog their current connection and speeds," he said in an interview with FierceTelecom. "This is something we can do because of the investments we made in the network for the three to four years since we did the investment with private equity fund Riverside Partners."

O'Connor says that the 10G service will appeal to the health care, education, and the public sector vertical segments.

"We do a lot of business in the health care verticals with the area hospitals and large doctors' offices, and with the kind of information they are sharing right now, a 10G point-to-point might prove attractive to those guys," O'Connor said. "Similarly, we think it might have some traction in the educational vertical and we're also rolling it out to the government vertical as well to see if there's any appetite over there."

Enhancing the delivery of 10G services is just one element of the provider's broader expansion of its management team and network.

In recent months, the service provider appointed three competitive telecom industry veterans to key positions: Robert Cochran as senior director of sales engineering; Maura Mahoney as senior director of marketing and product management; and Patrick Coughlin as senior vice president of sales & marketing. 

It has also expanded its network presence in New Hampshire, Vermont, and into Canada through a series of acquisitions of other regional fiber-based providers, including SegTel and more recently, TelJet. Tech Valley said it's on track to complete the TelJet acquisition in the next few weeks.

Stopping short of revealing any specific names, O'Connor said Tech Valley its currently pursuing two possible acquisitions of other local fiber providers that fit well with its footprint. The acquisitions may be completed by the beginning of 2014.

"We're still looking at other acquisitions," he said. "We've got one that we're actively in the mix on and one more that's a little further out."

For more:
- see the release

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