tw telecom turns attention to Colorado Springs, doubles southern Colorado network reach

tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) is putting a new focus on the Colorado Springs market with plans to nearly double its network reach in southern Colorado.

This latest expansion effort will complement and extend its network presence in its existing serving area of central Colorado Springs, north to Monument, south to Pueblo and west to Cripple Creek and Woodland Park.

Colorado Springs has been one of tw telecom's key markets since it purchased Xspedius in 2006. While the service provider has been quiet on the M&A front in recent years, that deal expanded its metro fiber footprint to 75 markets and 30 states.

A key focus of this expansion is to satisfy the needs of multi-site businesses, particularly in the government, defense, K-12 school districts, healthcare and IT, which have facilities in major hubs like Denver and these towns. They could now turn to tw telecom to potentially work with a single provider.

Its expansion effort will enable it compete more effectively with other players like Zayo, which has ramped up its fiber reach in the Denver area. In July 2012, Zayo added 521 route miles in the Denver area, bringing its total to 900 route miles.

tw telecom's Colorado Springs build is just one element of a broader multi-market initiative to expand its metro fiber footprint by about 17 percent throughout the U.S. Through this expansion effort, the service provider said it plans to enter five new markets--including Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., and Salt Lake City--and increase the density of its metro fiber footprint in 28 existing markets.

While it will take time to see how these new expansions will pay off, tw telecom continues to see strong growth in the enterprise sector. During the fourth quarter of 2013, it reported that revenues rose 5.9 percent to $400 million due to strong enterprise service growth.

For more:
- see the release

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