Wave, an emerging gigabit broadband provider, has secured $125 million to add over 100 route miles of its own fiber each month to complement its West Coast fiber network and expand its business services unit.
The company said that the new financing is an add-on to an existing first lien term loan and will be used to expand in Washington, Oregon and California. Currently, Wave has over 5,500 route fiber miles, serving a number of markets from the San Francisco Bay area north to the Canadian border.
This latest funding round complements existing rounds Wave made in 2015 and 2012.
Wave previously raised $130 million in funding in May 2015 and was recapitalized for more than $1 billion in November 2012. Wave has deployed proceeds from those financing events toward new fiber construction, select acquisitions, and the overall acceleration of Wave’s growth.
As it expands the reach of its fiber network, the company continues to extend its Wave G residential gigabit service, launching it in both San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, complementing its presence in Seattle.
The company also recently launched Wave G Business to provide symmetrical gigabit internet connectivity to business often found on the ground floors of Wave G-serviced residential apartment buildings.
Wave’s commercial services division is the company’s fastest-growing area, with revenues rising over 24 percent year-over-year. The business service division serves customers ranging from small businesses to larger enterprises, government agencies, medical and education campuses, and telecom providers.
Besides fiber network expansion, the service provider could also use the new funding to purchase other fiber assets. The service provider has focused its attention on acquiring other regional network providers in its region.
Wave recently acquired Oregon-based business provider CoastCom and Vancouver-based SawNet, for example.
What CoastCom and SawNet bring to the table are additional fiber assets. CoastCom owns more than 250 miles of fiber, and SawNet owns more than 100 miles of fiber. CoastCom's network also connects directly to a submarine cable landing station in Pacific City, Oregon, complementing Wave's recently announced Transpacific Hub data center venture with Centeris.
Wave has now bought 20 companies since it was founded in 2002.
For more:
- see the release
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