Crown Castle

FEATURE

Lighting up the metro dark fibre opportunity

13 November 2017

In 2017 many companies have been humiliated by ransomware attacks. Various global attacks have cost these firms large amounts of money, with FedEx being hit for $300 million and Reckitt Benckiser $100 million. That cost is a stark reminder of how important it is to ensure the security of mission-critical data – and, perhaps unexpectedly, has deep consequences for the fibre-optic communication industry. It’s one factor raising the value of installed fibre, influencing the fortunes of companies buying up older links and driving the deployment of new ones, especially in metropolitan areas.

NEWS

Crown Castle to acquire Lightower Fiber Networks for $7.1Bn

19 July 2017

US tower operator Crown Castle International has agreed to acquire privately held Lightower Fiber Networks for about $7.1 billion in cash, a deal that will make it one of the largest owners of metro fibre in the US.

Crown Castle, which is the largest provider of shared wireless infrastructure in the US with 40,000 towers and 50,000 small cell nodes on air, is buying Lightower from a group of investors including Berkshire Partners and Pamlico Capital.

Fibre Systems Autumn 2018
Feature
Crunching the 100G serial numbers

Cost and compatibility can make a compelling case for pushing 100Gb/s bandwidth over a single optical channel, both as individual links and supporting 400Gb/s Ethernet, finds Andy Extance

Analysis and opinion
A leap in the dark
Analysis and opinion
The rise of analytics
Feature
Access granted

Robin Mersh takes a look at how the industry is creating next-generation optical access fit for 5G

Feature
The shape of things to come

Technological advances to aid the increasing demand for bandwidth, on the path towards the terabit network, should lead to optical signals that are flexible and adaptive, like water, argues Dr Maxim Kuschnerov and Dr Yin Wang