Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

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Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

Image

Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

Image

Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

Image

Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

Image

Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

Canada’s biggest telecom giant has acquired Ziply Fiber – and a sizable swath of municipal operation agreements for open access fiber scattered across the Pacific Northwest. Bell Canada and Ziply’s joint announcement indicates that the full deal will be around $5 billion Canadian, plus an additional $2 billion in acquired debt.

The acquisition could help accelerate Ziply’s planned expansion across the Pacific Northwest, where the company’s fiber network currently passes 1.3 million locations across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State.

At the same time, Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider. Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest could also risk undermining the pro-competitive benefits of the kind of open access policies Ziply previously embraced.

Image

Ziply was formed when WaveDivision Capital purchased Frontier Communications’ Pacific Northwest operations in 2020. It has quickly become a major player across the four states thanks in part to numerous public private partnerships with municipalities, and a 2022 announcement of $450 million in new private sector funding.

There’s signs of life for a municipal fiber project long considered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, after the Fort Dodge City Council moved forward with plans to use a surplus in the city’s sewer maintenance budget to pay for the higher than expected cost of the city’s fiber network.

In 2019, a broadband utility was a top-rated need in the city’s strategic plan, and residents voted that November to grant the city the authority to start building a municipal telecommunications network. The network has since steadily expanded in the city of 24,591 residents.

“We currently are just short of 2,400 customers, with a goal of having 2,500 customers by January 1, 2025,” Fort Dodge Fiber Director Jeremy Pearson tells ILSR. “If everything works out, we should exceed that goal. If you’ve got any pull with Mother Nature, we would appreciate any help to keep the temperatures warm and the snow away!”

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In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. The city promised locals the planned network wouldn’t result in an increase in local resident property taxes.

But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project. So last September the city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to Fort Dodge Fiber.

The loan has a 5.25 percent interest rate and is expected to be paid back sometime in 2026 or 2027, according to local news outlets.

There’s signs of life for a municipal fiber project long considered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, after the Fort Dodge City Council moved forward with plans to use a surplus in the city’s sewer maintenance budget to pay for the higher than expected cost of the city’s fiber network.

In 2019, a broadband utility was a top-rated need in the city’s strategic plan, and residents voted that November to grant the city the authority to start building a municipal telecommunications network. The network has since steadily expanded in the city of 24,591 residents.

“We currently are just short of 2,400 customers, with a goal of having 2,500 customers by January 1, 2025,” Fort Dodge Fiber Director Jeremy Pearson tells ILSR. “If everything works out, we should exceed that goal. If you’ve got any pull with Mother Nature, we would appreciate any help to keep the temperatures warm and the snow away!”

Image

In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. The city promised locals the planned network wouldn’t result in an increase in local resident property taxes.

But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project. So last September the city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to Fort Dodge Fiber.

The loan has a 5.25 percent interest rate and is expected to be paid back sometime in 2026 or 2027, according to local news outlets.

There’s signs of life for a municipal fiber project long considered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, after the Fort Dodge City Council moved forward with plans to use a surplus in the city’s sewer maintenance budget to pay for the higher than expected cost of the city’s fiber network.

In 2019, a broadband utility was a top-rated need in the city’s strategic plan, and residents voted that November to grant the city the authority to start building a municipal telecommunications network. The network has since steadily expanded in the city of 24,591 residents.

“We currently are just short of 2,400 customers, with a goal of having 2,500 customers by January 1, 2025,” Fort Dodge Fiber Director Jeremy Pearson tells ILSR. “If everything works out, we should exceed that goal. If you’ve got any pull with Mother Nature, we would appreciate any help to keep the temperatures warm and the snow away!”

Image

In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. The city promised locals the planned network wouldn’t result in an increase in local resident property taxes.

But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project. So last September the city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to Fort Dodge Fiber.

The loan has a 5.25 percent interest rate and is expected to be paid back sometime in 2026 or 2027, according to local news outlets.

There’s signs of life for a municipal fiber project long considered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, after the Fort Dodge City Council moved forward with plans to use a surplus in the city’s sewer maintenance budget to pay for the higher than expected cost of the city’s fiber network.

In 2019, a broadband utility was a top-rated need in the city’s strategic plan, and residents voted that November to grant the city the authority to start building a municipal telecommunications network. The network has since steadily expanded in the city of 24,591 residents.

“We currently are just short of 2,400 customers, with a goal of having 2,500 customers by January 1, 2025,” Fort Dodge Fiber Director Jeremy Pearson tells ILSR. “If everything works out, we should exceed that goal. If you’ve got any pull with Mother Nature, we would appreciate any help to keep the temperatures warm and the snow away!”

Image

In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. The city promised locals the planned network wouldn’t result in an increase in local resident property taxes.

But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project. So last September the city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to Fort Dodge Fiber.

The loan has a 5.25 percent interest rate and is expected to be paid back sometime in 2026 or 2027, according to local news outlets.