Level 3 Buys FibreSpan to Bolster London Metro Network, Hedge Fund Services

Fiber network provider Level 3 Communications has acquired FibreSpan -- a UK-based network carrier specializing in dark fiber and ultra-high bandwidth "fiber-to-door" connectivity services for media companies in Central London -- for an undisclosed sum, to boost its offering for London-based hedge fund clients seeking connectivity to market data vendors on Level 3's network.

Officials confirm that FibreSpan is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Level 3, but decline to provide specific details of the acquisition.

Previously, FibreSpan focused on delivering building-to-building connectivity for media companies in London's Soho district, but Mark Ryder, newly-appointed head of finance at Level 3, says the acquisition will enable financial customers such as hedge funds located in the areas nearby to connect to Level 3's metro-area network, which can provide them with high-bandwidth connectivity to market data providers such as Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

"There is an ecosystem that we can give them access to through our global network, as well as a large suite of products that would give them access to new markets, allow them to collaborate with their customers and suppliers using unified communications, help with business continuity compliance via storage and datacentre services, and potentially reduce costs by consolidating infrastructure and suppliers," says Ryder, who joined Level 3 as area vice president for the EMEA region as part of the $1.9 billion acquisition of network provider Global Crossing last October, and was appointed to his current role earlier this year (IMD, Aug. 17).

In addition, Ryder says the acquisition has enabled Level 3 to establish a "network footprint" in the Soho area of London, which-due to restrictions imposed on firms wishing to dig up roads in the center of the city-would otherwise have been too difficult and expensive to achieve on its own. Level 3 is currently drawing up a map of hedge funds and other financial services firms located near Fibrespan's existing media network, and will soon begin a sales and marketing effort to promote the offering among these firms.

This story is an updated version of a previous story published on Sept. 27, 2012 that incorrectly stated that Level 3 bought Fiberspan from Algospan. FibreSpan was not a subsidiary of AlgoSpan, though AlgoSpan acquired a portion of FibreSpan's fiber network infrastructure-which AlgoSpan previously utilized to serve its clients' connectivity needs-prior to FibreSpan's acquisition by Level 3. AlgoSpan continues to service its London based financial community clients independently with direct fibre-optic connectivity.