400 fiber providers are ripe for acquisition

There are more than 400 small fiber providers in the U.S. that are ripe for picking by investors or larger fiber companies when the "inevitable" major fiber consolidation wave occurs, according to the consulting firm AlixPartners. The firm conducted a survey in August of 60 executives at different fiber companies in the telecom space. According to the survey, 93 percent of respondents said consolidation is happening or will happen soon. Partner and managing director Andrej Danis said that there are about 900 privately owned small fiber providers in the US. He said that realistically there are about 400-500 fiber companies available for the picking, because some of the 900 “will never reach critical mass.”