Zayo's Long on how it is scaling up its IP and dark fiber opportunity pipeline

Zayo had a productive second quarter that will provide a runway for future growth. The service provider announced that its North American core network is now 400G-enabled. This update aligns with the findings from Zayo’s recent Bandwidth Report, which found 400G wavelengths accounted for the largest total terabits purchased in 2024. It also made progress with dark fiber, expanding IP network services and its Quick Connect Data Center offering.  

The service provider broke ground on the first three long-haul dark fiber routes that were announced in January--Chicago to Columbus, Chicago to Minneapolis, and Phoenix to Tucson. On the IP network front, it expanded its presence with seven new IP Points of Presence (PoPs), including two new 400G-enabled PoPs in Montreal and Chicago. Wavelength services have become a key service for the service provider. In particular, 400G wavelengths represented the largest share of total terabits purchased, outpacing both 10G and 100G solutions. Finally, it opened 27 new Quick Connect Data Centers, bringing its total to over 100 Quick Connect facilities. These centers allow the turn-up of IP and Ethernet services within just 10 days. 

In this latest podcast, we caught up with Bill Long, chief product and strategy officer at Zayo, about the service provider's ongoing IP service and dark fiber push to carriers, data centers and enterprises.  

Key Moments in This Episode

Opening

0:03 Introduction of our guest

0:30 Zayo’s network progress Long talks about how Zayo is expanding long-haul fiber, metro fiber, IP and wavelength services.

2:04 Dark fiber opportunities How emerging AI demands are driving requests for over 144 fibers.

4:09 The 400G opportunity Long maintains that 400G success requires a large fiber network inventory.

6:11 Zayo’s private wave network service A service that offers dark fiber economics without having the technical expertise to operate it.

7:18 New service developments and trends How Zayo is easing the service ordering process.

9:33 Zayo’s Quick-Connect Data Centers A service that allows rapid turn of IP and Ethernet services at select data center locations.

11:02 Data center connectivity sweet spots Zayo is serving a diversity of data center locations with different needs.

12:37 The AI opportunity How Zayo is seeing new demands but is vigilant about its approach.  

14:05 Middle Mile Zayo has positioned itself as a middle-mile partner to smaller broadband providers in Arizona and other regions.

16:22 Integrating Crown Castle’s assets The service provider sees the acquisition as providing a complementary network footprint.

18:17 Final thoughts Bill Long shares his final thoughts about what lies ahead for Zayo throughout the rest of 2025 and into 2026.

About our guest: 

Bill Long, chief product and strategy officer at Zayo

Bill Long is an experienced telecommunications and technology leader. As Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Zayo, he leads the company’s overall product strategy, financials, and roadmap. He has nearly two decades of experience in the telecommunications industry with expertise in interconnection and infrastructure services, enterprise and wholesale voice, and business and product development. Before joining Zayo, Bill served as senior vice president of product management and was responsible for the overall growth and profitability of Equinix Interconnection and Data Center Products globally. Earlier, he held several roles at Level 3 Communications, including VP of Voice Services, Senior Director of Voice Product Development and Director of Emerging Opportunities.

About the Podcast  In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and listen here.