November 06, 2015 — BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) today announced that it now has 1,200 small cell nodes, including those under construction, connected to its network. The milestone comes less than two years after Zayo entered the small cell market as a strategic extension of its fiber-to-the-tower (FTT) business.
As wireless carriers seek to boost their network capacity to keep up with exploding customer demand for bandwidth, especially in dense metro areas, they are increasingly relying on small cell technology. Fiber is the preferred transport solution for small cells, as it it for traditional macro cells, and Zayo’s dense metro fiber networks provide an ideal platform for serving small cells. For Zayo, the trend has resulted in 260 percent growth in small cells over the past year, and an average cash flow yield of 15 percent across all small cell sales.
“Zayo’s small cell solutions leverage our extensive dark fiber network that is in place or under construction,” said Dave Jones, Zayo senior vice president, Mobile Infrastructure. “The growth in this line of business is another example of our ability to fully leverage our assets, execution capabilities and capital to drive follow-on sales.”
Zayo’s small cell solutions include fiber backhaul and fronthaul, as well as full turnkey implementation, including RF design, site acquisition, permitting and installation of equipment. The company’s FTT network, which addresses wireless carriers’ requirements for scalable, high-capacity infrastructure, now includes approximately 8,000 towers nationwide.
“As the wireless industry increases the pace of small cell deployment, we expect to see continued double digit growth,” said Matt Erickson, co-COO at Zayo. “Zayo is well positioned, especially in large metropolitan areas, to provide small cell service. Each of these small cells currently serves one tenant; we are able to achieve the 15 percent yield given the depth and expansiveness of our existing metropolitan networks.”
