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Cox to acquire fiber provider’s commercial unit

Cox Communications has struck a deal to acquire the commercial segment of North Carolina-based Segra, the latest in a series of investments in fiber providers.

Segra is privately held and financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company, which serves nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, provides Ethernet, MPLS, dark fiber, data center services, IP and managed services and voice and cloud solutions.

Cox is buying Segra’s fiber-based commercial services segment, which serves enterprise and carrier customers. EQT Infrastructure, which holds ownership in Segra, will retain ownership of Segra’s fiber-to-the-premise segment serving residential and small-to-medium-sized business customers and as part of the deal, will “accelerate the plan to expand broadband services to neighborhoods and markets throughout their regions.”

Cox said that Segra will operate as a standalone business after the transaction closes, and that it will keep the Segra brand and its existing management team.

In the last few years, Cox’s investments have included the acquisitions of, or strategic investments in, a range of network infrastructure companies. Those have included the CLEC EasyTel, data center company EdgeConneX, and InSite Wireless (which was acquired by American Tower last year), as well as an investment in edge and cloud company StackPath in 2020, the fiber company Unite Private Networks and fiber/cloud/colocation company ViaWest in 2013. “The Segra acquisition supports that ongoing focus,” Cox said in a release.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Kelly Hill
Kelly Hill
Kelly reports on network test and measurement, as well as the use of big data and analytics. She first covered the wireless industry for RCR Wireless News in 2005, focusing on carriers and mobile virtual network operators, then took a few years’ hiatus and returned to RCR Wireless News to write about heterogeneous networks and network infrastructure. Kelly is an Ohio native with a masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on science writing and multimedia. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and The Canton Repository. Follow her on Twitter: @khillrcr