Cogent Acquires NTT Verio's T-1 Customers

Cogent Communications Group Inc. continued its acquisition binge Friday, announcing it had acquired a majority of NTT Verio's T-1 Internet-access customers and associated equipment.

Financial details of the transaction were not revealed, but Cogent said it is picking up 2,400 business customers, bringing its total business-customer count to more than 5,000. Verio has been a subsidiary of the Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Communications Corp. (NTT), which will give its attention to Web hosting, among other business activities.

"Cogent's core competitive advantage lies in the ownership of our IP-only fiber optic network," said Dave Schaeffer, Cogent CEO, in a statement. "Cogent has already incurred the cost to complete its network footprint." Cogent's new customers are scattered in 23 markets that are already served by the firm. The company has a 22,000-mile fiber-optic backbone and more than 8,300 miles of metro fiber.

Cogent has made several acquisitions this year, and Schaeffer has said he expects his company will make more acquisitions in the future. The company said its customer base represents about 8 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic.