Self-styled ‘next generation cable provider’ Layer3 TV is reportedly offering fibre-optic broadband connectivity in Washington, DC, via a wholesale agreement with Verizon Communications. In a related development, Fierce Cable quotes Layer3 CEO Jeff Binder as saying that the operator has also launched in Dallas, Texas, and is poised to enter the New York City and Long Island markets in due course. Binder told the publication: ‘It is fair to speculate that you’ll be seeing more broadband being bundled with Layer3 TV over time. That’s not specific to one provider. That’s just in general. This isn’t a one-off from a strategy perspective.’
Prior to inking the Verizon wholesale deal, Layer3 secured a partnership with NextLight, a municipal fibre broadband provider in Longmont, Colorado. However, Layer3 has not announced if it plans to seek similar agreements with broadband providers in the other two markets where it has launched its pay-TV service: Chicago and Los Angeles. In March this year, the start-up surprised industry observers when it claimed that its TV network passed 13 million homes, a figure which would technically make it one of the United States’ top five largest cablecos by footprint.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, European telecoms group Altice – which operates in the US cable market through Cablevision and Suddenlink – has been named as one of the companies bankrolling Layer3. Hedge fund investor John Paulson is another of the company’s high profile backers, alongside North Bridge and Evolution Media Partners.