Tucows CEO Elliott Noss revealed its Ting Internet business expects to begin construction of a new fiber network in Alexandria, Virginia sometime in the current quarter, after winning a bid to cover tens of thousands of locations there. The deployment will tee it up to challenge incumbent cable provider Comcast as well as Verizon Fios, which is in the process of upgrading its copper lines in the area to fiber.
Speaking on Tucows’ Q1 2022 earnings call, Noss said Alexandria already includes 90,000 serviceable addresses and is expected to grow considerably with the construction of Amazon’s new HQ2 offices in nearby Arlington. Ting Internet was named as a winning bidder in the City’s solicitation in March, and Noss said it expects to execute a franchise agreement with the municipality and begin construction in Q2.
This timetable puts it slightly behind Verizon, which began upgrading its network in the area in March. However, according to information posted by the city, Verizon’s transition from copper to full Fios there is expected to take three to four years.
The deal in Virginia was one of several Ting Internet struck recently as it works to rapidly expand its fiber footprint. The operator also inked an agreement in January to become the anchor tenant on a network being built by Colorado Springs Utilities which will eventually reach 200,000 serviceable addresses. Last month, it followed up with the announcement that it plans to build fiber to 130,000 locations in Aurora, Colorado.
Q1 results
All told, Ting Internet added 7,000 passings in Q1 2022 between its owned and leased networks, taking it to a total of 98,1000. It pulled in 2,300 new customers, raising its total to 27,800.
Consolidated revenue for Tucows grew 14% to $81.1 million, with Ting’s fiber internet revenue up 92.6% to $9.8 million. The comapny's Wholesale unit brought in $52.5 million and its Wavelo software business pulled in $6.8 million.
Despite the revenue growth, Tucows posted a net loss of $3 million, compared to income of $2.1 million in the year ago period. Executives attributed the swing to increased spending on Ting Internet to fuel its expansion.