Windstream Wholesale is setting up shop in Equinix's International Business Exchange (IBX) data center to offer services in the New York Metro area. With the expansion, Windstream will be able to offer its 10G and 100G wavelengths to the companies, which includes more than 90 network service providers, within Equinix's NY5 IBX data center that's located in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Windstream won't be fully set up in Equinix's data center until July, but it has found a workaround to provide additional capacity for one of its customers via a temporary solution. Windstream has delivered four 100-Gig waves from Ashburn, Va. to Seaborn Networks' international landing station in Wall Township, N.J. to meet Seaborn's expansion needs. Seaborn Networks is the owner and operator of subsea fiber-optic cable systems.
When Windstream’s build is complete at the NY5 IBX, it will move two of those waves to the Secaucus data center campus.
“Windstream’s 100 Gbps Wavelength service offers a strong option for the core backbone capacity needs of Equinix customers seeking low latency connectivity between our Secaucus, N.J., and Ashburn, Va., data center campuses, providing a diverse path between the New York and Washington, D.C., metros that avoids Manhattan data centers," said Adam Janota, senior director of business development at Equinix, in a statement. "The more than 500 businesses operating at Equinix’s Secaucus data center campus will also benefit from Windstream’s direct access to Seaborn Networks’ sub-sea capacity.”
Windstream Holdings will announce its first quarter results on Monday, which will include a pre-recorded earnings call with its executives. Windstream's executives haven't conducted question and answer sessions with analysts over the last several earnings calls.
A year ago, Windstream lost a legal battle with New York hedge fund Aurelius Capital Management over whether it had defaulted on bonds by spinning off the Uniti Group. As part of that spinoff, Windstream transferred copper-based network assets to Uniti, which Windstream leased back from Uniti to serve its residential and business customers across its 18-state footprint.
RELATED: Windstream reaches agreements with creditors and Uniti Group
On March 2, Windstream Holdings and Uniti Group announced settlement terms in regard to their master lease agreement. With the proposed settlement, Windstream was able to significantly reduce its debt load, while Uniti made concessions that expanded its national fiber footprint.
The two companies also reached an agreement in principal on the settlement of litigation that was related to Windstream's Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
Windstream also announced in March that it had entered into a plan support agreement (PSA) with its first lien creditors regarding its restructuring plan. Windstream was saddled with between $5.6 billion and $5.8 billion of debt, which Windstream said reduced by more than $4 billion with the new agreement. The PSA also included a large reduction in Windstream's annual debt service obligations and access to exit financing to enable Windstream to pursue its strategic goals once it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.