Jan. 16, 2001 -- Looking Glass Networks has "turned on" its metro networks in nine major markets, where it will offer data transport and colocation services to business customers.
The Oak Brook, Ill. company, which has raised $475 million in venture capital backing since its launch in April 2000, has completed installations in key carrier hotels, data center and ILEC central offices, it said this week.
Looking Glass now serves Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Northern New Jersey, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.
"This is a significant milestone for Looking Glass," said Lynn Refer, CEO and cofounder of Looking Glass Networks. "In the short time since we turned-up our networks, we've already achieved over $15 million in signed customer contracts from more than 20 key carrier and enterprise customers."
Looking Glass describes its network as "application agnostic," meaning it offers a carrier class SONET, Ethernet and Wavelength lit services from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps, along with dark fiber and carrier-neutral colocation services.
One of its early customers is Allegiance Telecom, which is using Looking Glass services in Dallas and Washington, D.C., and has placed orders for services in Atlanta and New York.
"We selected Looking Glass because they offered us a wide spectrum of lit services that are rapidly provisioned by their experienced telecom team," said Dan Yost, chief operating officer of Allegiance. "As promised, Looking Glass delivered the lit bandwidth we required on time, allowing us to meet our customers' needs."
Analyst Keith Mayberry of RHK said Looking Glass as "well positioned in the metro space."
"Having the flexibility to build fiber-based metro networks to where demand exists, including incumbent central offices and enterprise locations, is a competitive advantage over other metro service providers," said Mayberry.
Looking Glass was founded in April 2000 by telecom executives with experience at Worldcom and MFS.