[1st-mile-nm] National Lambda Rail shutting down

Thu Mar 27 10:49:30 PDT 2014

Yeah but they can't simply abrogate an IRU. In this case, I believe, the
lease runs until 2026. The IRU document almost always includes a
maintenance deal that gets renegotiated (annually, often, but in this case
7 years) because maintenance is an opex, But the IRU continues for the 20
years. It is capex. IRUs are often paid in advance, too. Nice to know
Level3 has a new current policy but it normally would not affect old
deals.I might add that even with unpaid bills, a nationwide fiber pair on
Level3 has gotta be worth a hell of a lot more than the $100 million that
supposedly changed hands.

In short, something is weird here. I just suspect we don't know the facts
for sure.

BTW, if you know anyone interested in IRUs or straight investment on
Emerald, a 6-pair trans-Atlantic build that is supposed to commence in a
few months, send them my way.

Steve Ross
Corporate Editor, Broadband Communities Magazine (www.bbcmag.com)
201-456-5933 mobile, 781-284-8810 landline
707-WOW-SSR3 (707-969-7773) Google Voice
editorsteve (Facebook, LinkedIn)
editorsteve1 (Twitter)
steve at bbcmag.com
editorsteve at gmail.com

On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 1:30 PM, C Steven Lucero <
cstevenlucero at latingroupllc.com> wrote:

> Can't be done, at least from what I'm being told. The 3 years of debt
> still has not been paid to L3. Under new corporate policy, L3 has ceased
> selling AND leasing dark fiber. Moreso, of the $100MM Dr. Soon invested
> into NLR, there are supposedly $36MM unaccounted for. Looks to be an ugly
> legal (or criminal?) situation.
>
>
> C. Steven Lucero
> President
> LatinGroup LLC
> (505) 217-9212
>
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> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 10:04 AM, Steve Ross <editorsteve at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Even though the new owner walked away from NLR, maybe it still has
>> assets, or NM could challenge the deal... or NM could move over to the I2
>> system. Long shots all. But the original NLR "lease" on the fiber would
>> under normal circumstances run to 2026, if what I remember is correct.
>> Certainly, the lease document itself and the issue of who provides the
>> managed services (lights the fiber, mainly, and maintains it), should be
>> known by university (customer) IT departments.
>>
>>
>>
>> Steve Ross
>> Corporate Editor, Broadband Communities Magazine (www.bbcmag.com)
>> 201-456-5933 mobile, 781-284-8810 landline
>> 707-WOW-SSR3 (707-969-7773) Google Voice
>> editorsteve (Facebook, LinkedIn)
>> editorsteve1 (Twitter)
>> steve at bbcmag.com
>> editorsteve at gmail.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 12:00 PM, Owen Densmore <owen at backspaces.net>wrote:
>>
>>> Could someone summarize/simplify for this noob!?  Fascinating stuff.
>>>
>>>    -- Owen
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 10:17 PM, Steve Ross <editorsteve at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> That's odd. I thought the IRU ran for 20 years starting in 2006. I
>>>> think your friend meant the managed service contract with Level3, which
>>>> would have been due to expire in 2013 (It was the typical 7 year deal, I
>>>> think, and also started in 2006, because NLR was originally on a Qwest
>>>> backbone for the first few years). Does this mean the NLR leased fiber,
>>>> though dark, still is an NLR asset? Or did the IRU go back to Level3,
>>>> perhaps to settle the debt on the service contract? As I remember, the IRU
>>>> was for a fiber pair going everywhere Level3 went, or everywhere in the
>>>> United States. I know a lot of the colleges on NLR also are on I2, and not
>>>> many probably need both, but I2 isn't secured by an IRU -- Level3 lights it
>>>> more or less the way Level3 wants to light it. So it isn't as useful as a
>>>> research tool, I would think. But it still is capacity that maybe NM
>>>> schools can use?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Steve Ross
>>>> Corporate Editor, Broadband Communities Magazine (www.bbcmag.com)
>>>> 201-456-5933 mobile, 781-284-8810 landline
>>>> 707-WOW-SSR3 (707-969-7773) Google Voice
>>>> editorsteve (Facebook, LinkedIn)
>>>> editorsteve1 (Twitter)
>>>> steve at bbcmag.com
>>>> editorsteve at gmail.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 11:20 PM, C Steven Lucero <
>>>> cstevenlucero at latingroupllc.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Richard,
>>>>>
>>>>> I met this week with a person intimately familiar with this. In short
>>>>> Level3 issued a policy in recent years that they would not renew any fiber
>>>>> IRU's. Simulataneously, it was learned that NLR was 3 yrs in default of
>>>>> payments, which was not disclosed to Dr Soon-Shiong. Given that the term of
>>>>> the IRU was coming up, he declined to pay the balance due and L3 cancelled
>>>>> the contract. This happened in Jan.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just an FYI.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>>
>>>>> Steven
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wednesday, March 26, 2014, Richard Lowenberg <rl at 1st-mile.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for the posting, John.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It would be good to hear from UNM, State IT staff or others with
>>>>>> knowledge about this, as there has been little press coverage on the matter.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This from Wikipedia:
>>>>>> In November 2011 the control of NLR was purchased from its university
>>>>>> membership by a billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong for $100M, who indicated
>>>>>> his intention to upgrade NLR infrastructure and repurpose portions of it to
>>>>>> support an ambitious healthcare project.
>>>>>> The upgrade never took place.   NLR ceased operations in March 2014.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> RL
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mar 26, 2014, at 7:51 PM, John Brown wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Various educational institutions are reporting that the National
>>>>>> Lambda Rail will cease operations shortly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What does this mean for NM,  UNM, NM State, and the taxpayers of NM
>>>>>> who have invested heavily into this infra-structure.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Santa Fe's recent "fiber RFQ" was relying on using NLR assets to get
>>>>>> to the world and thus hopefully reduce the cost of bandwidth...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  ---------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
>>>>>> 1st-Mile Institute          www.1st-mile.org
>>>>>> P. O.  Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM    87504
>>>>>> 505-603-5200                 rl at 1st-mile.org
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>
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>
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