DQE Communications, Penn Telecom Ink Fiber Leasing Agreement

PITTSBURGH, Mar. 17 -- DQE Inc. subsidiary DQE Communications reported that Penn Telecom, an integrated communications provider, has leased fiber on its metropolitan fiber optic backbone. The telecommunications firm signed the 15-year lease, worth an estimated $8 million, in January and has since commenced delivery of broadband and local and long-distance telephone services using DQE Communications' dark fiber infrastructure.
According to Frank Macefe, Penn Telecom's president, the company has gained access to 90 percent of the Pittsburgh market in a little over a year; if forced to construct its own network, Macefe estimated that Penn Telecom would have needed 3 to 5 years to achieve that level of access.