| Lexent Metro Connect | |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | New York, NY, USA (1946 by "Hugh O'Kane Electric Co.") |
| Founder: | Hugh O'Kane Sr. |
| Location: | New York, NY, USA |
| Area Served: | New York and New Jersey and surrounding areas |
| Key People: | Ray LaChance - President and CEO |
| Products: | Dark Fiber Fractional Dark Fiber Interconnectivity Between Buildings Project Management Implementation |
| Industry: | Telecommunications IT Services |
| Homepage: | Lexent.net |
Lexent Metro Connect was a New York City based neutral telecommunications provider that owned, operated, built and maintained its own dark fiber network in New York, Northern New Jersey, and surrounding areas. Based in New York City, Lexent provided services in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, as well as in Northern New Jersey. It had 150 fiber route miles and served over 200 commercial buildings.[1]
The company was acquired by Lightower Fiber Networks in 2010.[1]
Lexent constructed and leased dark fiber networks for carriers, wireless service providers, service providers, financial and enterprise customers. Lexent also provided engineering and project management support to carriers looking to build telecommunications networks in New York as well as consultation on fiber networks in various metropolitan areas around the United States.
Lexent's dark fiber network provided connectivity between regional carrier hotels, central offices, and Enterprise Buildings. The network included four river crossings over the Hudson River, Harlem River and East River, and spanned over 100 route miles of metro fiber.
Lexent Metro Connect LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lexent Inc., was formed in 2002 and awarded a NYC High Capacity Telecommunications Franchise with the non-exclusive right to construct, operate and maintain local high capacity telecommunications networks and services in the New York City metro market. Lexent's sister company, Hugh O'Kane Electric Co Inc. was founded in 1946 by Hugh O’Kane Sr. as an electrical company specializing in services to the graphic arts and printing industries. The two companies operated independently, and Lexent was privately owned by the O’Kane Family, until being acquired in 2010 by Lightower Fiber Networks.[1]
Lexent Metro Connect had 27 PoPs in 13 different carrier hotel buildings and fiber access to over 100 enterprise buildings throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Northern New Jersey including: