Level 3 bought BellSouth fiber that AT&T divested to meet a Justi...

miles in nine markets: Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, Tenn., Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., and South Florida. Under the deal, Level 3 may add new buildings to acquired assets. Level 3 didn’t disclose the financial terms. But a source close to the deal said the price was less than what Level 3 had paid in April for AT&T’s divested SBC assets. Level 3 picked up the assets to expand its metro market reach, said Raouf Abdel, the company’s Business Markets Group president. Adding the assets won’t be difficult, since the acquisition “does not require the type of integration associated with recent metro and backbone transactions,” Abdel said. The Level 3 announcement is “not huge,” nor is it “new news” except that it specifies acquired assets, said Jeffries analyst Jonathan Schildkraut. The deal makes sense for Level 3, which is positioning itself as the largest backbone provider in the U.S., said Stephan Beckert, a Telegeography analyst. Traffic growth is adding pressure to bulk up the access side of the backbone as opposed to the long-haul side, he said. The new assets also reduce Level 3 reliance on third party providers like AT&T, he said.