Lightpath’s revenue rises 35 percent on strong hyperscaler, enterprise customer wins
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Here are other stories on Lightpath:
· Lightpath’s Q3 revenue grows nearly 6% on strong hyperscaler wins
· Lightpath sets new optical fiber network expansion and customer service course
Lightpath saw revenues rise in the fourth quarter as bookings to hyperscalers and enterprises rose again.
Lightpath, the business and wholesale arm of Optimum, continues to ride a wave of growth, racking up nonrecurring revenue and delivering services to large hyperscale customers, while also generating recurring revenue from continued positive net installations.
At the end of 2025, Lightpath’s awarded AI-driven contract value totaled $362 million, up 40% from the $110 million of total contract value awarded in 2024.
Speaking to investors during its fourth-quarter earnings call, Marc Sirota, CFO of Optimum, said the period represented “our strongest Lightpath performance to date, along with a near all-time high gross margin.”
For more on Lightpath’s expansion efforts:
- Lightpath’s new fiber build capitalizes on Eastern Pennsylvania's emerging hyperscale data center ecosystem
- Lightpath responds to Phoenix's hyperscaler fiber demands
- Lightpath targets fiber-based AI opportunities in Columbus
- Lightpath Miami targets dark fiber data center opportunities
- Lightpath enhances fiber reach with United Fiber and Data (UFD) purchase
Positioned for hyperscaler needs
Lightpath has positioned itself for future growth with a sales pipeline that has grown to $6.4 billion across numerous addressable projects with hyperscaler, superscaler and neocloud partners, representing a 6.4x increase from only one year ago and reflecting what it said is “a conservative, execution-ready view of what Lightpath can realistically deliver to clients.”
It has aligned these opportunities with its ongoing network build-out drive.
Lightpath was awarded $252 million in AI-enabling Total Contract Value (TCV) in 2025 with hyperscaler, superscaler and neocloud strategic partners. This represents a 240% increase over the $110 million TCV awarded in 2024, signaling a dynamic inflection point in the market for deploying production-ready AI infrastructure.
The TCV consists of large network infrastructure buildouts with accelerated execution speed and delivery certainty across each of Lightpath’s 10 major operating markets: the NYC metropolitan area; Long Island, NY; New Jersey; Boston, MA; Miami, FL; Ashburn, VA; Phoenix, AZ; Columbus, OH; Eastern PA and Southern CT.
Besides its latest network build in Columbus, Ohio, Lightpath has aggressively been expanding its fiber networks across various markets, including Eastern Pennsylvania, Miami, Phoenix. It also enhanced its fiber reach and service capabilities through its acquisition of United Fiber and Data (UFD).
Lightpath's fiber network consists of approximately 10,800 unique route miles, serving over 15,000 locations, 170+ data centers, 8 cable landing stations, and all major cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle.
Sirota said that Lightpath is at the beginning of a growth cycle that will be supported by the activation of these new network facilities.
“I am really pleased with how we are positioned in the hyperscaler market,” he said. “We are well-positioned to be the connectivity provider to these data centers, so we feel good about how LightPath is set up for continued growth.”
Steady growth path
Lightpath continues to increase its position as a provider of AI-grade digital infrastructure and connectivity.
LightPath revenue, which is consolidated in business services revenue within Optimum Communications, total revenue, has grown steadily over the past several years.
In 2025, Lightpath reported $468 million in revenue, up 13% year over year. “This growth reflects continued demand from hyperscale customers along with strong underlying recurring enterprise revenue,” Sirota said.
While hyperscalers are a key revenue source, Sirota added that Lightpath's overall continues to grow from ongoing sales to other service providers and enterprise customers.
“When you look at the core Lightpath business, excluding the hyperscaler activity that we have going on, the business grew 8% year over year,” he said. “So, there is still strong underlying demand for just the core business.”
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About the Author
Sean BuckleySean Buckley
Sean is the Editor-in-Chief of Lightwave. He establishes and executes Lightwave's editorial strategy across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products. Before coming to Lightwave in July 2023, he served as editor of Broadband Communities. Earlier, he served as senior editor of FierceTelecom and the editor of the former Telecommunications Magazine. He got his start in the optical industry in 1998 when he became the editor of enterprise and optical networks at Information Gatekeepers. He has a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and lives in Dracut, Mass, with his wife, two sons, and his cat, Dove.
