Lightpath remains a meaningful growth engine in Optimum’s portfolio
Key Highlights
- Lightpath's first-quarter revenue grew by 8%, primarily fueled by hyperscaler wins and increased business services revenue.
- The company secured $252 million in AI-related contracts for 2025, a significant increase indicating strong market demand for AI infrastructure.
- Capital expenditures are projected between $200 million and $300 million annually to support network construction and hyperscale contracts.
- A $1.7 billion Asset-Backed Security transaction was completed to refinance debt and extend maturity, supporting ongoing expansion.
- Network expansion in Columbus added 55 miles of underground fiber, with completion expected by mid-2027, enhancing regional connectivity.
Lightpath, Optimum's business and wholesale division, continues to show positive results, growing 8% in the first quarter.
Driven primarily by Lightpath revenue, business services revenue of $364 million grew slightly year-over-year.
Speaking to investors during its first-quarter earnings call, Dennis Matthew, CEO of Optimum Communications, said that Lighthpath remains a consistent revenue source. This trend continued into the first quarter.
“Lightpath remains a meaningful growth engine, delivering over 8% year-over-year revenue growth and almost 10% adjusted EBITDA growth,” he said.
Keep up to date with Lightwave’s Q4 2025 earnings coverage.
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Here are other stories on Lightpath:
· Lightpath’s revenue rises 35 percent on strong hyperscaler, enterprise customer wins
· Lightpath’s Q3 revenue grows nearly 6% on strong hyperscaler wins
· Lightpath sets new optical fiber network expansion and customer service course
Hyperscaler, AI leads growth
Driven by new hyperscaler wins for its fiber connectivity products, Lightpath’s expansion continues to progress across existing and new markets.
Lightpath announced in January that it had been awarded $252 million in AI-enabling Total Contract Value (TCV) in 2025 with hyperscalers, superscalers, and neocloud strategic partners.
This represents a 240% increase over the $110M TCV awarded in 2024, signaling what the service provider noted was “a dynamic inflection point in the market for deploying production-ready AI infrastructure.”
The TCV comprises large infrastructure build-outs 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.
“On Lightpath, we continue to invest in growth, with expected annual capital expenditures in the range of $200 million to $300 million, primarily supporting construction tied to recently announced hyperscale contracts,” said Marc Sirota, CFO of Optimum Communications.
Scaling its reach
Lightpath expansion continues, with capital being deployed to support the previously announced $362 million total contract value of AI-driven awards.
The service provider has continued to allocate capital to scale its reach. In March, Lightpath closed on an approximately $1.7 billion Asset-Backed Security (ABS) transaction.
Siorta said, “The proceeds of the transactions were used primarily to repay existing Lightpath indebtedness and extend maturity.”
Lightpath continues to expand its network across key markets. In January, it secured a third major network award in the Greater Columbus market, where demands for high-capacity fiber networks for AI and data centers are rising.
Building on a network currently under construction, Lightpath added 55 route miles of 100% underground, multi-conduit network extending southwest of Columbus toward Cincinnati. This third award brings its network under construction in the Greater Columbus Region to 304 total route miles.
Construction across the Columbus market is proceeding in phases. Approximately 102 route miles — about one-third of the total announced build — are scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026, ahead of the original delivery timeline. The remaining mileage is expected to come online in the first half of 2027.
Lighpath said in a release announcing the Columbus build that “the additional construction strengthens regional connectivity across Central and Southwest Ohio, reinforcing a growing fiber corridor designed to support both metro and intercity data center interconnectivity.”
But network construction is only one part of Lightpath’s fiber expansion strategy.
The service provider also entered a partnership with CableFinder, a platform for advanced quoting and contracting with major technology service distributors (TSDs) and partners, bringing Lightpath fiber connectivity to the CableFinder platform. Set to go live early this summer, it will give channel partners direct, API-driven access to Lightpath services across major markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and beyond.
A key focus of joining the CableFinder platform is accelerating customers’ ability to access services. The workflow from qualification to signed agreement is designed to take minutes.
"Bringing Lightpath into the CableFinder platform allows our partners to verify serviceability, confirm pricing, and move to contract in an automated manner,” said Doug Turtz, chief revenue officer at Lightpath. “This makes accessing the Lightpath network even easier for our partners and customers as we expand our network reach."
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About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategy of Lightwave across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products.