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Empire Access to Acquire Axcess Ontario Fiber Ring

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

Empire Access, a leading telecommunications service provider based in the Finger Lakes region of New York, announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the Axcess Ontario fiber ring. The Axcess Ontario fiber ring is a state-of-the-art 200-plus-mile open-access fiber-optic network in Ontario County in Upstate New York. The fiber ring offers telecommunications carriers access to a countywide fiber optic network with the ultimate goal of improving telecommunications services in Ontario County.

“By combining our networks, we can offer fiber services to substantially more homes and businesses in Ontario County,” said Jim Baase, COO of Empire Access. “We’re eager to continue the expansion of the Axcess Ontario fiber ring and increase fiber optic service availability within the County.”

"Empire Access is a natural fit. They’re a fast-growing local company with a proven track record of successfully using open-access networks to provide high-quality services to residential and business customers,” said Sean Barry, CEO of Axcess Ontario.

Since 2005, Axcess Ontario has built and maintained a robust open-access fiber-optic network infrastructure within Ontario County. Axcess Ontario was established by Ontario County local law as a local development corporation with headquarters in Canandaigua, New York. The open-access network provides advanced connectivity for telecommunications carriers and business-to-business companies. The Axcess Ontario fiber ring has been recognized as a national broadband model and is the epitome of 21st-century public infrastructure.

"As a family-owned and operated company, we share in Axcess Ontario’s original goal of serving the public through the deployment of cutting-edge communications technologies,” said Jim Baase, COO of Empire Access.”

Empire Access currently offers residential and business fiber optic services in the Village of Naples, NY, along with a wide array of fiber optic business services in the Cities of Canandaigua and Geneva by way of the Axcess Ontario network. The company will expand service availability to surrounding communities in the upcoming months and offer fiber optic high-speed Internet, phone and security solutions to residential and business customers within Ontario County.

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