ng Cox, Comcast, Continental, and Tele- Communications Inc. (TCI). This provided an interesting avenue for expan- sion: The cable companies were already pulling fiber optics on their widespread rights-of-way, SO providing high-capacity service to business via TCG was good way to increase the value of their networks and perhaps help finance upgrades. Competitors Outrace RBOCs to Provide Local Fiber-Optic Connections TCG was the first CAP, but there were soon others. MFS was founded in 1988 by Peter Kiewit Sons', the large Omaha-based construction firm. It not only pulled fiber in a number of top-tier cities, it also took an early role in the growth of the commercial Internet. Its fiber rings in the Washington and San Jose areas were used by backbone ISPs, and in 1994 the company created the Metropoli- tan Area Ethernet-East and West (MAE-East and MAE-West) peering points, which remain major intersections on the worldwide Internet. But the major capital investment was in the local fiber networks. By 1996, MFS had pulled 3,183 miles of fiber-optic cable and had "lit" more than 5,700 buildings in 52 metropolitan areas [2]. This was no small investment. Investors had to expect a bright future to absorb such costs. Another CAP, Hyperion Telecommunications, was created in 1991 by Adelphia Communications, a large cable operator. Hyperion's service area was a bit different: Rather than address the top-tier cities, it focused on Adelphia's footprint and on smaller markets where other CAPs were unlikely to go. For example, it built a route the length of the state of Vermont, then westward to Buffalo, N.Y., and served cities such as Erie, Pa., and Columbia, S.C. It later changed its name to Adelphia Business Solutions. (After bankruptcy, the assets were operated as Telcove.) Brooks Fiber Properties, a St. Louis-based CAP founded in 1993, also focused on second-tier markets, such as Providence, R.I., Little Rock, Ark., and Fresno, Calif. It went public in 1996. Of course none of these companies was to remain independent, or u