Cogent Communications Group Inc. (Amex: COI) today announced that it has acquired the equipment and T1 business of NTT/Verio Inc. The terms have not yet been disclosed.

The deal will add 2,400 business customers in 23 markets across the U.S. to Cogent’s lineup, says Cogent. The carrier plans to migrate the acquired customers over to its 80-Gbit/s optical backbone over the coming months.

The acquisition continues Cogent’s trend of picking up companies and absorbing them into its burgeoning network in an attempt to become profitable. It has acquired six other companies this year: Aleron Inc. (see Did Cogent's Aleron Buy Boost Cisco?); UFO Communications Inc. (see Cogent Buys UFO); Symposium Omega Inc. (see Cogent Adds to Euro Empire); LNG Holdings SA; LambdaNet Communications GmbH (see Cogent Buys the Boss's Network); and Global Access Ltd. Since 2001, Cogent has acquired 13 companies, including Fiber Network Solutions (see Cogent Acquires Fiber Network Solutions); Fiber City Networks (see Cogent Acquires FiberCity Networks); and PSINet (see Cogent Acquires PSINet).

Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer said in a release announcing the deal that “Cogent’s core competitive advantage lies in the ownership of our IP-only fiber optic network and our steadfast commitment to provide the lowest priced, highest quality Internet service in the industry. This model enables Cogent to turn Verio’s T1 access customers into a healthy contributor to Cogent’s profitability.”

Verio says the deal will allow it to focus on managed services and higher-bandwidth solutions to its large corporate users. “Verio and NTT Communications will focus on global hosting, managed services, and higher-value Internet access and network solutions to fully leverage the strength of the NTT Communications Global IP Network,” Verio CEO Greg Conley said in the release.

— Chris Somerville, Senior Editor, NGS