Billionaire Tom Golisano is buying the high-speed fiber-optic internet provider Greenlight Networks of Rochester. Buying Greenlight Networks LLC puts Golisano squarely into competition with Spectrum-Charter cable for internet customers in Rochester and much of upstate New York.
Golisano’s Grand Oaks LLC of Pittsford has filed with the New York Public Service Commission for expedited approval of the Greenlight deal for an undisclosed sum.
Greenlight now operates with blazing fast fiber optic internet speeds mostly in eastern Monroe County. Its expansion has been slow, particularly west of the Genesee River. The Golisano deal will give Greenlight capital for much faster expansion in an environment where more internet users are ditching cable TV and going with services like Hulu or Amazon.