Pilot
Pilot Fiber is a NYC metro fiber-optic ISP that owns and operates 300+ miles of fiber across 1,000+ on-net buildings, serving 3,500+ businesses with enterprise-grade dedicated internet, dark fiber, wavelength, and cloud connectivity services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pilot does
Pilot Fiber, Inc. is a privately held, vertically integrated fiber-optic infrastructure provider headquartered in New York City. Founded in 2014, the company owns and operates 300+ route miles of self-built fiber across the NYC metro area with in-house construction and maintenance crews, passing 1,000+ commercial buildings and serving 3,500+ businesses. Its network architecture features a 400G backbone with 800G-ready capability built on Smartoptics optical transport technology, redundant diverse routing, and direct connections to more than 20 data centers including NASDAQ and NYSE.
The company's product portfolio comprises six core services delivered over its owned fiber: Dedicated Internet Access (symmetrical 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps with enterprise SLAs), Dark Fiber (custom customer-controlled infrastructure), IP Transit (multi-terabit backbone with premium peering), Wavelength Services (managed 10-400 Gbps optical transport with guaranteed latency), Ethernet Transport (1-100 Gbps point-to-point), and CloudConnect (direct private links to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud). Revenue is generated through monthly recurring subscriptions priced from $750/month for standard 500 Mbps DIA up to five-figure monthly contracts for enterprise wavelength services, supplemented by a one-time installation fee equal to one month's service. The pricing model is month-to-month with no annual contracts, and pricing is fully inclusive of taxes and fees.
Pilot serves a vertical-diversified customer base spanning financial services (its primary segment, including trading firms, hedge funds, and exchanges), media and entertainment, technology and startups, professional services, hospitality, retail, healthcare (HIPAA-ready), and real estate. Named customers include OpenAI, Uniqlo, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, and Waldorf Astoria. Distribution combines direct enterprise field sales, a channel partner program with telecom service distributors (Intelisys, Telarus, Sandler Partners, AppDirect, Bridgepointe), and self-serve online ordering for SMBs in on-net buildings. The company has announced an acquisition of Extenet Systems' enterprise fiber business (expected to close Q2 2026), which would extend its footprint into New Jersey with a Hudson River crossing fiber link to NJ data center corridors.
Pilot firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pilot
- Legal name
- Pilot Fiber, Inc.
- Website
- https://pilotfiber.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Pilot Fiber is a NYC metro fiber-optic ISP that owns and operates 300+ miles of fiber across 1,000+ on-net buildings, serving 3,500+ businesses with enterprise-grade dedicated internet, dark fiber, wavelength, and cloud connectivity services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pilot industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Fiber Connectivity Services
- NAICS
- Wired Telecommunications Carriers (517111)
- SIC
- Computer Communications Equipment (3576)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wholesale Wavelength, Spectrum & Dark Fiber Providers (IRU/Leases) (HDAIALAI)
Keywords
Where Pilot is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Pilot business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Dedicated Internet Access (DIA): Monthly recurring charges for dedicated fiber internet service with symmetrical bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps. Enterprise SLAs included. No annual contracts required.
- Dark Fiber: Custom fiber pathways where customers control infrastructure. Revenue from dedicated fiber pair leases.
- IP Transit: Multi-terabit backbone with premium peering for carrier and enterprise customers.
- Wavelength Services: Managed point-to-point optical transport for demanding applications with guaranteed latency.
- Ethernet Transport: Point-to-point private connectivity between offices with low-latency links.
- CloudConnect: Direct private connections to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Installation Fees: One-time installation fee equal to one month's service for new connections.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Standard tier - 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps symmetrical |
| Subscription | Monthly | Business tier - 2.5 to 10 Gbps symmetrical |
| Subscription | Monthly | Enterprise tier - 25 to 100 Gbps symmetrical |
| Subscription | Monthly | Wavelength Services - 10 to 400 Gbps |
| Subscription | Monthly | CloudConnect - 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Pilot product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pilot Fiber owns and operates 300+ miles of self-built fiber-optic infrastructure across the NYC metro area, delivering dedicated internet, dark fiber, IP transit, managed wavelength services, Ethernet transport, and direct cloud connectivity (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) to enterprises, carriers, and financial institutions. Services are installed in 5-15 days on Pilot's owned network with symmetrical bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps, sold primarily on a month-to-month subscription basis.
Product overview
Pilot Fiber is an enterprise connectivity provider offering a unified portfolio of fiber-based connectivity services across the NYC metro area. The core product suite comprises six interconnected services: Dedicated Internet (high-capacity symmetrical bandwidth with SLAs), Dark Fiber (custom infrastructure customers control), IP Transit (multi-terabit backbone with peering), Wavelength (managed optical transport), Ethernet Transport (point-to-point private connectivity), and CloudConnect (direct cloud provider connections). These services share common infrastructure (300+ miles of owned fiber, 1000+ buildings) and are delivered through in-house construction and operations teams with 5-15 day installation timelines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Dedicated Internet High-capacity fiber internet with symmetrical bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps, featuring dual-path protection, direct peering, custom diverse paths, and enterprise SLAs with 100% bandwidth availability guarantee. Designed for businesses, carriers, and financial institutions requiring dedicated, contract-grade connectivity.
- Dark Fiber Custom-designed, purpose-built fiber infrastructure delivered in days rather than months, providing complete control over fiber pathways with monitoring capabilities. Targeted at enterprise and carrier customers that want to operate their own infrastructure over dedicated fiber pairs.
- IP Transit Multi-terabit backbone internet service with premium peering and 20+ national POPs, supporting bursting up to 100 Gbps when needed, delivered over Pilot's owned resilient network. Targeted at carrier and enterprise customers that need backbone connectivity and peering.
- Wavelength Services Managed point-to-point optical transport service with custom diverse path design, guaranteed consistent latency, and support for 10-400 Gbps capacity with infinite MTU size. Launched in March 2026 in NYC using Smartoptics technology, supporting 400G backbone with 800G-ready architecture for latency-sensitive workloads.
- Ethernet Transport Point-to-point private connectivity with redundant IP backbone protection and dedicated bandwidth ranging from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps. Designed for multi-site enterprises connecting offices with low-latency private links.
- CloudConnect Direct, private connections to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud that bypass the public internet, providing bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Targeted at enterprises running cloud-based retail systems, SaaS applications, and latency-sensitive cloud workloads.
Quantifiable outcome
- 99.999% uptime SLA with 5-15 day installations in on-net buildings
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Pilot
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Pilot technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature4 records
Pilot partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- OSI GlobalcoreTechnology integrator delivering Smartoptics solutions for Pilot's wavelength services expansion in the New York metro area. Deployment included 400G backbone upgrade with 800G-ready architecture.
- IntellisyscoreTelecom service distributor partner in Pilot's channel partner program. Partners receive evergreen commissions, portal access, and dedicated channel team support.
- TelaruscoreTelecom service distributor partner in Pilot's channel partner program. Provides co-branded materials and cost-sharing for promotional efforts.
- Sandler PartnerscoreTelecom service distributor partner offering Pilot connectivity solutions to their customer base.
- AppDirectminorTelecom service distributor making Pilot available through their platform.
- BridgepointeminorTelecom service distributor partner offering Pilot connectivity solutions.
- SmartopticscoreTechnology provider for Pilot's wavelength services. Smartoptics technology enables 400-gigabit connections with 800G-ready architecture for high-capacity, resilient connectivity.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pilot competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lightpath: Lightpath is a NYC metro-focused fiber ISP serving enterprises, carriers, and schools with dedicated internet, wavelength, and dark fiber services — directly competing with Pilot on the same customer base in the same geography.
- Cogent Communications: Cogent provides IP transit and dedicated internet access over its owned global fiber backbone with metro fiber presence, competing with Pilot's IP Transit and DIA products for enterprise and carrier customers.
- GTT Communications: GTT delivers managed enterprise networking including IP transit, Ethernet, wavelengths, and cloud connectivity over its own global fiber network, competing for multi-site enterprise customers with Pilot.
- Atlantic Metro Communications: Atlantic Metro is a regional fiber and managed network services provider in the Northeast US offering dark fiber, wavelengths, and cloud connectivity — comparable to Pilot in size, product mix, and target market.
Broad incumbents
- Crown Castle Fiber: Crown Castle operates a national fiber and small cell infrastructure footprint with significant presence in NYC/NJ; it sells dark fiber, Ethernet, and wavelength services to enterprise and carrier customers overlapping with Pilot's product set.
- Zayo Group: Zayo is a national fiber carrier offering dark fiber, wavelengths, Ethernet, IP transit, and cloud connectivity; it has substantial NYC metro fiber and competes for the same enterprise and carrier customers as Pilot.
- Lumen Technologies: Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) is a major incumbent carrier with deep fiber coverage in NYC and a broad enterprise portfolio including wavelengths, Ethernet, IP transit, and managed cloud connectivity, directly overlapping Pilot's offerings.
- Verizon Business: Verizon operates one of the densest fiber footprints in NYC and provides enterprise DIA, Ethernet, wavelength, and cloud connectivity; it competes for the same financial, media, and enterprise customers Pilot serves.
- Spectrum Enterprise: Spectrum Enterprise (Charter) offers fiber and hybrid coax business internet, Ethernet, and managed services across NYC and competes with Pilot on SMB and mid-market commercial accounts.
Others
- Extenet Systems (enterprise fiber business): Extenet's enterprise fiber business — which Pilot is acquiring — operates owned fiber routes between Manhattan and NJ data centers and serves financial, carrier, and enterprise customers; directly comparable to Pilot's core offering and soon to be part of Pilot.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pilot social profiles
Digital presencePilot compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Pilot financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pilot leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Pilot subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
Pilot funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pilot M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pilot
What does Pilot do?
Pilot Fiber owns and operates 300+ miles of self-built fiber-optic infrastructure across the NYC metro area, delivering dedicated internet, dark fiber, IP transit, managed wavelength services, Ethernet transport, and direct cloud connectivity (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) to enterprises, carriers, and financial institutions. Services are installed in 5-15 days on Pilot's owned network with symmetrical bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps, sold primarily on a month-to-month subscription basis.
Is Pilot a public or private company?
Pilot is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pilot founded?
Pilot was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Pilot based?
Pilot is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pilot make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is the primary driver. The others are dark Fiber, IP Transit, wavelength Services, ethernet Transport, cloudConnect and installation Fees.
Who are Pilot's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lightpath, Cogent Communications, GTT Communications and Atlantic Metro Communications. Broad incumbents are Crown Castle Fiber, Zayo Group, Lumen Technologies, Verizon Business and Spectrum Enterprise. Extenet Systems (enterprise fiber business) is listed as an others.
Does Pilot have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pilot.
What industry is Pilot in?
Pilot's product category is Enterprise Fiber Connectivity Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAIALAI, Wholesale Wavelength, Spectrum & Dark Fiber Providers (IRU/Leases). Its NAICS code is 517111 and its SIC code is 3576.