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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549



FORM 10-K

(Mark One) 

ý


ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20072010


OR

o


TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.

For the transition period from                                to                               

Commission file number 1-31227

COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Delaware52-2337274

(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
 52-2337274
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

1015 31 st31st Street N.W.
Washington, D.C.

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

20007

20007
(Zip Code)

(202) 295-4200
Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ýo    No oý

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes o    No ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o    No o

         Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. oý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer ýo Accelerated filer oý Non-accelerated filer o
(Do not check if a
smaller reporting company)
 Smaller reporting company o

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o    No ý

         The number of shares outstanding of the issuer's common stock, par value $0.001 per share, as of February 15, 200825, 2011 was 47,912,864.45,841,635.

         The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of $29.87$7.58 per share on June 29, 200730, 2010 as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market was approximately $1.3 billion.$327 million.




Table of Contents


COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.
FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 20072010
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
  
 Page

Part I—Financial Information

  

Item 1

 

Business

 32

Item 1A

 

Risk Factors

 9

Item 2

 

Description of Properties

 1720

Item 3

 

Legal Proceedings

 1820
Item 4Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders18

Part II—Other Information


 

 

Item 5

 

Market for the Registrant's Common Equity, and Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 1921

Item 6

 

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

 2223

Item 7

 

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 2324

Item 7A

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

 39

Item 8

 

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 4041

Item 9

 

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

 6768

Item 9A

 

Controls and Procedures

 6768

Item 9B

 

Other Information

 7071

Part III


 

 

Item 10

 

Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant

 7071

Item 11

 

Executive Compensation

 7071

Item 12

 

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

 7071

Item 13

 

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions

 7071

Item 14

 

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

 7071

Part IV



Item 15

 

Item 15

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

 7072

Signatures

 7577

i


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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

        Portions of the registrant's definitive proxy statement for the registrant's 20082011 annual shareholders meeting are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.


SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        This report may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events. You can identify these forward-looking statements by our use of words such as "anticipates," "believes," "continues," "expects," "intends," "likely," "may," "opportunity," "plans," "potential," "project," "will," and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, whether in the negative or the affirmative. We cannot guarantee that we actually will achieve these plans, intentions or expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those forecasts or anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

        You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our view only as of the date of this report. We undertake no obligation to update these statements or publicly release the result of any revisions to these statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.


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PART I

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

Overview

        We are a leading facilities-based provider of low-cost, high-speed Internet access and Internet Protocol, or IP, communications services. Our network is specifically designed and optimized to transmit data using IP. We deliver our services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations through approximately 15,00025,000 customer connections in North America and Europe.

        Our primary on-net service isconsists of high-speed Internet access at a speed of 100and IP connectivity ranging from 0.5 Megabits per second much faster than typical Internet access currently offered to businesses.10 Gigabits per second of bandwidth. We offer thisour on-net service exclusively through our own facilities, which run all the wayservices to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to our customers' premises.network. Because of our integrated network architecture, we are not dependent on local telephone companies to serve ourthese on-net customers. We provide on-net Internet access to net-centric and corporate customers. Our typicalprimary on-net service offered to our corporate customers is Internet access at a speed of 100 Megabits per second. Our corporate customers are located in multi-tenant office buildings areand typically include law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms and other professional services businesses. We also provideOur on-net services offered to our net-centric customers include Internet access toat speeds of ten Gigabits per second. Our net centric customers include certain bandwidth-intensive users such as universities, other ISPsInternet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies and commercial content providers at speeds of up to ten Gigabits per second.providers. These customers generally receive service in colocation facilities and in our data centers. For the years ended December 31, 2007, 20062008, 2009 and 20052010, our on-net customers generated 79.0%81.7%, 70.6%79.9% and 57.9%77.8%, respectively, of our total net service revenue.

        In additionOur off-net services are sold to providing our on-net services, we also provide Internet connectivity to customersbusinesses that are not located in buildings directly connected to our network. We serve these off-net customers using other carriers' facilities to provide thenetwork primarily by means of "last mile" portionaccess service lines obtained from other carriers, primarily in the form of the link from our customers' premises to our network.point-to-point TDM, POS, SDH and/or Carrier Ethernet circuits. For the years ended December 31, 2007, 20062008, 2009 and 2005,2010, our off-net customers generated 17.3%16.1%, 23.1%18.4%, and 33.0%21.0%, respectively, of our total net service revenue.

        Non-coreOur non-core services, are thosewhich consist primarily of legacy services of companies whose assets or businesses we have acquired and continue to support but do not actively sell.sell, primarily include dial-up Internet access services and voice services (only provided in Toronto, Canada). For the years ended December 31, 2007, 20062008, 2009 and 2005,2010, non-core services generated 3.7%2.2%, 1.7% and 6.3% and 9.1%1.2%, respectively, of our total net service revenue.

        We also operate 3441 data centers comprising approximately 300,000over 369,000 square feet throughout North America and Europe that allow customers to co-locate their equipment and access our network.

Competitive Advantages

        We believe we address many of the IP data communications needs of small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations by offering them high-quality Internet service at attractive prices.

        Low Cost of Operation.    We offer a streamlined set of products on an integrated network that operates on a single protocol. Our network design allows us to avoid many of the costs that our competitors incur associated with circuit-switched and TDM networks related to provisioning, monitoring and maintaining multiple transport protocols. We believe that our low cost of operation also gives us greater pricing flexibility and ana significant advantage in a competitive environment characterized by falling Internet access prices. We believe our value proposition is equal or superior to


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our competitors' in all on-net multi-tenant office buildings and carrier neutral data centers in which we compete.

        Independent Network.    Our on-net service does not rely on infrastructure controlled by local incumbent telephone companies. Wea third party carrier. In on-net multi-tenant office buildings we provide our customers the entire network, including the last mile and the in-building wiring to the customer's suite. In carrier neutral data centers we are colocated with our customers so only a connection within-the-data center is required to provide our services. This gives us more control over our service, quality and pricing andpricing. It also allows us to provision services more quickly and efficiently.efficiently than provisioning services on a third party carrier network. We are typically able to activate customer servicesservice to our customers in one of our on-net buildings in fewer thanapproximately ten business days.

        High Quality, Reliable Service.    We are able to offer high-quality Internet service due to our network which was designed(created solely to transmit IP data,data) and our dedicated intra-city bandwidth for each



customer. This design increases the speed and throughput of our network and reduces the number of data packets dropped during transmission.transmission compared to traditional circuit-switched networks. We believe that we deliver a high level of technical performance because our network is optimized for IP traffic. We believe that our network is more reliable and delivers IP traffic at lower cost than networks built as overlays to traditional circuit-switched networks.

        High Traffic Network Footprint.    We have strategically chosen locations, such as large multi-tenant office buildings in major cities and colocation facilities with high levels of Internet traffic, to maximize our revenue opportunities and expand our margins. Our network is connected to our on-net multi-tenant office buildings where we offer our services to a diverse set of high-quality, low churn customers within close physical proximity of each other. Our network is also directly connected to over 490 carrier neutral colocation and data centers where our net-centric customers directly interconnect with our network.

        Low Capital Cost to Grow Our Business.    We have a history of efficient network expansion and integration execution. We believe that we have incurred relatively minimal indebtednesslower costs in growing our business than our competitors because of our network design of usingwe use Internet routers without additional legacy equipment and our strategy of acquiringhave acquired optical fiber from the excess capacity in existing networks.

        Next Generation IP-Based Network.    We believe that there is a clear industry and market trend for legacy products (e.g., TDM voice, Private Line, Frame Relay, and ATM) to be replaced with IP-based services. Many of our competitors may need to migrate their existing customers and products to IP in the near future. Given our next generation IP network, we benefit from this trend. This migration can be costly, time consuming and risky. We do not face this challenge because our network and products are already IP-based. In addition, we believe there is a trend away from private networks to the use of the public Internet for communications services. Our focus has been and continues to be providing services that make use of the public Internet.

        Proven and Experienced Management Team.    Our senior management team is composed of seasoned executives with extensive expertise in the telecommunications industry as well as knowledge of the markets in which we operate. The members of our senior management team have an average of over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry.industry and have been working together at Cogent for several years. Several members of the senior management team have been working together at Cogent since 2000. Our senior management team has designed and built our network and led the integration of our network assets, customers and service offerings we acquired through 13 significant acquisitions.


        Convergence.    There is a clear industry and market trend for legacy products (e.g., TDM voice, Private Line, Frame Relay, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode) to converge on IP. ManyTable of our competitors will have to migrate their existing customers and products to IP. This migration can be costly, lengthy, and risky. We do not face this challenge because our network and products are IP.Contents

Our Strategy

        We intend to become the leading provider of high qualityhigh-quality Internet access and IP communications services and to continue to improve our profitability and cash flow. The principal elements of our strategy include:

        Focus on Providing Low-Cost, High-Speed Internet Access and IP Connectivity.    We intend to further load our high-capacity network to respond to the growing demand for high-speed Internet service generated by bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming media, online gaming, video, voice over IP (VOIP), remote data storage, distributed computing and virtual private networks. We intend to do so by continuing to offer our high-speed and high capacityhigh-capacity services at competitive prices.

        Pursuing On-Net Customer Growth.    We intend to increase usage of our network and operational infrastructure by adding customers in our existing on-net buildings, as well as adding multi-tenant office buildings and carrier neutral data centers to our network. Our on-net service generates greater profit margins and more control over service levels, quality, pricing and faster provisioning of services than our off-net services. Our fiber network connects directly to on-net customers' premises and we pay no local access ("last mile") charges to other carriers. We are responding to this on-net revenue opportunity by increasing our sales and marketing efforts including increasing our number of sales representatives and implementing strategies to optimize sales productivity.

        Selectively Pursuing Acquisition Opportunities.    In addition to adding customers through our sales and marketing efforts, we will continue to seek out acquisition opportunities that increase our customer base, allowing us to take advantage of the unused capacity ofon our network and to add revenues with minimal incremental costs. Given our record of successful asset integration, we believe we can continue to successfully integrate new businesses as they are acquired. We may also make additional acquisitions to addof network assets at attractive prices.

Our Network

        Our network is comprised of in-building riser facilities, metropolitan optical networks, metropolitan traffic aggregation points and inter-city transport facilities. We believe that we deliver a high level of technical performance because our network is optimized for IP traffic. We believe that our network is more reliable and delivers IP traffic at lower cost than networks built as overlays to traditional circuit-switched telephone networks.

        Our network serves 100over 160 metropolitan markets in North America and Europe and encompasses:


        We have created our network by acquiring optical fiber from carriers with large amounts of unused fiber and directly connecting Internet routers to our existing optical fiber national backbone. We have expanded our network through key acquisitions of financially distressed companies or their assets at a significant discount to their original cost. Due to our network design and acquisition strategy, we believe we are positioned to grow our revenue and increase our profitability with limited incremental capital expenditures. We expect our 2008 capital expenditure rate to be similar to the rate we experienced in 2007.


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Inter-city Networks

        Our inter-city network consists of optical fiber connecting major cities in North America and Europe. The North American and European portions of our network are connected by transatlantic circuits. Our network was built by acquiring from various owners of fiber optic networks the right to use one ortypically two strands of optical fiber out of the multiple fibers owned by the carrier. We have installedinstall the optical and electronic equipment necessary to amplify, regenerate, and route the optical signals along these networks. We have the right to use the optical fiber under long term agreements. We pay these providers fees for the maintenance of the optical fiber and provide our own equipment maintenance. The larger providers of our inter-city optical fiber are WilTel (now part of Level 3) in the United States, LDCOM (now part of Neuf Cegetel in France, MTI in Germany, Telia Sonera in Europe, and RENFE (adif) in Spain.

Intra-city Networks

        In each metropolitan area in which we provide our high-speed on-net Internet access service,services, our backbone network is connected to a routerone or more routers that are connected to one or more of our metropolitan optical networks. We create our intra-city networks by obtaining the right to use optical fiber from carriers with large amounts of dark fiber.optical fiber networks in those cities. These metropolitan networks consist of optical fiber that runs from the central router in a market into routers located in our on-net buildings. In most cases the metropolitan fiber runs in a ring architecture, which provides redundancy so that if the fiber is cut, data can still be transmitted to the central router by directing traffic in the opposite direction around the ring. The router in the building provides athe connection to each of our on-net customer.customers.

        Within the cities where we offer our off-net Internet access service,services, we lease circuits from telecommunications carriers, primarily local telephone companies, to provide the last mile connection to theour customer's premises. Typically, these circuits are aggregated at various locations in those cities onto higher-capacity leased circuits that ultimately connect the local aggregation route to our network.

In-Building Networks

        In office buildings where we provide service to multiple tenants we connect our routers to a cable typically containing 12 to 288 optical fiber strands that typically run from our equipment in the basement of the building through the building riser to the customer location. Service for customersOur service is initiated by connecting a fiber optic cable from aour customer's local area network to the infrastructure in the building riser. TheOur customer then has dedicated and secure access to our network using an Ethernet connection. We believe that Ethernet is the lowest cost network connection technology and is used almost universally for the local area networks that businesses operate.


Internetworking

        The Internet is an aggregation of interconnected networks. We interconnecthave settlement -free interconnections between our network withand most major and hundreds of minor Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, at approximately 70 locations.ISPs. We interconnect our network through public and private peering arrangements. Public peering is the means by which ISPs have traditionally connected to each other at central, public facilities. Larger ISPs also exchange traffic and interconnect their networks by means of direct private connections referred to as private peering.

        Peering agreements between ISPs are necessary in order for them to exchange traffic. Without peering agreements, each ISP would have to buy Internet access from every other ISP in order for its customer's traffic, such as email, to reach and be received from customers of other ISPs. We are considered a Tier 1 ISP and, as a result, we have settlement-free peering arrangements with most other providers. This allows us to exchange traffic with those ISPs without payment by either party. In such arrangements, each party exchanging traffic bears its own cost of delivering traffic to the point at which it is handed off to the other party. We also engage in public peering arrangements in which each party also pays a fee to the owner of routing equipment that operates as the central exchange for all the


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participants. We do not treat our settlement-free peering arrangements as generating revenue or expense related to the traffic exchanged. WhereHowever, we do not have settlement-free peering connectioncharge customers for transit services across our network. We directly connect with an ISP, we exchange traffic through an intermediary, whereby such intermediary receives payment from us. Currently, less than 1% of our traffic is handled this way.over 3,500 total networks.

Network Management and Control

        Our primary network operations centers are located in Washington, D.CD.C. and Madrid, Spain. These facilities provide continuous operational support in both North America and Europe. Our network operations centers are designed to immediately respond to any problems in our network. To ensure the quick replacement of faulty equipment in the intra-city and long-haul networks, we have deployed field engineers across North America and Europe. In addition, we have maintenance contracts with third party vendors that specialize in optical and routed networks.

Our Services

        We offer our high-speed Internet access and IP connectivity primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations located in North America and Europe.

        The table below shows our primary service offerings:

On-Net Services
 Bandwidth
(Mbps)

Fiber500

 0.5

Two Meg

 2.0

Fast Ethernet

 100

Gigabit Ethernet

 1,000

10 Gigabit Ethernet

 10,000

Colocation with Internet Access

 2 to 10,000
Point-to-Point 1.5 to 10,000

Off-Net ServicesPoint-to-Point


  10 to 10,000


Off-Net Services
Bandwidth
(Mbps)

T1 or E1

 1.5 or 2.0

T3 or E3

 45 or 34

Ethernet

 10, 100 or 1,000

        We offer on-net services in 100over 160 metropolitan markets. We serve over 1,2001,580 buildings of which more than 1,0501,330 are located in North America with the remainder located in Europe. Our most popular on-net service in North America is our Fast Ethernet service, which provides Internet access at 100 megabits per second. We typically offer our Fast Ethernet (Internet access) service to our small and medium-sized business customers at $1,000 a month for month-to-month service. We offer lower prices for longer term commitments—typically $900 per month for a one year term and $800 per month for a two year term.customers. We also offer Internet access services at higher speeds of up to ten Gigabits per second. These services are generally used by customers that have businesses, such as web hosting, that are Internet based and are generally delivered at data centers and carrier hotels. We believe that, on a per-Megabit basis, this service offering is one of the lowest priced in the marketplace. We also offer colocation services in 3441 locations in North America and Europe. This service offers Internet access combined with rack space and power in a Cogent facility, allowing the customer to locate a server or other equipment at that location and connect to our Internet service. Our final on-net service offering is our "Point-to-Point" or "Layer 2" service. These point-to-point connections span North America and Europe and allow customers to connect geographically dispersed local area networks in a seamless manner. We offer lower prices for longer term and volume commitments. We emphasize the sale of our on-net services because we believe that we have a competitive advantage in


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providing these services and our sales of these services generate highergreater gross profit margins.margins than our off-net services.

        We offer our off-net services to customers that are not located in our on-net buildings. These services are primarily provided in the metropolitan markets in North America and Europe in which we offer on-net services and in approximately 5 additional markets.services. These services are generally provided to small and medium-sized businesses in approximately 2,7003,430 off-net buildings. A significant amount of our off-net revenues were acquired revenues, which have historically churned at a greater rate than our on-net revenues. We expect the revenue from these off-net services to grow at a slower rate than our on-net revenues.

        We support certain non-core services that we assumed with certain of our acquisitions. These services primarily include our managed modem service,dial-up Internet access services and voice services (only provided in Toronto, Canada, and legacy point-to-point services. Our managed modem service is offered to larger businesses and other Internet service providers that serve individuals that dial in to the Internet. The business or ISP is our customer for this service. Individuals make use of the dial-in access through arrangements with the business or ISP.Canada). We expect that the revenue from theseour non-core services towill decline. We do not actively sell these services and expect the growth of our on-net Internet access services to compensate for this loss.

Sales and Marketing

        Sales.    We employ a direct sales and marketing approach.approach including telesales. As of February 1, 2008,2011, our sales force included 204311 full-time employees. Approximately one-third of these employees are located in our call centers with the remaining two-thirds located in our sales offices. Our outside direct sales personnel work through direct face-to-face contact with potential customers in, or intending to locate in, our on-net buildings. Through agreements with building owners, we are able to initiate and maintain personal contact with our customers by staging various promotional and social events in our on-net buildings. Direct sales personnel are compensated with a base salary plus quota-based commissions and incentives. We use a customer relationship management system to efficiently track sales activity levels and sales productivity.

        Agent Program.    We also have an agent program used as an alternate channel to distribute our products and services. The agent program consists of value-added resellers, IT consultants, and smaller telecom agents, who are managed by our direct sales personnel, and larger national or regional companies whose primary business is to sell telecommunications, data, and Internet services. The agent program includes over 110 agents.

        Marketing.    Because of our focus on a direct sales force, we have not spent funds on television, radio or print advertising. Our marketing efforts are designed to drive awareness of our products and services, identify qualified leads through various direct marketing campaigns and provide our sales force



with product brochures, collateral materials, in building marketing events and relevant sales tools to improve the overall effectiveness of our sales organization. In addition, we conduct public relations efforts focused on cultivating industry analyst and media relationships with the goal of securing media coverage and public recognition of our Internet communications services. Our marketing organization is responsible for our product strategy and direction based upon primary and secondary market research and the advancement of new technologies.

Competition

        We face competition from incumbent carriers, Internet service providers and facilities-based network operators, many of whom are much larger than us, have significantly greater financial resources, better-established brand names and large, existing installed customer bases in the markets in which we compete. We also face competition from other new entrants to the communications services market. Many of these companies offer products and services that are similar to our products and services, and we expect the level of competition to intensify in the future.services. Unlike some of our competitors, we do not have title to most of the dark fiber that makes up our network. Our interests in that dark fiber are in the form of long-term leases under indefeasible rights of use or IRUs obtained from their titleholders.IRUs. We rely on the third-party maintenance of such dark fiber to provide our on-net services to customers. We are also dependent on third-partythird party providers, some of whom are our competitors,for the local loop facilities for the provision of connections to our off-net customers.

        We believe that competition is based on many factors, including price, transmission speed, ease of access and use, breadth of service availability, reliability of service, customer support and brand recognition. Because our fiber optic networks have been recently installed compared to those of the incumbent carriers, our state-of-the-art technology may provide us with cost, capacity, and service quality advantages over some existing incumbent carrier networks; however, our network may not support some of the services supported by these legacy networks, such as circuit-switched voice, ATM


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and frame relay. While the Internet access speeds offered by traditional ISPs serving multi-tenant office buildings typically do not match our on-net offerings, these slower services are usually priced lower than our offerings and thus provide competitive pressure on pricing, particularly for more price-sensitive customers. These and other downward pricing pressures particularly in carrier neutral data centers have diminished, and may further diminish, the competitive advantages that we have enjoyed as the result of our service pricing.

Regulation

        In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates common carriers' interstate services and the state public utilities commissions exercise jurisdiction over intrastate basic telecommunications services. Our Internet service offerings are not currently regulated by the FCC or any state public utility commission. However, wecommissions. The FCC recently promulgated rules intended to regulate some aspects of the way traffic is handled by Internet service providers. We may become subject to additional regulation in the U.S. at the federal and state levels and in other countries. The offerings of many of our competitors and vendors, especially incumbent local telephone companies, are subject to direct federal and state regulations. These regulations change from time to time in ways that are difficult for us to predict.

        In the United States, we are subject to the obligations set forth in the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which is administered by the FCC. That law requires that we be able to intercept communications when required to do so by law enforcement agencies. We are required to comply or we may face significant fines and penalties. We are subject to similar requirements in other countries.

        There is no current legal requirement that owners or managers of commercial office buildings give access to competitive providers of telecommunications services, although the FCC does prohibit carriers from entering contracts that restrict the right of commercial multiunit property owners to permit any other common carrier to access and serve the property's commercial tenants.


        Our subsidiary, Cogent Canada, offers voice and Internet services in Canada. Generally, the regulation of Internet access services and competitive voice services has been similar in Canada to that in the U.S. in that providers of such services face fewer regulatory requirements than the incumbent local telephone company. This may change. Also, the Canadian government has requirements limiting foreign ownership of certain telecommunications facilities in Canada. We are not subject to these restrictions today. We will have to comply with these regulations to the extent they change and to the extent we begin using facilities in a manner that subjects us to these restrictions.

        Our European and Mexican subsidiaries operate in a more highly regulated environmentenvironments for the types of services they provide. In many Europeansuch countries, a national license or a notice filed with a regulatory authority is required for the provision of data and Internet services. In addition, our subsidiaries operating in member countries of the European Union are subject to the directives and jurisdiction of the European Union. We believe that each of our subsidiaries has the necessary licenses to provide its services in the markets where it operates today. To the extent we expand our operations or service offerings in Europe or otherinto new markets, in particularly in non EU member countries, we may face new regulatory requirements.

        The laws related to Internet telecommunications are unsettled and there may be new legislation and court decisions that may affect our services and expose us to liability.liabilities.

Employees

        As of February 1, 2008,2011, we had 431568 employees. A union represents twenty-twotwenty-three of our employees in France. We believe that we have a satisfactory relationship with our employees.


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Available Information

        We were incorporated in Delaware in 1999. We make available free of charge through our Internet website our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The reports are made available through a link to the SEC's Internet website atwww.sec.gov. You can find these reports and request a copy of our Code of Conduct on our website atwww.cogentco.com under the "Investor Relations" link.

ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS

If our operations do not consistently produce positive cash flow to pay for our growth or meet our operating and financing obligations, and we are unable to otherwise raise additional capital to meet these needs, our ability to implement our business plan will be materially and adversely affected.

        We currently generate positive cash flow from our operations. We are not consistently cash flow positive overall and we have limited funds available to us. If we do not become consistently cash flow positive or if we acquire or invest in additional businesses, assets, services or technologies we may need to raise additional capital beyond that available from our operating cash flow. We may also face unforeseen capital requirements for new technology required to remain competitive or to comply with new regulatory requirements, for unforeseen maintenance of our network and facilities, and for other unanticipated expenses associated with running our business. In addition, if we do not retain existing customers or add new customers, our cash flow may be impaired and we may be required to raise additional funds through the issuance of debt or equity. We cannot assure you that we will have access to necessary capital, nor can we assure you that any such financing will be available on terms that are acceptable to our stockholders or us. If issuing equity securities raises additional funds, substantial dilution to existing stockholders may result.


We need to retain existing customers and continue to add new customers in order to become consistently profitable and remain cash flow positive.

        In order to become consistently profitable and remain consistently cash flow positive, we need to both retain existing customers and continue to add a large number of new customers. The precise number of additional customers required to become profitable and remain consistently cash flow positive is dependent on a number of factors, including the turnover of existing customers, the pricing of our product offerings and the revenue mix among our customers. We may not succeed in adding customers if our sales and marketing plan isplans are unsuccessful. In addition, many of our target customers are existing businesses that are already purchasing Internet access services from one or more providers, often under a contractual commitment, and itcommitment. It has been our experience that such target customers are often reluctant to switch providers due to costs and effort associated with switching providers. Further, as some of our customers grow larger they may decide to build their own Internet networks. While no single customer accounted for more than 2.7%4.9% of our 20072010 revenues, a migration of a few very large Internet users to their own networks or the loss or reduced purchases from several significant customers could impair our growth.growth, cash flow and profitability.

Our growth and financial health are subject to a number of economic risks.

        Negative developments in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide have resulted in extreme disruption, including, among other things, extreme volatility in security prices, including our own, severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, rating downgrades of certain investments and declining valuations of others. While conditions in the capital and credit markets have improved, if the capital and credit markets continue to experience volatility and the availability of funds remains limited, it is possible that our ability to access the capital and credit markets for significant purchases or operations may be limited by these conditions or other factors at a time when we would


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like, or need, to do so. A prolonged downturn in the capital or credit markets may cause us to seek alternative sources of potentially less attractive financing. This could have an impact on our ability to react to changing economic and business conditions.

        The economic downturn has significantly affected the financial services industry, which includes many of our customers. In addition, the tightening of credit in financial markets potentially adversely affects the ability of certain of our customers to obtain financing for their operations, and could result in a decrease in sales to new customers or an increase in existing customers canceling our services as well as impact the ability of our customers to make payments, which would negatively impact our cash flow. We are experiencing rapid growthunable to predict the likely duration and severity of ourany disruption in financial markets and adverse economic conditions in the U.S. and other countries.

Our business and operations are growing rapidly and we may not be able to efficiently manage our growth.

        We have rapidly grown our company through acquisitions of companies, assets and customers as well as implementation of our own network expansion and the acquisition of new customers through our own sales efforts. Our expansion places significant strains on our management, operational and financial infrastructure. Our ability to manage our growth will be particularly dependent upon our ability to:

If we fail to implement these measures successfully, our ability to manage our growth will be impaired.

We may experience difficulties in implementing our expansion in Eastern Europe and Mexico and may incur related unexpected costs and regulatory issues.

        In 2007, weWe began to expand our network into Eastern Europe.Europe in 2007 and into Mexico in 2009. We may have experienced difficulty in acquiring dark fiber and other difficulties in making our network operational in this region. Thethese markets. Our expansion may cost more thatthan we have planned. We also may experience regulatory issues. Finally, we may be unsuccessful in selling our services in this region.these markets. If we are not successful in developing our market presence in Eastern Europe and Mexico our operating results and growth could be adversely impacted.

We may experience delays and additional costs in expanding our on-net buildings.

        Currently, we plan on continuing to increase the number of our carrier-neutral facilities and other on-netmulti-tenant office buildings by approximately 100 buildings in 2008 from 1,217 at December 31, 2007.that are connected to our network. We may be unsuccessful at identifying appropriate buildings or negotiating favorable terms for acquiring access to such buildings, and consequently, may experience difficulty in adding customers to our network and fully using our network's available capacity.

Our connections to the network's capacity.Internet require us to establish and maintain relationships with other providers, which we may not be able to maintain.

        The Internet is composed of various public and private network providers who operate their own networks that interconnect at public and private interconnection points. Our network is one such network. In order to obtain Internet connectivity for our network, we must establish and maintain relationships with other providers and incur the necessary capital costs to locate our equipment and connect our network at these various interconnection points.


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        By entering into what are known as settlement-free peering arrangements, providers agree to exchange traffic between their respective networks without charging each other. Our ability to avoid the higher costs of acquiring paid dedicated network capacity and to maintain high network performance is dependent upon our ability to establish and maintain peering relationships. The terms and conditions of our peering relationships may also be subject to adverse changes, which we may not be able to control. For example, several network operators with large numbers of individual users are arguing that they should be able to charge or charge more to network operators and businesses that exchange traffic to those users. If we are not able to maintain or increase our peering relationships in all of our markets on favorable terms, we may not be able to provide our customers with high performance or affordable or reliable services, which could cause us to lose existing and potential customers, damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business. We have in the past had disputes with other network providers that resulted in a temporary disruption of the exchange of traffic between our network and the network of the other carrier. We have resolved the majority of such disputes through negotiations. We continue to experience resistance from certain incumbent telephone companies, especially in Europe, to upgrade the settlement-free peering connections necessary to accommodate the growth of the traffic that we exchange with such carriers. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to establish and maintain relationships with providers or favorably resolve disputes with providers.

We may be required to censor content on the Internet, which we may find difficult to do and which may impact our ability to provide service in some countries as well as impact the growth of Internet usage, upon which we depend.

        Some governments attempt to limit access to certain content on the Internet. It is impossible for us (and other providers as far as we know) to filter all content that flows across the Internet connections we provide. For example, some content is encrypted when a secure web site is accessed. It is difficult to limit access to web sites that engage in practices that make it difficult to block them by blocking a fixed set of Internet addresses. Should a government require us to perform these types of blocking procedures we could experience difficulties ranging from incurring additional expenses to ceasing to provide service in that country. We could also be subject to penalties if we fail to implement the censorship.

We may not successfully make or integrate acquisitions or enter into strategic alliances.

        As part of our growth strategy, we intend to pursue selected acquisitions and strategic alliances. To date, we have completed 13 significant acquisitions. We compete with other companies for acquisition opportunities and we cannot assure you that we will be able to effectexecute future acquisitions or strategic alliances on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if we enter into these transactions, we may experience:

        In the past, our acquisitions have often included assets, service offerings and financial obligations that are not compatible with our core business strategy. We have expended management attention and


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other resources to the divestiture of assets, modification of products and systems as well as restructuring financial obligations of acquired operations. In most acquisitions, we have been successful in renegotiating the long-term agreements that we have acquired relating to long distance and local transport of data and IP traffic.acquired. If we are unable to satisfactorily renegotiate such agreements in the future or with respect to future acquisitions, we may be exposed to large claims for payment for services and facilities we do not need.

        Consummating these transactions could also result in the incurrence of additional debt and related interest expense, as well as unforeseen contingent liabilities, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Because we have purchased financially distressed companies or their assets, and may continue to do so in the future, we have not had, and may not have, the opportunity to perform extensive due diligence or obtain contractual protections and indemnifications that are customarily provided in corporate acquisitions. As a result, we may face unexpected contingent liabilities arising from these acquisitions. We may also issue additional equity in connection with these transactions, which would dilute our existing shareholders.

        Revenues generated by the customer contracts that we have acquired have accounted for a substantial portion of our historical growth in non-core and off-net service revenues. However, followingFollowing an acquisition, we have experienced a decline in revenue attributable to acquired customers as these customers' contracts have expired and they have entered into standard Cogent customer contracts at generally lower rates or have chosen not to renew service with us. We anticipate that we will experience similar declines with respect to customers we have acquired or will acquire.may acquire in the future.

We depend upon our key employees and may be unable to attract or retain sufficient qualified personnel.

        Our future performance depends upon the continued contribution of our executive management team and other key employees, in particular, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dave Schaeffer. As founder of our company, Mr. Schaeffer's knowledge of our business and our industry combined with his deep involvement in every aspect of our operations and planning make him particularly well-suited to lead our company and difficult to replace.


Our connections to the Internet require us to establish and maintain relationships with other providers, which we may not be able to maintain.

        The Internet is composed of various public and private network providers who operate their own networks and interconnect them at public and private interconnection points. Our network is one such network. In order to obtain Internet connectivity for our network, we must establish and maintain relationships with other providers and incur the necessary capital costs to locate our equipment and connect our network at these various interconnection points.

        By entering into what are known as settlement-free peering arrangements, providers agree to exchange traffic between their respective networks without charging each other. Our ability to avoid the higher costs of acquiring dedicated network capacity and to maintain high network performance is dependent upon our ability to establish and maintain peering relationships. The terms and conditions of our peering relationships may also be subject to adverse changes, which we may not be able to control. For example, several network operators with large numbers of individual users are arguing that they should be able to charge or charge more to network operators and businesses that send traffic to those users. If we are not able to maintain or increase our peering relationships in all of our markets on favorable terms, we may not be able to provide our customers with high performance or affordable services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We have in the past encountered some disputes with certain of our providers regarding our peering arrangements, but we have generally been able to route our traffic through alternative peering arrangements, resolve such disputes, or terminate such peering arrangements with a minimal adverse impact on our business. In the past we had two such disputes that resulted in a temporary disruption of the exchange of traffic between our network and the network of the other carrier. We continue to experience resistance from certain incumbent telephone companies, especially in Europe, to the upgrade of settlement free peering connections necessary to accommodate the growth of traffic we send to such carriers. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to establish and maintain relationships with providers or favorably resolve disputes with providers.

        We make some of our connections to other Internet networks pursuant to agreements through carriers that make data transmission capacity available to us at negotiated rates. In some instances these agreements have minimum and maximum volume commitments. If we fail to meet the minimum, or exceed the maximum, volume commitments, our costs may rise.

Our business could suffer because telephone companies and cable companies may provide better delivery of Internet content originating on their own networks.

        Broadband connections provided by cable TV and telephone companies have become the predominant means by which consumers connect to the Internet. The providers of these broadband connections may treat Internet content delivered from different sources differently. The possibility of this has been characterized as an issue of "net neutrality." As many of our customers operate websites and services that deliver content to consumers our ability to sell our services would be negatively impacted if Internet content delivered by us was less easily received by consumers than Internet content delivered by others.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") has recently adopted rules addressing net neutrality that it deems necessary to ensure continuation of an "open" Internet. We have substantial debt which we may not be ablecannot predict whether or how the FCC's new rules or subsequent additions or changes to repay when due.

        We have $200.0 million of senior convertible notes outstanding. The holders of the notes have the right to compel us to repurchase for cash on June 15, 2014, June 15, 2017those rules will affect our business and June 15, 2022, all or some of their notes. They also have the right to be paid the principal upon default and upon certain designated events, such as certain changes of control. We may not have sufficient funds to pay the principal at the time we are obligated to do so, which could result in bankruptcy, or we may only be able to raise the funds on unfavorable terms.


The holders of our senior convertible notes have the right to convert their notes to common stock.

        The holders of our senior convertible notes are under certain circumstances able to convert their notes into common stock at a conversion price of $49.18 per share of common stock and to obtain additional shares of common stock. If our share price exceeds $49.18 and the conversion right is exercised by the holders of the notes the number of our shares of common stock outstanding will increase which could reduce further appreciation in our stock price and impact our per share earnings. Rather than issue the stock we are permitted to pay the cash equivalent in value to the stock to be issued. We might not have sufficient funds to do this or doing so might have other detrimental impacts on us.operations.

Our operations outside of the United States expose us to economic, regulatory and other risks.

        The nature of our European, Canadian, and Canadian business involvesMexican businesses involve a number of risks, including:


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        As we continue to expand our European and Canadian businesses,into other countries, our success will depend, in part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks. Our failure to manage these risks and grow our European and Canadian operations outside the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates may adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

        Our European and Canadian operations outside the U.S. expose us to currency fluctuations and exchange rate risk. For example, while we record revenues and the financial results fromof our European operations in euros,Euros, these results are reflected in our consolidated financial statements in U.S. dollars. Therefore, our reported results are exposed to fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the euro.Euro. We fund certain of our euro-based operating expenses and associated cash flow requirements of our European, Canadian and Mexican operations including IRU obligations, in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, in the event that the euro strengthens versustheir currencies strengthen against the dollar to a greater extent than we anticipate, the expenses and cash flow requirements associated with our Europeanthese operations may be significantly highergreater in U.S.-dollar terms than planned.

Our business could suffer delays and problems due to the actions of network providers on whom we are partially dependent.

        Our off-net customers are connected to our network by means of communications lines that are provided as services by local telephone companies and others. We may experience problems with the installation, maintenance and pricing of these lines and other communications links, which could adversely affect our results of operations and our plans to add additional customers to our network using such services. We have historically experienced installation and maintenance delays when the network provider is devoting resources to other services, such as traditional telephony. We have also experienced pricing problems when a lack of alternatives allows a provider to charge high prices for services in an area. We attempt to reduce this problem by using many different providers so that we have alternatives for linking a customer to our network. Competition among the providers tends to improve installation, maintenance and pricing.


Our network could suffer serious disruption if certain locations experience serious damage.

        There are certain locations through which a large amount of our Internet traffic passes. Examples are facilities in which we exchange traffic with other carriers, the facilityfacilities through which our transatlantic traffic passes, and certain of our network hub sites. If any of these facilities were destroyed or seriously damaged a significant amount of our network traffic could be disrupted. Because of the large volume of traffic passing through these facilities our ability (and the ability of carriers with whom we exchange traffic) to quickly restore service would be challenged. There could be parts of our network or the networks of other carriers that could not be quickly restored or that would experience substantially reduced service for a significant time. If such a disruption occurs, our reputation could be negatively impacted which may cause us to lose customers and adversely affect our ability to attract new customers, resulting in an adverse effect on our business and our operating results.

If the information systems that we depend on to support our customers, network operations, sales, billing and financial reporting do not perform as expected, our operations and our financial results may be adversely affected.

        We rely on complex information systems to operate our network and support our other business functions. Our ability to track sales leads, close sales opportunities, provision services, bill our customers for those services and prepare our financial statements depends upon the effective integration of our various information systems. If our information systems, individually or collectively, fail or do not perform as expected, our ability to process and provision orders, to make timely payments to vendors, to ensure that we collect revenueamounts owed to us and prepare our financial


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statements would be adversely affected. Such failures or delays could result in increased capital expenditures, customer and vendor dissatisfaction, loss of business or the inability to add new customers or additional services, and prepare accurate and timely financial statements all of which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We have historically incurred operating losses and these losses may continue for the foreseeable future.

        Since we initiated operations in 2000, we have generated operating losses and these losses may continue for the foreseeable future. In 20052008 we had an operating loss of $62.1$22.2 million, in 20062009 we had an operating loss of $46.6$3.8 million and in 20072010 we had an operating lossincome of $29.9$15.2 million. As of December 31, 2007,2010, we had an accumulated deficit of $296.0$332.0 million. Continued operating losses may prevent us from pursuing our strategies for growth or may require us to seek unplanned additional capital and could cause us to be unable to meet our debt service obligations, capital expenditure requirements or working capital needs.

The utilization of certain of our net operating loss carryforwards are limited and depending upon the amount of our taxable income we may be subject to paying income taxes earlier than planned.

        Due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of our net deferred tax asset, we have recorded a valuation allowance for the substantial majority of our net deferred tax asset. As of December 31, 2010, we have combined net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $1.1 billion. This amount includes federal and state net operating loss carry-forwards in the United States of approximately $376 million, and net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $6.2 million, $0.8 million and $686.6 million related to our operations in Canada, Mexico and Europe, respectively. Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code in the United States limits the utilization of net operating losses when ownership changes, as defined by that section, occur. We have performed an analysis of our Section 382 ownership changes and have determined that the utilization of certain of our net operating loss carryforwards in the United States may be limited.

We may have difficulty intercepting communications as required by the U.S. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.Act and similar laws of other countries.

        The U.S. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requiresand the laws of other countries require that we be able to intercept communications when required to do so by law enforcement agencies. We may experience difficulties and incur significant costs in complying with the law.these laws. If we are unable to comply with the laws we could be subject to fines in the United States of up to $1.0 million per event and equal or greater fines in other penalties.countries.

Our business could suffer from an interruption of service from our fiber providers.

        The carriers from whom we have obtained our inter-city and intra-city dark fiber maintain that dark fiber. We are contractually obligated under the agreements with these carriers to pay monthly maintenance fees, and if we are unable to continue to pay such monthly fees we would be in default under these agreements. If these carriers fail to maintain the fiber or disrupt our fiber connections due to our default or for other reasons, such as business disputes with us and governmental takings, our ability to provide service in the affected markets or parts of markets would be impaired.impaired unless we have or can obtain alternative fiber routes. The companies that maintain our inter-city dark fiber and many of the companies that maintain our intra-city dark fiber are also competitors of ours.



Consequently, they may have incentives to act in ways unfavorable to us. While we have successfully mitigated the effects of prior service interruptions and business disputes in the past, we may incur significant delays and costs in restoring service to our customers in connection with future service interruptions, and as a result we may lose customers if delays are substantial.customers.


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Our business depends on agreements with colocationcarrier neutral data center operators, which we could fail to obtain or maintain.

        Our business depends upon access to customers in carrier neutral colocationdata centers, which are facilities in which many large users of the Internet house the computer servers that deliver content and applications to users by means of the Internet and provide access to multiple Internet access networks. Most colocationcarrier neutral data centers allow any carrier to operate within the facility (for a standard fee). We expect to enter into additional colocation agreements with carrier neutral data center operators as part of our growth plan. Current government regulations do not require colocationcarrier neutral data center operators to allow all carriers access on terms that are reasonable or nondiscriminatory. We have been successful in obtaining agreements with these operators in the past and have generally found that the operators want to have us located in their colocation facilities because we offer low-cost, high capacity Internet service to their other customers. Any deterioration in our existing relationships with these colocation center operators could harm our sales and marketing efforts and could substantially reduce our potential customer base. Increasing concentration in this industry, such as the mergers between Switch & Data Facilities Company, Inc. and Equinix, Inc., and Verizon Communications, Inc. and Terremark Worldwide, Inc. could negatively impact us if any such combined entities decide to discontinue operation of their facilities in a carrier neutral fashion.

Our businessability to serve customers in multi-tenant office buildings depends on license agreements with building owners and managers, which we could fail to obtain or maintain.

        Our on-net business depends upon our in-building networks. Our in-building networks depend on access agreements with building owners or managers allowing us to install our in-building networks and provide our services in these buildings. These agreements typically have terms of five to ten years, with one or more renewal options. Any deterioration in our existing relationships with building owners or managers could harm our sales and marketing efforts and could substantially reduce our potential customer base. We expect to enter into additional access agreements as part of our growth plan. Current federal and state regulations do not require building owners to make space available to us or to do so on terms that are reasonable or nondiscriminatory. While the FCC has adopted regulations that prohibit common carriers under its jurisdiction from entering into exclusive arrangements with owners of multi-tenant commercial office buildings, these regulations do not require building owners to offer us access to their buildings. Building owners or managers may decide not to permit us to install our networks in their buildings or they may elect not to renew or amend our access agreements. The initial term of most of our access agreements will conclude in the next several years. Most of these agreements have one or more automatic renewal periods and others may be renewed at the option of the landlord. While we have historically been successful in renewing these agreements and no single building access agreement is material to our success, the failure to obtain or maintain a number of these agreements would reduce our revenue, and we might not recover our costs of procuring building access and installing our in-building networks.networks in those locations.

We may not be able to obtain or construct additional building laterals to connect new buildings to our network.

        In order to connect a new building to our network we need to obtain or construct a lateral from our metropolitan network to the building. We may not be able to obtain fiber in an existing lateral at an attractive price from a provider and may not be able to construct our own lateral due to the cost of construction or municipal regulatory restrictions. Failure to obtain fiber in an existing lateral or to construct a new lateral could keep us from adding new buildings to our network and from increasingnegatively impact our revenues.growth opportunities.


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Impairment of our intellectual property rights and our alleged infringement on other companies' intellectual property rights could harm our business.

        We are aware of several other companies in our and other industries that use the word "Cogent" in their corporate names. One company has informed us that it believes our use of the name "Cogent" infringes on their intellectual property rights in that name. If such a challenge is successful, we could be required to change our name and lose the goodwill associated with the Cogent name in our markets.

        Furthermore, we cannot assure you that the steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property rights will be adequate to deter misappropriation of proprietary information or that we will be able to detect unauthorized use and take appropriate steps to enforce our intellectual property rights. We also are subject to the risk of litigation alleging infringement of third party intellectual property rights. Any such claims could require us to spend significant sums in litigation, pay damages, develop non-infringing intellectual property or acquire licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of the alleged infringement.

The sector in which we operate is highly competitive, and we may not be able to compete effectively.

        We face significant competition from incumbent carriers, Internet service providers and facilities-based network operators. Relative to us, many of these providers have significantly greater financial resources, more well-established brand names, larger customer bases, and more diverse strategic plans and service offerings.

        Intense competition from these traditional and new communications companies has led to declining prices and margins for many communications services, and we expect this trend to continue as competition intensifies in the future. Decreasing prices for high-speed Internet services have somewhat diminished the competitive advantage that we have enjoyed as a result of our service pricing.

        Our competitors may also introduce new technologytechnologies or services that could make our services less attractive to potential customers. For example, some providers are introducing a new version of the Internet protocol (Ipv6) that we do not plan to introduce at this time. If this becomes important to Internet users our ability to compete may be lessened or we may have to incur additional costs in order to accommodate this technology.

We issue projected results and estimates for future periods from time to time, and such projections and estimates are subject to inherent uncertainties and may prove to be inaccurate.

        Financial information, results of operations and other projections that we may issue from time to time are based upon our assumptions and estimates. While we believe these assumptions and estimates to be reasonable when they are developed, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. You should understand that certain unpredictable factors could cause our actual results to differ from our expectations and those differences may be material. No independent expert participates in the preparation of these estimates. These estimates should not be regarded as a representation by us as to our results of operations during such periods as there can be no assurance that any of these estimates will be realized. In light of the foregoing, we caution you not to place undue reliance on these estimates. These estimates constitute forward-looking statements.

Network failure or delays and errors in transmissions expose us to potential liability.

        Our network is part of the Internet which is a network of networks. Our network uses a collection of communications equipment, software, operating protocols and proprietary applications for the high-speed transportation of large quantities of data among multiple locations. Given the complexity of our network, it is possible that data will be lost or distorted. Delays in data delivery may cause significant losses to one or more customers using our network. Our network may also contain undetected design faults and software bugs that, despite our testing, may not be discovered in time to prevent harm to our network or to the data transmitted over it. The failure of any equipment or facility


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on theour network could result in the interruption of customer service until we effectaffect the necessary repairs or install replacement equipment. Network failures, delays and errors could also result from natural disasters, power losses, security breaches, computer viruses, denial of service attacks and other natural or man-made events. Our off-net services are dependent on the networksnetwork facilities of other providers or on local telephone companies. Network failures, faults or errors could cause delays or



service interruptions, expose us to customer liability or require expensive modifications that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As an Internet access provider, we may incur liabilityliabilities for information disseminated through our network.

        The law relating to the liabilityliabilities of Internet access providers and on-line services companies for information carried on or disseminated through their networks is unsettled. As the law in this area develops and as we expand our international operations, the potential imposition of liabilityliabilities upon us for information carried on and disseminated through our network could require us to implement measures to reduce our exposure to such liability,liabilities, which may require the expenditure of substantial resources or the discontinuation of certain products or service offerings. Any costs that are incurred as a result of such measures or the imposition of liabilityliabilities could harm our business.

The holders of our senior convertible notes have the right to convert their notes to common stock.

        The holders of our senior convertible notes are under certain circumstances able to convert their notes into common stock at a conversion price of $49.18 per share of common stock and to obtain additional shares of common stock. If our share price exceeds $49.18 and the conversion rights are exercised by the holders of the convertible notes the number of our shares of common stock outstanding will increase which could reduce further appreciation in our stock price and impact our per share earnings. Rather than issue the stock we are permitted to pay the cash equivalent in value to the stock to be issued. We might not have sufficient funds to do this or doing so might have other detrimental impacts on us.

Legislation and government regulation could adversely affect us.

        As an enhancedInternet service provider, we are not subject to substantial regulation by the FCC or the state public utilities commissions in the United States. However, the FCC has recently promulgated limited rules applicable to Internet service providers. Internet service is also subject to minimal regulation in Western Europe and in Canada. In Eastern Europe and Mexico the regulation is greater, though not as extensive as the regulation for providers of voice services. If we decide to offer traditional voice services or otherwise expand our service offerings to include services that would cause us to be deemed a common carrier, we will become subject to additional regulation. Additionally, if we offer voice service using IP (voice over IP) or offer certain other types of data services using IP we may become subject to additional regulation. This regulation could impact our business because of the costs and time required to obtain necessary authorizations, the additional taxes thanthat we may become subject to or may have to collect from our customers, and the additional administrative costs of providing voicethese services, and other costs. Even if we do not decide to offer additional services, governmental authorities may decide to impose additional regulation and taxes upon providers of Internet service. All of these could inhibit our ability to remain a low cost carrier.carrier and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

        Much of the law related to the liability of Internet service providers remains unsettled. For example, many jurisdictions have adopted laws related to unsolicited commercial email or "spam" in the last several years. Some jurisdictions have laws, regulations, or court decisions that impose obligations upon Internet access providers to restrict access to certain content. Other legal issues, such as the sharing of copyrighted information, transborder data flow, universal service, and liability for software viruses could become subjects of additional legislation and legal development. We cannot


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predict the impact of these changes on us. Regulatory changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Terrorist activity throughout the world, and military action to counter terrorism and natural disasters could adversely impact our business.

        The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the continued threat of terrorist activity and other acts of war or hostility have had, and may continue to have, an adverse effect on business, financial and general economic conditions internationally. Effects from these events and any future terrorist activity, including cyber terrorism, may, in turn, increase our costs due to the need to provide enhanced security, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations. These circumstances may also damage or destroy the Internet infrastructure and may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers, our ability to raise capital and the operation and maintenance of our network access points. We are particularly vulnerable to acts of terrorism because our largest customer concentration is located in New York, our headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and we have significant operations in Paris, Madrid and Madrid,London, cities that have historically been targets for terrorist attacks. We are also susceptible to other catastrophic events such as major natural disasters, extreme weather, fire or similar events that could affect our headquarters, other offices, our network, infrastructure or equipment, which could adversely affect our business.

If we do not comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, we may become subject to monetary or criminal penalties.

        The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generally prohibits companies and their intermediaries from bribing foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. We currently take precautions to comply with this law. However, these precautions may not protect us against liability, particularly as a result of actions that may be taken in the future by agents and other intermediaries through whom we have exposure under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act even though we may have limited or no ability to control such persons. Our competitors include foreign entities that are not subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and hence we may be at a competitive disadvantage.

Risk Factors Related to Our Indebtedness

We have substantial debt which we may not be able to repay when due.

        Our total indebtedness, net of discount, at December 31, 2010 was $182.9 million. As of December 31, 2010, we have $92.0 million of face value of senior convertible notes outstanding. The holders of the notes have the right to compel us to repurchase for cash on June 15, 2014, June 15, 2017 and June 15, 2022, all or some of their notes. They also have the right to be paid the principal upon default and upon certain designated events, such as certain changes of control. We may not have sufficient funds to pay the principal at the time we are obligated to do so, which could result in bankruptcy, or we may only be able to raise the necessary funds on unfavorable terms.

        Our total indebtedness at December 31, 2010 includes $111.7 million of capital lease obligations for dark fiber primarily under 15 - 20 year IRUs. The amount of our IRU capital lease obligations may be impacted due to our expansion activities and fluctuations in foreign currency rates.

        In January 2011 we issued $175.0 million in senior secured notes due that are due in 2018. We cannot guarantee that we will have sufficient funds available to repay the interest on these notes and the principal when the notes mature.


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Our substantial level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our notes and our other indebtedness.

        We have substantial indebtedness. Our substantial debt may have important consequences. For instance, it could:

        Our ability to satisfy our obligations and to reduce our total debt depends on our future operating performance and on economic, financial, competitive and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow, and future financings may not be available to provide sufficient net proceeds, to meet these obligations or to successfully execute our business strategy.

Despite our leverage we may still be able to incur more debt. This could further exacerbate the risks that we and our subsidiaries face.

        We and our subsidiaries may incur additional indebtedness, including additional secured indebtedness, in the future. The terms of our debt indentures restrict, but do not completely prohibit, us from doing so. In addition, the indentures allow us to issue additional notes and other indebtedness secured by the collateral under certain circumstances. Moreover, we are not prevented from incurring other liabilities that do not constitute indebtedness, including additional capital lease obligations in the form of IRUs. These liabilities may represent claims that are effectively prior to the claims of our note holders. If new debt or other liabilities are added to our debt levels the related risks that we and our subsidiaries now face could intensify.

The agreements governing our various debt obligations impose restrictions on our business and could adversely affect our ability to undertake certain corporate actions.

        The agreements governing our various debt obligations, include covenants imposing significant restrictions on our business. These restrictions may affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise. These covenants place restrictions on our ability to, among other things:


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        Our ability to comply with these agreements may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial and industry conditions. These covenants could have an adverse effect on our business by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, merger and acquisition or other corporate opportunities. The breach of any of these covenants or restrictions could result in a default under the agreements governing our debt obligations.

To service our indebtedness, we will require a significant amount of cash. However, our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.

        Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future, which, in turn, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.

        Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations and we may not have available to us future borrowings in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. In these circumstances, we may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity. We may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Without this financing, we could be forced to sell assets or secure additional financing to make up for any shortfall in our payment obligations under unfavorable circumstances. However, we may not be able to secure additional financing on terms favorable to us or at all and, in addition, the terms of the indentures governing our notes limit our ability to sell assets and also restrict the use of proceeds from such a sale. We may not be able to sell assets quickly enough or for sufficient amounts to enable us to meet our obligations, including our obligations under our notes.

ITEM 2.    DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES

        We lease and own space for offices, data centers, colocation facilities, and points-of-presence.


        Our headquarters facility consists of approximately 15,370 square feet located in Washington, D.C. The lease for our headquarters is with an entity controlled by our Chief Executive Officer. The lease expires on August 31, 2010.2012.

        We also lease a total of approximately 414,000500,000 square feet of space in 6381 locations to house our colocation facilities, corporate headquarters, regional offices and operations centers. The remaining term of these leases ranges from 63 months to 810 years with, in many cases, options to renew.

        We believe that these facilities are generally in good condition and suitable for our operations.

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

        We are involved in legal proceedings in the normal course of our business that we do not expect to have a material adverse affect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. For a discussion of the significant proceedings in which we are involved, see Note 76 to our consolidated financial statements.

ITEM 4.    SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.

        No matters were submitted to a vote of our security holders during the quarter ended December 31, 2007.


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PART II

ITEM 5.    MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

        Our sole class of common equity is our common stock, par value $0.001, which is currently traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "CCOI"."CCOI." Prior to March 6, 2006, our common stock traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "COI"."COI." Prior to February 5, 2002, no established public trading market for our common stock existed.

        As of February 1, 2008,25, 2011, there were approximately 155204 holders of record of shares of our common stock holding 48,025,164.shares45,899,904 shares of our common stock.

        The table below shows, for the quarters indicated, the reported high and low trading prices of our common stock.

 
 High
 Low
Calendar Year 2006      
First Quarter $9.77 $5.13
Second Quarter  12.41  7.79
Third Quarter  11.77  7.78
Fourth Quarter  17.00  11.14
Calendar Year 2007      
First Quarter $24.91 $15.74
Second Quarter  30.09  22.07
Third Quarter  34.90  20.08
Fourth Quarter  30.16  19.67

 
 High Low 

Calendar Year 2009

       

First Quarter

 $8.00 $5.38 

Second Quarter

  8.99  5.91 

Third Quarter

  12.67  7.51 

Fourth Quarter

  12.78  7.84 

Calendar Year 2010

       

First Quarter

 $11.90 $9.85 

Second Quarter

  10.48  7.58 

Third Quarter

  9.47  7.03 

Fourth Quarter

  14.29  9.33 

        We have not paid any dividends on our common stock since our inception and do not anticipate paying any dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon then-existing conditions, including our financial condition, results of operations, contractual restrictions, capital requirements, business prospects and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. We currently have no preferred stock outstanding.


Performance Graph

        The Company, inIn connection with itsour merger with Allied Riser Communications Corporation, in February 2002 we began trading shares of itsour common stock on the American Stock Exchange in February 2002.Exchange. On March 6, 2006, the Company'sour shares of Common Stockcommon stock began trading on the NASDAQ National Market. The Company'sOur common stock currently trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. The chart below compares the relative changes in the cumulative total return of the Company's Common Stockour common stock for the period December 31, 2002—2005—December 31, 2007,2010, against the cumulative total return for the same period of the (1) The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index and (2) an industry peer group consisting of Savvis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SVVS); Internap Network Services Corporation (NASDAQ: INAP); and Time WarnerTW Telecom Inc. (NASDAQ: TWTC). The comparison assumes $100 was invested on December 31, 20022005 in the Company'sour common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the industry peer group, with dividends, if any, reinvested.


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COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
AMONG COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. THE
Among Cogent Communications Group, the S&P 500 INDEX
AND A PEER GROUP

Index and a Peer Group

Value of $100 Invested on December 31, 2002.

 
 12/02
 12/03
 12/04
 12/05
 12/06
 12/07
Cogent Communications Group 100.00 307.89 284.21 72.24 213.42 311.97
S&P 500 100.00 128.68 142.69 149.70 173.34 182.87
Peer Group(1) 100.00 513.27 226.31 235.85 639.14 548.98

*
$100 invested on 12/31/0205 in stock or index-includingindex, including reinvestment of dividends.
Fiscal year ending December 31.


Please note Time Warner Telecom Inc. changed its name to TW Telecom Inc.

Copyright © 2008, Standard & Poor's,2011 S&P, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. www.researchdatagroup.com/S&P.htm

 
 12/05 12/06 12/07 12/08 12/09 12/10 

Cogent Communications Group

 $100.00 $295.45 $431.88 $118.94 $179.60 $257.56 

S&P 500

  100.00  115.80  122.16  76.96  97.33  111.99 

Peer Group

  100.00  271.00  232.77  82.77  166.97  198.76 

*
$100 invested on 12/31/05 in stock or index-including reinvestment of dividends. Fiscal year ending December 31.

Copyright © 2009, S&P, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Unregistered SalesTable of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.Contents

        On August 14, 2007, the Company announced that on August 14, 2007 its Board of Directors had authorized a plan to permit the repurchase of up to $50.0 million of shares of the Company's common stock in negotiated and open market transactions through December 31, 2008. As of December 31, 2007, the Company had purchased 445,990 shares of its common stock pursuant to this authorization for an aggregate of $9.9 million; approximately $40.1 million remained available for such negotiated and open market transactions concerning the Company's common stock. The Company may purchase shares from time to time depending on market, economic, and other factors. The authorization will continue unless withdrawn by the Board of Directors.

        The following table summarizes the Company's common stock repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2007 made pursuant to this authorization. During the quarter, the Company did not purchase shares outside of this program, and all purchases were made by or on behalf of the Company and not by any "affiliated purchaser" (as defined by Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934).

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Period
 Total
Number of
Shares
(or Units)
Purchased

 Average
Price Paid
per Share
(or (Unit)

 Total Number of Shares
(or Units) Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced Plans
or Programs

 Maximum Number (or
Approximate Dollar Value) of
Shares (or Units) that
May Yet Be Purchased Under
the Plans or Programs

October 1 - 31, 2007 0  0 193,989 $45,563,602
November 1 - 30, 2007 217,001 $21.93 410,990 $40,805,206
December 1 - 31, 2007 35,000 $20.07 445,990 $40,102,717

ITEM 6.    SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

        The annual financial information set forth below has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The information should be read in connection with, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, Management's Discussion and Analysis, the consolidated financial statements and notes included elsewhere in this report and in our SEC filings.

 
 Years Ended December 31,
 
 
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 
 
 (dollars in thousands)

 
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:                
Service revenue, net $59,422 $91,286 $135,213 $149,071 $185,663 
Operating expenses:                
Network operations  47,017  63,466  85,794  80,106  87,548 
Equity-based compensation expense—network operations  1,307  858  399  315  208 
Selling, general, and administrative—SG&A  26,570  40,382  41,344  46,593  52,011 
Equity-based compensation expense—SG&A  17,368  11,404  12,906  10,194  10,176 
Terminated public offering costs    779       
Lease restructuring charges    1,821  1,319     
Depreciation and amortization  48,387  56,645  55,600  58,414  65,638 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Total operating expenses  140,649  175,355  197,362  195,622  215,581 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Operating loss  (81,227) (84,069) (62,149) (46,551) (29,918)
Gains—lease obligation restructurings    5,292  844  255  2,110 
Gain—Allied Riser note exchange  24,802         
Gains—Cisco credit facility  215,432    842     
Gains—dispositions of assets      3,372  254  95 
Interest income (expense) and other, net  (18,264) (10,883) (10,427) (7,715) (3,312)
  
 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss)  140,743  (89,660) (67,518) (53,757) (31,025)
Beneficial conversion charges  (52,000) (43,986)      
  
 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) applicable to common shareholders $88,743 $(133,646)$(67,518)$(53,757)$(31,025)
  
 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) per common share available to common shareholders—basic and diluted $11.18 $(175.03)$(1.96)$(1.16)$(0.65)
  
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-average common shares—basic  7,935,831  763,540  34,439,937  46,343,372  47,800,159 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted-average common shares—diluted  7,938,838  763,540  34,439,937  46,343,372  47,800,159 
  
 
 
 
 
 
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA (AT PERIOD END):                
Cash and cash equivalents $7,875 $13,844 $29,883 $42,642 $177,021 
Total assets  344,440  378,586  351,373  336,876  455,325 
Long-term debt (including capital leases and current portion) (net of unamortized discount of $5,026 in 2004, $3,478 in 2005, $1,213 in 2006 and $4,133 in 2007)  83,702  126,382  99,105  97,024  288,441 
Preferred stock  97,681  139,825       
Stockholders' equity  244,754  212,490  221,001  215,632  138,830 
OTHER OPERATING DATA:                
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities  (27,357) (26,425) (9,062) 5,285  48,630 
Net cash used in investing activities  (25,316) (2,701) (14,055) (19,478) (30,864)
Net cash provided by financing activities  20,562  34,486  39,824  27,045  116,305 

 
 Years Ended December 31, 
 
 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
 
 (dollars in thousands)
 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:

                

Service revenue

 $149,071 $185,663 $215,489 $235,807 $263,416 

Operating expenses:

                

Network operations

  80,106  87,548  92,727  102,603  118,653 

Equity-based compensation expense—network operations

  315  208  328  172  370 

Selling, general, and administrative

  46,593  52,011  62,917  68,470  65,793 

Equity-based compensation expense—SG&A

  10,194  10,176  17,548  8,435  6,267 

Asset impairments

      1,592    594 

Depreciation and amortization

  58,414  65,638  62,589  59,913  56,524 
            

Total operating expenses

  195,622  215,581  237,701  239,593  248,201 
            

Operating (loss) income

  (46,551) (29,918) (22,212) (3,786) 15,215 

Gains—purchases of senior convertible notes

      23,075     

Gains—lease obligation restructurings

  255  2,110       

Interest expense and other, net

  (7,461) (7,555) (14,549) (14,612) (15,723)
            

Loss before income taxes

  (53,757) (35,363) (13,686) (18,398) (508)

Income tax (provision) benefit

      (1,536) 1,247  1,177 
            

Net (loss) income

 $(53,757)$(35,363)$(15,222)$(17,151)$669 
            

Net (loss) income per common share—basic

 $(1.16)$(0.74)$(0.34)$(0.39)$0.01 
            

Weighted-average common shares—basic

  46,343,372  47,800,159  44,563,727  44,028,736  44,633,878 
            

Net (loss) income per common share—diluted

 $(1.16)$(0.74)$(0.34)$(0.39)$0.01 
            

Weighted-average common shares—diluted

  46,343,372  47,800,159  44,563,727  44,028,736  44,790,753 
            

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA (AT PERIOD END):

                

Cash and cash equivalents

 $42,642 $177,021 $71,291 $55,929 $56,283 

Total assets

  336,876  455,196  347,793  354,995  376,103 

Long-term debt (including capital leases and current portion) (net of unamortized discount of $1,213, $74,857, $30,253, $25,708 and $20,758 respectively)

  97,024  217,717  165,918  175,934  182,925 

Stockholders' equity

  215,632  209,425  150,950  144,484  151,801 

OTHER OPERATING DATA:

                

Net cash provided by operating activities

  5,285  48,630  54,336  56,944  71,477 

Net cash used in investing activities

  (19,478) (30,864) (32,539) (49,353) (52,227)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

  27,045  116,305  (125,638) (23,540) (18,874)

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ITEM 7.    MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

        You should read the following discussion and analysis together with "Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data" and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this report. The discussion in this report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. The cautionary statements made in this report should be read as applying to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed here. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed in "Risk Factors," as well as those discussed elsewhere. You should read "Risk Factors" and "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements." Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed here. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to:

Future economic instability in the global economy, which could affect spending on Internet services; the impact of changing foreign exchange rates (in particular the Euro-USD and Canadian—USD exchange rates) on the translation of our non-USD denominated revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities; legal and operational difficulties in new markets; the imposition of a requirement that we contribute to the Universal Service Fund; changes in government policy and/or regulation, including net neutrality rules issued by the United States Federal Communications Commission and in the area of data protection; increasing competition leading to lower prices for our services; our ability to attract new customers and to increase and maintain the volume of traffic on our network; the ability to maintain our Internet peering arrangements on favorable terms; our reliance on a network equipment vendor, and the potential for hardware or software problems associated with such network equipment; the dependence of our network on the quality and dependability of third-party fiber providers; our ability to retain certain customers that comprise a significant portion of our revenue base; the management of network failures and/or disruptions; and outcomes in litigation as well as other risks discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, this annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

General Overview

        We are a leading facilities-based provider of low-cost, high-speed Internet access and IP communications services. Our network is specifically designed and optimized to transmit data using IP. IP networks are significantly less expensive to operate and are able to achieve higher performance levels than the traditional circuit-switched networks used by many of our competitors when providing Internet access services, thus, we believe, giving us cost and performance advantages. We deliver our services to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations through approximately 15,00025,000 customer connections in North America and Europe.

        Our primary on-net service isconsists of high-speed Internet access at a speed of 100and IP connectivity ranging from 0.5 Megabits per second much faster than typicalto 10 Gigabits per second of bandwidth. We offer our on-net services to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to our network. We provide on-net Internet access currently offered to businesses. We offer this on-netnet-centric and corporate customers. Our net centric customers include certain bandwidth-intensive users such as universities, other Internet service exclusively throughproviders, telephone companies, cable television companies and commercial content providers. These customers generally receive service in colocation facilities and in our own facilities, which run all the waydata centers. Our corporate customers are located in multi-tenant office buildings and typically include law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms and other professional services businesses.

        Our off-net services are sold to businesses that are connected to our customers' premises.network primarily by means of "last mile" access service lines obtained from other carriers, primarily in the form of point-to-point TDM, POS, SDH and/or Carrier Ethernet circuits. Our non-core services, which consist primarily of


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legacy services of companies whose assets or businesses we have acquired, primarily include dial-up Internet access services and voice services (only provided in Toronto, Canada). We do not actively market these non-core services and expect the service revenue associated with them to continue to decline.

        Our network is comprised of in-building riser facilities, metropolitan optical fiber networks, metropolitan traffic aggregation points and inter-city transport facilities. TheOur network is physically connected entirely through our facilities to over 1,2151,579 buildings in which we provide our on-net services, including over 9101,116 multi-tenant office buildings. We also provide on-net services in carrier-neutral colocation facilities, Cogent controlled data centers and single-tenant office buildings. Because of our integrated network architecture, we are not dependent on local telephone companies to serve our on-net customers. We emphasize the sale of our on-net services because we believe we have a competitive advantage in providing these services and our sales of these services generate higher gross profit margins that are greater than the gross profit margins on our off-net and non-core services.

        We also provide Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to our network. We serve these off-net customers using other carriers' facilities to provide the last mile"last mile" (local loop) portion of the link from our customers' premises to our network. We also provide certain non-core services which are legacy services which we acquired and continue to support but do not actively sell.

        We believe our key growth opportunity is provided by our high-capacity network, which provides us with the ability to add a significant number of customers to our network with minimal direct incremental costs. Our focus is to add customers to our network in a way that maximizes its use and at the same time provides us with a profitable customer mix that produces profit margins.mix. We are responding to this opportunity by increasing our sales and marketing efforts including increasing our number of sales representatives. In addition, we may add customers to our network through strategic acquisitions.

        We are expanding our network to locations that we believe can be economically integrated and represent significant concentrations of Internet traffic. One of our keys to developing a profitable business will be to carefully match the expensecost of extending our network to reach new customers with the revenue expected to be generated by those customers.


        We believe the two of the most important trends in our industry are the continued long-term growth in Internet traffic and a decline in Internet access prices.prices within carrier neutral data centers. As Internet traffic continues to grow and prices per unit of traffic continue to decline, we believe our ability to load our network and gain market share from less efficient network operators will continue to expand. However, continued erosion in Internet access prices will likely have a negative impact on the rate at which we can increase our revenues and our profit margins.

profitability. Our on-net service consistsrevenue may also be negatively affected if we are unable to grow our Internet traffic or if the rate of high-speedgrowth of Internet access and IP connectivity ranging from 0.5 Megabitstraffic does not offset the expected decline in per second to 10 Gigabits per second of bandwidth. We offer our on-net services to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to our network. Off-net services are sold to businesses that are connected to our network primarily by means of T1, T3, E1 and E3 and Ethernet link lines obtained from other carriers. Our non-core services, which consist of legacy services of companies whose assets or businesses we have acquired, include managed modem services, voice services (only provided in Toronto, Canada) and point to point private line services.unit pricing. We do not actively market these non-coreknow if Internet traffic will increase or decrease, or the rate at which it will grow or decrease. Changes in Internet traffic will be a function of the number of users, the applications for which the Internet is used, the pricing of Internet services, and expectother factors.

        The growth in Internet traffic has a more significant impact on our net centric customers who represent the netmajority of the traffic on our network and who tend to consume the majority of their allocated bandwidth on their connections. Net centric customers tend to purchase their service revenue associated with themon a price per megabit basis. Our corporate customers tend to continueutilize a small portion of their allocated bandwidth on their connections and tend to decline.purchase their service on a per connection basis.

        Due to our strategic acquisitions of network assets and equipment, we believe we are well positioned to grow our revenue base. We continue to purchase and deploy network equipment to parts of our network to maximize the utilization of our assets and to expand our network. Our future capital


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expenditures will be based primarily on our plannedthe expansion of our network, the addition of on-net buildings and the concentration and growth of our customer base. We plan to continue to expand our network and to increase ourthe number of on-net buildings by approximately 100we serve. Many factors can affect our ability to add buildings by December 31, 2008 from 1,217 buildings at December 31, 2007. We expect our 2008 capital expenditures to be similar to our 2007 capital expenditure rate, or approximately $30.0 million.

        Historically, our operating expenses have exceeded our net service revenue resulting in operating lossesnetwork. These factors include the willingness of $62.1 million, $46.6 million and $29.9 million in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. In eachbuilding owners to grant us access rights, the availability of these periods, our operating expenses consisted primarily of the following:

    Network operations expenses, which consist primarily of the cost of leased circuits, sites and facilities; telecommunications licenses, maintenance expenses, and salaries of, and expenses relatedoptical fiber networks to employees who are directly involved with the maintenance and operation of our network.

    Selling, general and administrative expenses, which consist primarily of salaries, commissions and related benefits paid to our employees and related selling and administrative costs including professional fees and bad debt expenses.

    Depreciation and amortization expenses, which result from the depreciation of our propertyserve those buildings, and equipment including the assets associated with our network and the amortization of intangible assets.

    Equity-based compensation expenses that result from the grants of stock options and restricted stock.

availability.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2009 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2010

        Our management reviews and analyzes several key performance indicatorsfinancial measures in order to manage our business and assess the quality of and potential variability of our net service revenues and cash flows. These key performance indicators include:

    net service revenues, which are an indicator of our overall business growth and the success of our sales and marketing efforts;

    gross profit, which is an indicator of both our service offering mix, competitive pricing pressures and the cost of our network operations;

      growth in our on-net customer base, which is an indicator of the success of our on net focused sales efforts;

      growth in our on-net buildings; and

      cash flows.

    Year Ended December 31, 2006 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2007

    The following summary table presents a comparison of our results of operations for the yearyears ended December 31, 20052009 and 20062010 with respect to certain key financial measures. The comparisons illustrated in the table are discussed in greater detail below.

     
     Year Ended December 31,
      
     
     
     Percent
    Change

     
     
     2006
     2007
     
     
     (in thousands)

      
     
    Net service revenue $149,071 $185,663 24.5%
     On-net revenues  105,275  146,604 39.3%
     Off-net revenues  34,416  32,123 (6.7)%
     Non-core revenues  9,380  6,936 (26.1)%
    Network operations expenses(1)  80,106  87,548 9.3%
    Gross profit(2)  68,965  98,115 42.3%
    Selling, general, and administrative expenses(3)  46,593  52,011 11.6%
    Equity-based compensation expense  10,509  10,384 (1.2)%
    Depreciation and amortization expenses  58,414  65,638 12.4%
    Gains—lease obligations and asset sales  509  2,205 333.2%
    Net loss  (53,757) (31,025)42.3%

       
       Year Ended
      December 31,
        
       
       
       Percent
      Change
       
       
       2009 2010 
       
       (in thousands)
        
       

      Service revenue

       $235,807 $263,416  11.7%
       

      On-net revenues

        188,463  205,004  8.8%
       

      Off-net revenues

        43,347  55,294  27.6%
       

      Non-core revenues

        3,997  3,118  (22.0)%

      Network operations expenses(1)

        102,603  118,653  15.6%

      Selling, general, and administrative expenses(2)

        68,470  65,793  (3.9)%

      Equity-based compensation expense

        8,607  6,637  (22.9)%

      Asset impairment

          594  100.0%

      Depreciation and amortization expenses

        59,913  56,524  (5.7)%

      Income tax provision (benefit)

        (1,247) (1,177) (5.6)%

      (1)
      Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $315$172 and $208$370 in the years ended December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 9.1%15.8%.

      (2)
      Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $315$8,435 and $208$6,267 in the years ended December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 42.6%.

      (3)
      Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $10,194 and $10,176 in the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 9.5%(6.3)%.

              Net        Service Revenue.    Our net service revenue increased 24.5%11.7% from $149.1$235.8 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 to $185.7$263.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2010. The impact of exchange rates resulted in approximately $4.2 million ofnegatively impacted the $36.6 million increase in revenues.revenues by approximately $1.2 million. All foreign currency comparisons herein reflect results for the year ended December 31, 2010 translated at the average foreign currency exchange rates for the year ended December 31, 2009. For the years ended December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, on-net, off-net and non-core revenues represented 70.6%79.9%, 23.1%18.4% and 6.3%1.7% and 79.0%77.8%, 17.3%21.0% and 3.7%1.2% of our net service revenues, respectively.

              Our on-net revenuesRevenues from our corporate and net centric customers represented 47.3% and 52.7% of our service revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2009, and represented 49.4% and 50.6% of our service revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2010. Revenues from corporate customers increased 39.3%16.5% from $105.3$111.6 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 to $146.6$130.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2010. Revenues from our net-centric customers increased 7.4% from $124.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $133.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The difference in the increase percentages in net centric revenues as compared to


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      the increase in corporate revenues is primarily attributed to a decline in the average revenue per net centric customer connection from discounting and from the impact of exchange rates (almost all of our European revenues are from net centric customers).

              Our on-net revenues increased 8.8% from $188.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $205.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. Our on-net revenues increased as we increased the number of our on-net customer connections by 43.9%21.4% from approximately 7,80017,200 at December 31, 20062009 to approximately 11,20020,900 at December 31, 2007.2010. On-net customer connections increased at a greater rate than on-net revenues due to a decline in the average revenue per on-net customer connection.connection—primarily from our net centric customers. This decline is partly attributed to a shift in the customer connection mix.mix and due to volume and term based pricing discounts. Additionally, on-net customers who cancel their service from our installed base of customers, in general, have greater average revenue per connection than new customers. These trends and the impact of foreign exchange rates resulted in a reduction to our average revenue per on-net connection.

              Our off-net revenues increased 27.6% from $43.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $55.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. Our off-net customer connections increased 9.0% from approximately 3,200 at December 31, 2009 to approximately 3,500 at December 31, 2010. Off-net revenues increased at a greater rate than off-net customer connections due to an increase in the average revenue per off-net customer connection. Off-net customers who cancel their service, in general, have an average revenue per connection and per connection bandwidth speed that is less than the average revenue per connection for new off-net customers who generally purchase higher-bandwidth connections.

              Our non-core revenues decreased 22.0% from $4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $3.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The number of our non-core customer connections decreased 29.9% from approximately 900 at December 31, 2009 to approximately 650 at December 31, 2010. We do not actively market these acquired non-core services and expect that the service revenue associated with them will continue to decline.

              Network Operations Expenses.    Network operations expenses include costs associated with service delivery, network management, and customer support. This includes the costs of personnel and related operating expenses associated with these activities, network facilities costs, fiber and equipment maintenance fees, leased circuit costs, and access and facilities fees paid to building owners. Our network operations expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 15.6% from $102.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $118.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of network operations expenses for the year ended December 31, 2010 of approximately $0.9 million. The increase in network operations expenses is primarily attributable to an increase in costs related to our network and facilities expansion activities including personnel and related operating expenses and an increase in our off-net revenues. When we provide off-net revenues we also assume the cost of the associated tail-circuits.

              Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses ("SG&A").    Our SG&A expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, decreased 3.9% from $68.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $65.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. SG&A expenses decreased primarily from a reduction in SG&A personnel costs, a reduction in bad debt expense and a reduction in certain non-income taxes related to our European operations. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of approximately $0.5 million in SG&A expenses.

              Equity-based Compensation Expense.    Equity-based compensation expense is related to restricted stock and stock options. Our equity-based compensation expense decreased 22.9% from $8.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $6.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The decrease is primarily due to the completion of the service period in April 2009 of certain restricted stock grants


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      made to our employees in April 2007 partly offset by the impact of grants of restricted shares to certain of our employees in the second quarter of 2010. In the second quarter of 2010, we granted approximately 0.9 million restricted shares to certain of our employees that will vest over a three year period. These restricted shares were valued at approximately $9.6 million and will be recognized as equity-based compensation expense on a straight line basis over the three year service period. In April 2010, we also granted an additional 0.2 million restricted shares that are subject to certain performance conditions based upon our operating metrics for 2010, 2011 and 2012. We recorded approximately $0.2 million of equity-based compensation expense related to the performance conditions for 2010 in the fourth quarter of 2010 since it was considered probable that the performance conditions would be met. These restricted shares were valued at approximately $0.5 million and will be recognized as equity-based compensation expense on a straight line basis over the requisite service period through April 15, 2011. The total equity based compensation expense for the performance shares related to 2011 (if the conditions are met) is approximately $0.9 million and will be recognized over the requisite service period of approximately one year.

              Asset Impairment.    In 2010, we recorded an impairment charge of $0.6 million related to certain property and equipment that were no longer in use. There were no such charges in 2009.

              Depreciation and Amortization Expenses.    Our depreciation and amortization expense decreased 5.7% from $59.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 to $56.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The decrease is primarily due to the decline in depreciation expense from fully depreciated fixed assets and an adjustment to our asset retirement obligations, discussed below, more than offsetting depreciation expense associated with the increase related to newly deployed fixed assets. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of approximately $0.2 million in depreciation and amortization expenses.

              In the first quarter of 2010, we determined that our estimates of restoration costs for our leased facility asset retirement obligations were too high based on current costs to restore and changes in the expected timing of the payment of those costs due to the extensions of lease terms. As a result, in the first quarter of 2010, we revised our estimates of the cash flows that we believed will be required to settle our leased facility asset retirement obligations at the end of the respective lease terms, which resulted in a reduction to our asset retirement obligation liability. These revisions in the estimated amount and timing of cash flows for asset retirement obligations reduced our asset retirement obligation liability by $0.9 million with an offsetting reduction to depreciation and amortization of $0.7 million and selling, general and administrative expenses of $0.2 million.

              Income Tax Provision (Benefit).    The income tax benefit was $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 and $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The net income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2009 includes income taxes for the United States of approximately $0.3 million for state income taxes (including approximately $0.1 million related to penalties and interest on an uncertain tax position) offset by a tax benefit of $1.5 million from the partial reduction of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets related to our Canadian operations. The net income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2010 includes income taxes for the United States of approximately $0.7 million for state income taxes (including approximately $0.3 million related to uncertain tax positions), $0.1 million of income tax provision related to our European operations offset by a tax benefit of $1.5 million from the reduction of the remaining valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets related to our Canadian operations and $0.6 million related to a refund of federal alternative minimum taxes.

              Buildings On-net.    As of December 31, 2009 and 2010 we had a total of 1,451 and 1,579 on-net buildings connected to our network, respectively.


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      Year Ended December 31, 2008 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2009

              Our management reviews and analyzes several key financial measures in order to manage our business and assess the quality of and potential variability of our service revenues and cash flows. The following summary table presents a comparison of our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010 with respect to certain key financial measures. The comparisons illustrated in the table are discussed in greater detail below.

       
       Year Ended
      December 31,
        
       
       
       Percent
      Change
       
       
       2008 2009 
       
       (in thousands)
        
       

      Service revenue

       $215,489 $235,807  9.4%
       

      On-net revenues

        176,033  188,463  7.1%
       

      Off-net revenues

        34,606  43,347  25.3%
       

      Non-core revenues

        4,850  3,997  (17.6)%

      Network operations expenses(1)

        92,727  102,603  10.7%

      Selling, general, and administrative expenses(2)

        62,917  68,470  8.8%

      Equity-based compensation expense

        17,876  8,607  (51.9)%

      Asset impairment

        1,592    (100.0)%

      Depreciation and amortization expenses

        62,589  59,913  (4.3)%

      Gains—purchases of convertible senior notes

        23,075    (100.0)%

      Income tax provision (benefit)

        1,536  (1,247) 181.2%

      (1)
      Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $328 and $172 in the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2009, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 10.4%.

      (2)
      Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $17,548 and $8,435 in the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2009, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of (4.4)%.

              Service Revenue.    Our service revenue increased 9.4% from $215.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 to $235.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The impact of exchange rates negatively impacted the increase in revenues by approximately $3.9 million. All foreign currency comparisons herein reflect results for the year ended December 31, 2009 translated at the average foreign currency exchange rates for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2009, on-net, off-net and non-core revenues represented 81.7%, 16.1% and 2.2% and 79.9%, 18.4% and 1.7% of our net service revenues, respectively.

              Revenues from our corporate and net centric customers represented 44.7% and 55.3% of our service revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2008 and represented 47.3% and 52.7% of our service revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2009. Revenues from corporate customers increased 15.9% from $96.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 to $111.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. Revenues from our net-centric customers increased 4.2% from $119.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 to $124.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The difference in the increase percentages in net centric revenues as compared to the increase in corporate revenues is primarily attributed to a decline in the average revenue per net centric customer connection from discounting and from the impact of exchange rates (almost all of our European revenues are from net centric customers). In June 2008, we introduced additional volume and term based discounts to certain of our net centric customers in an effort to continue to gain market share and to continue to grow our revenues.


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              Our on-net revenues increased 7.1% from $176.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 to $188.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. Our on-net revenues increased as we increased the number of our on-net customer connections by 21.5% from approximately 14,100 at December 31, 2008 to approximately 17,200 at December 31, 2009. On-net customer connections increased at a greater rate than on-net revenues due to a decline in the average revenue per on-net customer connection—primarily from our net centric customers. This decline is partly attributed to a shift in the customer connection mix and due to volume and term based pricing discounts. Due to the increase in the size of our sales force, we are now able to focus not only on customers who purchase high-bandwidth connections, as we have done historically, but also on customers who purchase lower-


      bandwidthlower-bandwidth connections. We expect to continue to focus our sales efforts on a broad mix of customers. Additionally, on-net customers who cancel their service from our installed base of customers, in general, have greater average revenue per connection than new customers. These trends and to a lesser extent, an increase in customers receiving a discount for purchasing longer term contracts,the impact of foreign exchange rates resulted in a reduction to our average revenue per on-net connection. We believe that our on-net revenues as a percentage of total revenues will continue to increase as we are allocating the majority of our sales and marketing resources toward obtaining additional on-net customers.

              Our off-net revenues decreased 6.7%increased 25.3% from $34.4$34.6 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $32.1$43.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2009. Our off-net customer connections declined 15.4%increased 6.4% from approximately 3,500 at December 31, 2006 to approximately 3,000 at December 31, 2007.2008 to approximately 3,200 at December 31, 2009. Off-net customer connections decreasedrevenues increased at a greater rate than the decline in off-net revenuescustomer connections due to an increase in the average revenue per off-net customer connection. Off-net customers who cancel their service, in general, have an average revenue per connection and per connection bandwidth speed that is less than the average revenue per connection for new off-net customers who generally purchase higher-bandwidth connections. Additionally, a significant amount of our off-net revenues were acquired revenues, which have historically churned at a greater rate than our on-net revenues. We expect the revenue from these off-net services to grow at a substantially slower rate than our on-net revenues as we are allocating the majority of our sales and marketing resources toward obtaining additional on-net customers.

              Our non-core revenues decreased 26.1%17.6% from $9.4$4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $6.9$4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2009. The number of our non-core customer connections declined 20.3%increased 51.1% from approximately 1,000600 at December 31, 20062008 to approximately 800900 at December 31, 2007.2009 primarily due to the May 2009 acquisition of approximately 700 non-core customer connections. We do not actively market these acquired non-core services and expect that the net service revenue associated with them will continue to decline.

              Network Operations Expenses.    Our network operations expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 9.3%10.7% from $80.1$92.7 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $87.5$102.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2009. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of network operations expenses for the year ended December 31, 2009 of approximately $1.4 million. The increase in network operations expenses is primarily attributable to an increase in costs related to our network and facilities expansion activities partly offset by the decline in network operations expenses associated with the declineand an increase in our off-net and non-core revenues. The impact of exchange rates resulted in approximately $1.8 million of this $7.4 million increase in network operations expenses.

              Gross Profit.    Our gross profit, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 42.3% from $69.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 to $98.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. We determine gross profit by subtracting network operation expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, from our net service revenue and do not allocate depreciation and amortization expense to our network operations expense. The increase is primarily attributed to the increase in higher gross margin on-net revenues as a percentage of net service revenue. Our gross profit margin expanded from 46.3% for the year ended December 31, 2006 to 52.8% for the year ended December 31, 2007. Our gross profit has benefited from the limited incremental expenses associated with providing service to an increasing number of on-net customers and the decline inWhen we provide off-net revenues which carry a lower gross margin due towe also assume the cost of the associated leased circuit required to provide this service. Our gross profit margin may be impacted by the timing and amounts of disputed circuit costs and the additional costs of expanding our network and operating our existing network. We generally record disputed circuit costs amounts when billed by the vendor and reverse these amounts when the vendor credit has been received or the dispute has been otherwise resolved. We believe that our gross profit margin will continue to increase as we are allocating the majority of our sales and marketing resources toward obtaining additional on-net customers and as sales of these services generate higher gross profit margins than our off-net and non-core services.tail-circuits.


              Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses ("SG&A").    Our SG&A expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 11.6%8.8% from $46.6$62.9 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $52.0$68.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2009. SG&A expenses increased primarily from the increase in salaries and related costs required to support our expanding sales and marketing efforts. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of approximately $1.4$1.2 million of this $5.4 million increase in SG&A expenses.

              Equity-based Compensation Expense.    Equity-based compensation expense is related to restricted stock and stock options. TheOur total equity-based compensation expense decreased 1.2%51.9% from $10.5$17.9 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $10.4$8.6 million for the year ending December 31, 2007. During 2007, we issued approximately 1.0 million shares of restricted stock to our employees. These grants were valued at our closing stock price on the date of grant and will vest over periods ranging from two to four years. These grants resulted in approximately $7.1 million in equity-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2007. The increase was partly offset by a $6.82009. Equity-based compensation expense decreased primarily due to the completion of the service period in April 2009 of certain restricted stock grants made in April 2007 and $1.2 million decrease inof equity-based compensation expense associated with certain 2003 restricted stock grants which ended in August 2006 when these shares became fully vested. As of December 31, 2007 there was approximately $22.6 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested equity-based compensation awards. That cost is expectedshare grants made to be recognized over a weighted average periodour board of approximately twenty-one months.directors in January 2008. There were no such grants to our board of directors in 2009.


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              Depreciation and Amortization Expenses.    Our depreciation and amortization expense increased 12.4%decreased 4.3% from $58.4$62.6 million for the year ended December 31, 20062008 to $65.6$59.9 million for the year ended December 31, 20072009. The decrease is primarily due to anthe decline in depreciation expense from fully depreciated fixed assets more than offsetting depreciation expense associated with the increase in deployed fixed assets. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a reduction of approximately $0.6 million in depreciation and amortization expenses.

              Gains—lease obligations and asset sales.Asset Impairment.    In September 2007,2008, we entered into a settlement agreement under which we were released from our obligation underrecorded an abandoned facility lease acquired in an acquisition. This settlement agreement resulted in a gainimpairment charge of approximately $2.1 million. In September 2006, Cogent Spain negotiated modifications$1.6 million related to an IRU asset under a capital leaselease. The IRU asset was no longer in use and we have obtained alternative dark fiber that reduced its quarterly IRU lease paymentsserves the related facilities and extended the lease term. The modification to this IRU capital lease resultedcustomers. There was no such charge in a gain of approximately $0.3 million. In 2006, we sold a building and land for net proceeds of $0.8 million. This sale resulted in a gain of approximately $0.3 million.2009.

              Net Loss.Gains on Purchases of Convertible Senior Notes.    Our net loss was $53.8In June 2007, we issued our 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes (the "Notes") due June 15, 2027, for an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million. In 2008, we purchased an aggregate of $108.0 million of face value of the Notes for $48.6 million in cash in a series of transactions. These transactions resulted in gains totaling $23.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 as compared to a net loss2008. There were no purchases of $31.0Notes in the year ended December 31, 2009.

              Income Tax Provision (Benefit).    The income tax provision was $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. Our net loss decreased by $22.72008 and an income tax benefit of $1.2 million primarily due to a $29.2 million increase in our gross profit partially offset by a $5.4 million increase in SG&A, and a $7.2 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense. Included in net losswas recorded for the year ended December 31, 2006 are2009. In the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily due to the gains on the purchases of approximately $0.5 million. Includedour Notes, we became subject to the alternative minimum tax in the United States. Under the alternative minimum tax system, the ability to offset taxable income with the utilization of net operating loss carryforwards is limited. The tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2007 are gains2008 includes income taxes for the United States of approximately $2.2 million.$0.6 million for federal alternative minimum tax and approximately $0.9 million for state income taxes (including approximately $0.5 million related to an uncertain tax position). The net income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2009 includes income taxes for the United States of approximately $0.3 million for state income taxes (including approximately $0.1 million related to penalties and interest on an uncertain tax position) offset by a tax benefit of $1.5 million from the partial reduction of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets related to our Canadian operations.

              Buildings On-net.    As of December 31, 20062008 and 20072009 we had a total of 1,1071,326 and 1,217 on-net buildings connected to our network, respectively. We plan to increase our number of on-net buildings by approximately 100 buildings by December 31, 2008.


      Year Ended December 31, 2005 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2006

              The following summary table presents a comparison of our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2005 and 2006 with respect to certain key financial measures. The comparisons illustrated in the table are discussed in greater detail below.

       
       Year Ended December 31,
        
       
       
       Percent
      Change

       
       
       2005
       2006
       
       
       (in thousands)

        
       
      Net service revenue $135,213 $149,071 10.2%
       On-net revenues  78,324  105,275 34.4%
       Off-net revenues  44,642  34,416 (22.9)%
       Non-core revenues  12,245  9,380 (23.4)%
      Network operations expenses(1)  85,794  80,106 (6.6)%
      Gross profit(2)  49,419  68,965 39.6%
      Selling, general, and administrative expenses(3)  41,344  46,593 12.7%
      Lease restructuring charge  1,319   (100.0)%
      Equity-based compensation expense  13,305  10,509 (21.0)%
      Depreciation and amortization expenses  55,600  58,414 5.1%
      Gains—lease obligations, debt restructurings and asset sales  5,058  509 (89.9)%
      Net loss  (67,518) (53,757)20.4%

          (1)
          Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $399 and $315 in the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of (6.7)%.

          (2)
          Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $399 and $315 in the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006, respectively, which if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 40.0%.

          (3)
          Excludes equity-based compensation expense of $12,906 and $10,194 in the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006, respectively, which, if included would have resulted in a period-to-period change of 4.7%.

              Net Service Revenue.    Our net service revenue increased 10.2% from $135.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $149.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. For the years ended December 31, 2005 and 2006, on-net, off-net and non-core revenues represented 57.9%, 33.0% and 9.1% and 70.6%, 23.1% and 6.3% of our net service revenues, respectively.

            �� Our on-net revenues increased 34.4% from $78.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $105.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Our on-net revenues increased as we increased the number of our on-net customer connections from approximately 4,700 at December 31, 2005 to approximately 7,800 at December 31, 2006. On-net customer connections increased at a greater rate than on-net revenues due to a decline in the revenue per on-net customer connection. This decline is partly attributed to a shift in the customer connection mix. Due to the increase in the size of our sales force, we focused not only on customers who purchase high-bandwidth connections, as we have done historically, but also on customers who purchase lower-bandwidth connections. We expect to continue to focus our sales efforts on such a broad mix of customers. Additionally, on-net customers who cancel their service from our installed base of customers, in general, have revenue per connection that is larger than new customers. These trends resulted in a reduction to our revenue per on-net connection.


              Our off-net revenues decreased 22.9% from $44.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $34.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 primarily because a December 2004 acquisition of off-net customers resulted in a substantial increase in the number of our off-net customers in 2005 and many of these acquired customers either cancelled service or re-priced their contracts at lower rates. Our off-net customer connections declined from approximately 4,000 at December 31, 2005 to approximately 3,500 at December 31, 2006. Our non-core revenues decreased 23.4% from $12.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $9.4 million for the year ending December 31, 2006. The number of our non-core customer connections declined from approximately 1,300 at December 31, 2005 to approximately 1,000 at December 31, 2006. We do not actively market these acquired non-core services.

              Network Operations Expenses.    Our network operations expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, decreased 6.6% from $85.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $80.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. The decrease is primarily attributable to a decline in leased circuit costs related to the decline in off-net revenues. We provide Internet connectivity to our off-net customers using other carriers' facilities to provide the last mile portion of the link from our customers' premises to our network and incur leased circuit costs to provide these services.

              Gross Profit.    Our gross profit, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 39.6% from $49.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $69.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. We determine gross profit by subtracting network operations expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, from our net service revenue and do not allocate depreciation and amortization expense to our network operations expense. The increase is primarily attributed to the increase in higher gross margin on-net revenues as a percentage of net service revenue. Our gross profit margin expanded from 36.5% for the year ended December 31, 2005 to 46.3% for the year ended December 31, 2006. Our gross profit has benefited from the limited incremental expenses associated with providing service to an increasing number of on-net customers and the decline in off-net revenues which carry a lower gross margin due to the associated leased circuit required to provide this service. Our gross profit margin may be impacted by the timing and amounts of disputed circuit costs. We generally record these disputed amounts when billed by the vendor and reverse these amounts when the vendor credit has been received or the dispute has been otherwise resolved.

              Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses ("SG&A").    Our SG&A expenses, excluding equity-based compensation expense, increased 12.7% from $41.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $46.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. SG&A expenses increased primarily from the increase in salaries and related costs required to support our expanding sales and marketing efforts.

              Equity-based Compensation Expense.    Equity-based compensation expense is related to restricted stock and stock options. The total equity-based compensation expense decreased 21.0% from $13.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $10.5 million for the year ending December 31, 2006. The decrease is primarily attributed to a $3.4 million decrease in equity-based compensation expense associated with certain 2003 restricted stock grants which ended in August 2006 when these shares became fully vested. Equity-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2006 includes $0.7 million in compensation costs associated with the adoption of Statement No. 123 (revised 2004),Share-Based Payment ("SFAS 123(R)") on January 1, 2006 using the modified-prospective-transition method.

              Depreciation and Amortization Expenses.    Our depreciation and amortization expense increased 5.1% from $55.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to $58.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 due to an increase in deployed fixed assets. In the fourth quarter of 2005, we revised the number of lease renewal periods used in determining the lease term for purposes of amortizing certain of our leasehold improvements. This resulted in a net increase in depreciation expense of approximately $3.0 million.


              Lease restructuring charge.    In 2004, we abandoned the Paris office obtained in our Cogent Europe acquisition and located these operations in another Cogent Europe facility. In 2005, we revised our estimate for sublease income, and recorded an additional $1.3 million restructuring charge.

              Gains—lease obligations, asset sales and debt restructurings.    In September 2005, Cogent Spain negotiated modifications to an IRU capital lease that reduced its quarterly IRU lease payments and extended the lease term. The modification to the IRU capital lease resulted in a gain of approximately $0.8 million. In June 2005, we repaid our $17.0 million amended and restated Cisco note. The repayment resulted in a gain of $0.8 million representing the amount of the estimated future interest payments that were not required to be paid. In 2005, we sold a building and land for net proceeds of $5.1 million. This sale resulted in a gain of approximately $3.9 million.

              In September 2006, Cogent Spain negotiated modifications to an IRU capital lease that reduced its quarterly IRU lease payments and extended the lease term. The modification to this IRU capital lease resulted in a gain of approximately $0.3 million. In 2006, we sold another building and land for net proceeds of $0.8 million. This sale resulted in a gain of approximately $0.3 million.

              Net Loss.    Our net loss was $67.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 as compared to a net loss of $53.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Our net loss decreased by $13.8 million primarily due to a $19.5 million increase in our gross profit partially offset by a $5.2 million increase in SG&A, and a $2.8 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense. Included in net loss for the year ended December 31, 2005 is a $1.3 million lease restructuring charge and gains of approximately $5.1 million. Included in net loss for the year ended December 31, 2006 are gains of approximately $0.5 million.

              Buildings On-net.    As of December 31, 2005 and 2006 we had a total of 1,040 and 1,1071,451 on-net buildings connected to our network, respectively.

      Liquidity and Capital Resources

              In assessing our liquidity, management reviews and analyzes our current cash balances, short-term investments, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, capital expenditure and operating expense commitments, and required capital lease, interest and debt payments and other obligations.

      Cash Flows

              The following table sets forth our consolidated cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2006,2008, 2009, and 2007.2010.

       
       Year Ended December 31,
       
       
       2005
       2006
       2007
       
       
       (in thousands)

       
      Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities $(9,062)$5,285 $48,630 
      Net cash used in investing activities  (14,055) (19,478) (30,864)
      Net cash provided by financing activities  39,824  27,045  116,305 
      Effect of exchange rates on cash  (668) (93) 308 
        
       
       
       
      Net increase in cash and cash equivalents during period $16,039 $12,759 $134,379 
        
       
       
       

       
       Year Ended December 31, 
       
       2008 2009 2010 
       
       (in thousands)
       

      Net cash provided by operating activities

       $54,336 $56,944 $71,477 

      Net cash used in investing activities

        (32,539) (49,353) (52,227)

      Net cash used in financing activities

        (125,638) (23,540) (18,874)

      Effect of exchange rates on cash

        (1,889) 587  (22)
              

      Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents during period

       $(105,730)$(15,362)$354 
              

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              Net Cash (Used in) Provided By Operating Activities.    Our primary sources of operating cash are receipts from our customers who are billed on a monthly basis for our services. Our primary uses of operating cash are payments made to our vendors, employees and employees.interest payments made to our capital lease vendors and our note holders. Net cash used inprovided by operating activities was $9.1$54.3 million for the year ended December 31, 20052008 compared to net cash provided by operating



      activities of $5.3$56.9 million for 2006.the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase in cash provided by operating activities wasis due to an increase in our operating profit partly offset by changes in operating assets and liabilities from a use ofliabilities. Net cash of $7.2provided by operating activities was $56.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2005 to a use of cash of $11.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Net cash provided by operating activities was $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $48.6$71.5 million for 2007.the year ended December 31, 2010. The increase in cash provided by operating activities is due to an increase in our operating profit and an improvementincrease in the changes in operating assets and liabilities from a use of cash of $11.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 to an increase of cash of $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. The increase in the changes in operating assets and liabilities from the year ended December 31, 2006 to the year ended December 31, 2007 was primarily due to the timing of certain vendor payments.liabilities.

              Net Cash Used In Investing Activities.    Net cash used in investing activities was $14.1$32.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2005, $19.52008, $49.4 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 and $30.9$52.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2010. Our primary usesuse of investing cash during 2005 were $17.32008 was $33.5 million for the purchase of property and equipment, $0.9 million for the final payment on the purchase of a network in Germany and $0.8 million for the net purchases of short-term investments. Our primary uses of investing cash during 2006 were $21.5 million for the purchase of property and equipment. Our primary uses of investing cash during 2007 were $30.4 million for the purchase of property and equipment and $0.7 million for the purchases of short-term investments. Our primary sourcesources of investing cash in 2005 was $5.12008 were $0.7 million from the proceeds of the maturities of short-term investments and $0.2 million from the proceeds of the sales of assets. Our primary use of investing cash during 2009 was $49.5 million for the purchases of property and equipment. Our primary sources of investing cash in 2006 were $1.2 million from the proceeds of short-term investments and $0.92009 was $0.3 million from the proceeds of the sales of assets. Our primary sourceuse of investing cash during 2010 was $52.8 million for the purchases of property and equipment. Our primary sources of investing cash in 20072010 was $0.3$0.5 million from the proceeds of the sales of assets. The increaseincreases in purchases of property and equipment from the year ended December 31, 20062008 to the year ended December 31, 2007 is2009 and from the year ended December 31, 2009 to the year ended December 31, 2010 were primarily due to our increase in our network expansion activities.activities including geographic expansion and adding more buildings to our network.

              Net Cash Provided byUsed In Financing Activities.    Financing activities provided netused cash of $39.8$125.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2005, $27.02008, $23.5 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 and $116.3$18.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. Net2010. Our primary use of financing cash from financing activities during 2005 resulted from $63.7 million of net proceeds from our June 2005 public offering, $10.0 million fromfor the issuance of our subordinated note and $10.0 million borrowed under our credit facility. Net cash used in financing activities for 2005 included $17.0year ended December 31, 2008 was $59.3 million for the repaymentpurchase of shares of our Cisco note, $10.0common stock, $48.6 million for the repaymentrepurchases of our subordinated note, $10.01.00% convertible senior notes and $18.0 million for the repayment of the amount outstanding under our credit facility and $6.9 million in principal payments under our capital leases. Netlease obligations. Our primary use of financing cash from financing activities during 2006 resulted from $36.5for the year ended December 31, 2009 was $23.2 million of net proceeds from our June 2006 public offering and $0.4 million from the proceeds from the exercises of stock options. Net cash used in financing activities for 2006 included $9.9 million in principal payments under our capital leases.lease obligations and $0.7 million for the purchases of shares of our common stock. Our primary source of financing cash for the year ended December 31, 20072009 was $195.1 million of net proceeds from the issuance of our 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes and $1.1$0.3 million of proceeds from the exercises of stock options. Our primary use of financing cash for the year ended December 31, 20072010 was $59.9 million for the purchase of shares of our common stock, $10.2 million for the repayment of our convertible subordinated notes on their June 15, 2007 maturity date and $9.8$19.1 million of principal payments under our capital lease obligations. Our primary source of financing cash for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $0.3 million of proceeds from the exercises of stock options. The increase in principal payments under our capital lease obligations from the year ended December 31, 2008 to the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2010 was primarily due to the increase in our network expansion activities.

      Indebtedness

              Our total indebtedness, net of discount, at December 31, 20072010 was $288.4$182.9 million and our total cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $177.8$56.3 million. Our total indebtedness at December 31, 20072010 includes $92.6$111.7 million of capital lease obligations for dark fiber primarily under 15-2515–25 year IRUs, of which approximately $7.7 million is considered a current liability.IRUs.


      Convertible Senior Notes

              In June 2007, we issued our 1.00% Convertible Senior Notesconvertible senior notes (the "Notes""Convertible Notes") due June 15, 2027, for an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million in a private offering for resale to


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      qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The Convertible Notes are unsecured and bear interest at 1.00% per annum. The Convertible Notes will rank equally with any future senior debt and senior to any future subordinated debt and will be effectively subordinated to all of our subsidiary's existing and future liabilities and to any secured debt that we may issue to the extent of the value of the collateral. Interest is payable in cash semiannually in arrears on June 15 and December 15, of each year, beginning on December 15, 2007. We received proceeds of approximately $195.1 million after deducting the original issue discount of 2.25% and issuance costs. We used $10.6

              In 2008, we purchased $108.0 million of the proceeds to repay principal and accrued interest on our existing convertible subordinated notes on June 15, 2007 and approximately $50.1 million to repurchase approximately 1.8 million sharesface value of our common stock.Convertible Notes for $48.6 million in cash in a series of transactions. These 1.8transactions resulted in a gain of $23.1 million common shares were subsequently retired. We intend to usefor the remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes and to fund additional purchasesyear ended December 31, 2008. After these transactions there is $92.0 million of face value of our common stock.Convertible Notes outstanding. We may purchase additional Convertible Notes.

              The Convertible Notes are convertible into shares of our common stock at an initial conversion price of $49.18 per share, or 20.3355 shares for each $1,000 principal amount of Convertible Notes, subject to adjustment for certain events as set forth in the indenture. Upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, we will have the right to deliver shares of our common stock, cash or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. The Convertible Notes are convertible (i) during any fiscal quarter after the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2007, if the closing sale price of our common stock for 20 or more trading days in a period of 30 consecutive trading days ending on the last trading day of the immediately preceding fiscal quarter exceeds 130% of the conversion price in effect on the last trading day of the immediately preceding fiscal quarter, or (ii) specified corporate transactions occur, or (iii) the trading price of the Convertible Notes falls below a certain threshold, or (iv) if we call the Convertible Notes for redemption, or (v) on or after April 15, 2027, until maturity. In addition, following specified corporate transactions, we will increase the conversion rate for holders who elect to convert Convertible Notes in connection with such corporate transactions, provided that in no event may the shares issued upon conversion, as a result of adjustment or otherwise, result in the issuance of more than 35.5872 common shares per $1,000 principal amount, or approximately 7.1 million shares.amount. The Convertible Notes include an "Irrevocable Election of Settlement" whereby we may choose, in our sole discretion, and without the consent of the holders of the Convertible Notes, to waive our right to settle the conversion feature in either cash or stock or in any combination, at our option.

              The Convertible Notes may be redeemed by us at any time after June 20, 2014 at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest. Holders of the Convertible Notes have the right to require us to repurchase for cash all or some of their Convertible Notes on June 15, 2014, 2017 and 2022 and upon the occurrence of certain designated events at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest.

              Under the termsRevolving Line of the Notes, we are required to use reasonable efforts to file and maintain a shelf registration statement with the SEC covering the resale of the Notes and the common stock issuable on the conversion of the Notes. If we fail to meet these terms, we will be required to pay special interest on the Notes in the amount of 0.25% for the first 90 days after the occurrence of the failure to meet and 0.50% thereafter. In addition to the special interest, additional interest of 0.25% per annum will accrue in the event of default as defined in the indenture. We filed a shelf registration statement registering the Notes and common stock issuable on conversion of the Notes in July 2007.

      Convertible Subordinated NotesCredit

              Our $10.2 million 7.50% convertible subordinated notes were due on June 15, 2007. These notes and accrued interest were paid on June 15, 2007 with a portion of the proceeds from the Notes.


      Credit Facility

              On March 9, 2005,In October 2009, we entered into a $20.0 million revolving line of credit facility with a commercial bank. The credit facility had a floating interest rate of one month LIBOR plus 2.5% per annum, subject to a minimum interest rate of 3.0% and had a commitment fee of 0.3% per annum. There were no borrowings under the revolving facility and we were in compliance with its covenants. The facility expired on April 1, 2007.October 14, 2010.

      Second $50.0 Million Senior Secured Notes

              In January 2011, we issued our 8.375% Senior Secured Notes (the "Senior Notes") due February 15, 2018, for an aggregate principal amount of $175.0 million in a private offering for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The Senior Notes are secured and bear interest at 8.375% per annum. Interest is payable in cash semiannually in arrears on February 15 and August 15, of each year, beginning on August 15, 2011. We received net proceeds of approximately


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      $170.5 million after deducting $4.5 million of issuance costs. We intend to use the net proceeds from the Senior Notes for general corporate purposes and/or repurchases of our common stock or our Convertible Notes or a special dividend to our stockholders.

              The Senior Notes are fully guaranteed on a senior secured basis, jointly and severally, by each of our existing domestic and future material domestic subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions and permitted liens. Under certain circumstances, subsidiaries may be released from these guarantees without the consent of the holders of the Senior Notes. The Senior Notes and the guarantees are secured by (i) first priority liens on substantially all of our and our guarantors' assets, (ii) all of the equity interests in any of our domestic subsidiaries and (iii) 65% of the equity interests of our first-tier foreign subsidiaries held by us and our guarantors. The Senior Notes and the guarantees represent our and the guarantors' senior secured obligations and effectively rank equally and ratably with all of our and the guarantors' existing and future first lien obligations, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such indebtedness, subject to permitted liens; are structurally subordinated to any existing and future indebtedness and liabilities of non-guarantor subsidiaries and rank equally in right of payment with all of our and the guarantors' existing and future senior indebtedness.

              The Senior Notes may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at any time prior to February 15, 2015 at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount plus a "make-whole" premium, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. The Senior Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time on or after February 15, 2015 at the applicable redemption prices specified under the indenture governing the Senior Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. In addition, we may redeem up to 35% of the Senior Notes before February 15, 2014 with the net cash proceeds from certain equity offerings. If we experience specific kinds of changes of control, we must offer to repurchase all of the Senior Notes at a purchase price of 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the repurchase date.

              The indenture governing the Senior Notes, among other things, limits our ability and our guarantors' ability to incur indebtedness; to pay dividends or make other distributions; to make certain investments and other restricted payments; to create liens; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets; to incur restrictions on the ability of a subsidiary to pay dividends or make other payments; and to enter into certain transactions with our affiliates.

      Common Stock Buyback Program

              In June 2007 we used approximately $50.1 million of the net proceeds from our issuance of our Convertible Notes to repurchase approximately 1.8 million shares of our common stock. In August 2007, our board of directors approved a $50.0 million common stock buyback program. Under the buyback program we are authorized to purchase up toIn June 2008, our board of directors approved an additional $50.0 million of purchases of our common stock under the buyback program to occur prior to December 31, 2008. During2009. In the years ended December 31, 2007, 2008 and 2009, we purchased 445,990approximately 2.2 million, 4.4 million and 0.1 million shares of our common stock, at an average price of $22.19 per sharerespectively, for approximately $9.9$59.9 million, under the program. From January 1, 2008 to February 26, 2008, we purchased 689,000 additional shares of our common stock at an average price of $18.59 per share for approximately $12.8$59.3 million under the program.and $0.7 million, respectively. All purchased common shares were subsequently retired. There were no purchases of common stock in the year ended December 31, 2010.


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      Contractual Obligations and Commitments

              The following table summarizes our contractual cash obligations and other commercial commitments as of December 31, 2007.2010 and including our Senior Notes that were issued in January 2011.

       
       Payments due by period
       
       Total
       Less than
      1 year

       1-3 years
       3-5 years
       After
      5 years

       
       (in thousands)

      Long term debt(1) $213,000  2,000  4,000  4,000  203,000
      Capital lease obligations  154,705  15,651  28,919  21,612  88,523
      Operating leases(2)  224,710  34,669  54,836  43,034  92,171
      Unconditional purchase obligations(3)  47,722  15,734  3,780  3,770  24,438
        
       
       
       
       
      Total contractual cash obligations $640,137 $68,054 $91,535 $72,416 $408,132
        
       
       
       
       

       
       Payments due by period 
       
       Total Less than 1 year 1–3 years 3–5 years After 5 years 
       
       (in thousands)
       

      Long term debt(1)

       $95,197 $920 $1,840 $92,437 $ 

      Senior Notes(2)

        278,449  8,183  29,313  21,984  218,969 

      Capital lease obligations

        213,462  18,421  33,334  32,229  129,478 

      Operating leases(3)

        261,476  43,926  58,934  42,388  116,228 

      Unconditional purchase obligations(4)

        72,956  19,506  5,960  5,960  41,530 
                  

      Total contractual cash obligations

       $921,540 $90,956 $129,381 $194,998 $506,205 
                  

      (1)
      The Senior Convertible Notes are assumed to be outstanding until June 15, 2014 which is the earliest put date and these amounts include interest and principal payment obligations.obligations on the Convertible Notes.

      (2)
      The $175.0 million Senior Notes were issued in January 2011 and these amounts include interest and principal payment obligations through the maturity date of February 15, 2018.

      (3)
      These amounts include $225.4 million of operating lease, maintenance, building access and tenant license agreement obligations, reduced by sublease agreements of $0.7 million.obligations.

      (3)(4)
      As of December 31, 2007,2010, we had committed to additional dark fiber IRU lease agreements totaling approximately $40.4$62.6 million in future payments for fiber lease and maintenance services. These amounts are included in unconditional purchase obligations and are to be paid in periods of up to 20 years beginning once the related fiber is accepted.

              Capital Lease Obligations.    The capital lease obligations above were incurred in connection with IRUs for inter-city and intra-city dark fiber underlying substantial portions of our network. These capital leases are presented on our balance sheet at the net present value of the future minimum lease payments, or $92.6$111.7 million at December 31, 2007.2010. These leases generally have initial terms of 15 to 2520 years.

              Letters of Credit.    We are also party to letters of credit totaling $1.0$0.5 million at December 31, 2007.2010. These obligations are fully secured by our restricted investments, and as a result, are excluded from the contractual cash obligations above.


      Future Capital Requirements

              We believe that our cash on hand, cash received from the proceeds of our Senior Notes and cash generated from our operating activities will be adequate to meet our working capital, capital expenditure, debt service, common stock buyback program and other cash requirements if we execute our business plan.

              Any future acquisitions or other significant unplanned costs or cash requirements may require that we raise additional funds through the issuance of debt or equity. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on terms acceptable to us or our stockholders, or at all. Insufficient funds may require us to delay or scale back the number of buildings and markets that we serve,add to our network, reduce our planned increase in our sales and marketing efforts, suspend or terminate our stock buyback program, or require us to otherwise alter our business plan or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of


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      operations and financial condition. If issuing equity securities raises additional funds, substantial dilution to existing stockholders may result.

      Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

              We do not have any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. In addition, we do not engage in trading activities involving non-exchange traded contracts. As such, we are not materially exposed to any financing, liquidity, market or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in these relationships.

      Income taxes

              Due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of our net deferred tax asset, consisting primarily of net operating loss carry-forwards, we have recorded a valuation allowance for the full amounta substantial majority of our net deferred tax asset. ShouldAs of December 31, 2010, we achieve taxable income, our deferred tax assets may be available to offset future income tax liabilities. We have combined net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $1.0$1.1 billion. TheThis amount includes federal and state net operating loss carry-forwards forin the United States of approximately $407$376.0 million, expire from 2023net operating loss carry-forwards related to 2027. We haveour Canadian operations of approximately $6.2 million, net operating loss carry-forwards related to our operations in Mexico of approximately $0.8 million and net operating loss carry-forwards related to our European operations of approximately $600 million,$686.6 million. Section 382 of which approximately $108 millionthe Internal Revenue Code in the United States limits the utilization of net operating losses when ownership changes, as defined by that section, occur. We have performed an analysis of our Section 382 ownership changes and have determined that the utilization of certain of our net operating loss carryforwards in the United States may be limited. The net operating loss carryforwards in the United States will expire, beginning in 2016.if unused, between 2022 and 2029. The remaining $492 million of European net operating loss carry-forwards do not expire.related to our Canadian operations expire if unused, between 2015 and 2027. The federal and state net operating loss carry-forwards of Allied Riser Communications Corporation of approximately $183 million are subjectrelated to certain limitations on annual utilization due to the change in ownership as a result of the merger as prescribed by federalour Mexican operations expire if unused, between 2019 and state tax laws. Our other2020. The net operating loss carry-forwards could also be subjectrelated to certain additional limitations on annual utilization if certain changes in ownership have occurred or were to occur as prescribed by the laws in the respective jurisdictions. Should a change in ownership occur, or have occurred, we may be unable to benefit from the full amount of these net operating loss carry-forwards.our European operations include $540.8 million that do not expire and $145.8 million that expire between 2011 and 2026.

      Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Estimates

              Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.


              The accounting policies we believe to be most critical to understanding our financial results and condition or that require complex, significant and subjective management judgments are discussed below.

      Revenue Recognition

              We recognize service revenue when the services are performed, evidence of an arrangement exists, the fee is fixed and determinable and collection is probable. Service discounts and incentives offered to certain customers are recorded as a reduction of revenue when granted. Fees billed in connection with customer installations are deferred and recognized ratably over the longer of estimated customer life.life or


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      contract term. We determine the estimated customer life using a historical analysis of customer retention.retention and contract terms. If our estimated customer life increases,and contract terms increase, we will recognize installation revenue over a longer period. We expense the direct costs associated with sales as incurred.

      Allowances for Sales Credits and Unfulfilled Customer Purchase Obligations

              We have established allowances to account for sales credits and unfulfilled contractual purchase obligations.

        Our allowance for sales credits is recorded as a reduction to our service revenue to provide for situations when customers are granted a service termination adjustment for amounts billed in advance or a service level agreement credit or discount. This allowance is determined by actual credits granted during the period and an estimate of unprocessed credits.

        Our allowance for unfulfilled contractual customer purchase obligations is designed to account for the possible non-payment of amounts under agreements that we have with certain of our customers that place minimum purchase obligations on them. Although we vigorously seek payments due pursuant to these purchase obligations, we have historically collected only a small portion of these billed obligations. In order to allow for this, we reduce our gross service revenue by the amount that has been invoiced to these customers. We reduce this allowance and recognize the related service revenue only upon the receipt of cash payments in respect of these invoices. This allowance is determined by the amount of unfulfilled contractual purchase obligations invoiced to our customers and with respect to which we are continuing to seek payment.

      Valuation Allowances for Doubtful Accounts Receivable and Deferred Tax Assets

              We have established allowances associated with uncollectible accounts receivable and our deferred tax assets.

        Our valuation allowance for uncollectible accounts receivable is designed to account for the expense associated with accounts receivable that we estimate will not be collected. We assess the adequacy of this allowance by evaluating general factors, such as the length of time individual receivables are past due, historical collection experience, and changes in the credit-worthiness of our customers. We also assess the ability of specific customers to meet their financial obligations to us and establish specific allowances based on the amount we expect to collect from these customers. If circumstances relating to specific customers change or economic conditions change such that our past collections experience and assessment of the economic environment are no longer appropriate, our estimate of the recoverability of our trade receivables could be impacted.

        Our valuation allowance for our net deferred tax asset reflects the uncertainty surrounding the realization of our net operating loss carry-forwards and our other deferred tax assets. For federal and state tax purposes, our net operating loss carry-forwards, including those that we have generated through our operations and those acquired in the Allied Riser merger could be subject to significant limitations on annual use. To reflect for thisthe uncertainty and the uncertainty

          of future taxable income we have recorded a valuation allowance for the full amountsignificant majority of our net deferred tax asset.

      Impairment At each balance sheet date, we assess the likelihood that we will be able to realize our deferred tax assets. We consider all available positive and negative evidence in assessing the need for a valuation allowance. As of Long-Lived Assets

              We reviewDecember 31, 2008, we determined that a full valuation allowance against our long-liveddeferred tax assets including property and equipment, and intangible assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount should be addressed pursuantwas necessary primarily due to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Statementeffect of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 144,Accounting for the Impairment or Disposalhistorical operating losses. At December 31, 2009, we concluded that it was more likely than not that we would be able to realize certain of Long-Lived Assets. Pursuant to SFAS No. 144, impairment is determined by comparing the carrying valueour Canadian deferred tax assets primarily as a result of these long-lived assets to our estimate of expected future undiscounted cash flows expectedtaxable income related to result fromour Canadian operations. Accordingly, we reduced the usevaluation allowance recording an income tax benefit of the assets. In the event that there are changes$1.5 million in the planned useyear ended December 31, 2009. At December 31, 2010, we concluded that it was more likely than not that we would be able to


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          realize the remainder of our long-livedCanadian deferred tax assets. Accordingly, we reduced the remaining valuation allowance related to our Canadian deferred tax assets or our expected future undiscounted cash flows are reduced significantly, our assessmentrecording an income tax benefit of our ability to recover$1.5 million in the carrying value of these assets under SFAS No. 144 could change. No impairment existed atyear ended December 31, 2006 or 2007.

          Convertible Senior Notes

                  We evaluated the embedded conversion option2010. As of December 31, 2010, we maintained a full valuation allowance against our 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes (the "Notes") in accordance with SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities", EITF Issue No. 00-19 "Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settled in a Company's Own Stock" and EITF Issue No. 01-6 "The Meaningother deferred tax assets consisting primarily of Indexed to a Company's Own Stock." We concluded that the embedded conversion option contained within the Notes should not be accounted for separately because the conversion option is indexed to our common stock and would be classified within stockholders' equity, if issued on a standalone basis.net operating loss carryforwards.

                  We evaluated the terms of the Notes for a beneficial conversion feature in accordance with EITF No. 98-5, "Accounting for Convertible Securities with Beneficial Conversion Features or Contingently Adjustable Conversion Ratios" and EITF No. 00-27, "Application of Issue 98-5 to Certain Convertible Instruments." We concluded that there was no beneficial conversion feature at the commitment date based on the conversion rate of the Notes relative to the commitment date stock price. We will continue to evaluate potential future beneficial conversion charges based upon potential future triggering conversion events.

      Equity-based Compensation

              Generally weWe grant options for shares of our common stock to all newcertain of our employees with a strike price equal to the market value at the grant date. We grant shares of restricted stock to our senior management team board of directors and to certain employees who have met our service requirements on the grant date.other employees. We determine the fair value of grants of restricted stock by the closing trading price of our common stock on the grant date. We determine the fair value of grants of options for shares of common stock by the closing trading price of our common stock on the grant date using the Black-Scholes method. Grants of shares of restricted stock and options for common stock generally vest over periods ranging from immediate vestingthree to over a four-year period.four-years. In April 2010, we granted 0.2 million restricted shares that are subject to certain performance conditions. We record equity-based compensation expense related to the performance conditions when it is considered probable that the conditions will be met. Compensation expense for all awards is recognized ratably over the service period.

              Effective January 1, 2006, we adopted FASB Statement No. 123(R),Share-Based Payment ("Statement 123(R)"), using the modified-prospective-transition method.        The adoption of Statement 123(R)accounting for equity-based compensation expense requires us to make additional estimates and judgments that affect our financial statements. These estimates include the following which impact the amount of compensation expense recorded under Statement 123(R).following.

          Expected Dividend Yield—We have never declared or paid dividends and have no plans to do so in the foreseeable future.


          Expected Volatility—We use the historical volatility since our June 2005 public offering to estimatefor a period commensurate with the expected volatility because less than 3% of our fully diluted shares were publicly traded before that date.term.

          Risk-Free Interest Rate—We use the zero coupon U.S. Treasury rate during the quarter having a term that most closely resembles the expected term of the option.

          Expected Term of the Option—We estimate the expected life of the option term by analyzing historical stock option exercises and other relevant data.

          Forfeiture Rates—We estimate the forfeiture rate based on historical data with further consideration given to the class of employees to whom the options or shares were granted.

          Other Accounting Policies

                We record assets and liabilities under capital leases at the lesser of the present value of the aggregate future minimum lease payments or the fair value of the assets under lease. We establish the number of renewal option periods used in determining the lease term, if any, based upon our assessment at the inception of the lease of the number of option periods that are reasonably assured in accordance with SFAS No. 13Accounting for Leases.assured. We estimate the fair value of leased assets using market data for similar assets.

                We capitalize the direct costs incurred prior to an asset being ready for service. These costs include costs under the related construction contract and the compensation costs of employees directly involved with construction activities. Our capitalization of these costs is based upon estimates of time for our employees involved in construction activities.

                We estimate our litigation accruals based upon our estimate of the expected outcome after consultation with legal counsel.

                We estimate our accruals for disputed leased circuit obligations based upon the nature and age of the dispute. Our network costs are impacted by the timing and amounts of disputed circuit costs. We


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        generally record these disputed amounts when billed by the vendor and reverse these amounts when the vendor credit has been received or the dispute has otherwise been resolved.

                We estimate the useful lives of our property and equipment based upon historical usage with consideration given to technological changes and trends in the industry that could impact the asset utilization. We establish the number of renewal option periods used in determining the lease term, if any, for amortizing leasehold improvements based upon our assessment at the inception of the lease of the number of option periods that are reasonably assured in accordance with SFAS No. 13Accounting for Leases.assured.

        Recent Accounting Pronouncements

        Recent Accounting Pronouncements—to be Adopted

                In September 2006,2009, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements"Accounting Standards Update ("SFAS 157"ASU"). SFAS 157 defines 2009-13, Multiple Element Arrangements. ASU 2009-13 addresses the determination of when the individual deliverables included in a multiple arrangement may be treated as separate units of accounting. ASU 2009-13 also modifies the manner in which the transaction consideration is allocated across separately identified deliverables and establishes definitions for determining fair value establishes a framework for measuring fair valueof elements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. 157-1, "Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Other Accounting Pronouncements That Address Fair Value Measurements for Purposes of Lease Classification or Measurement under Statement 13" and FSP No. 157-2, "Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157" as amendments to SFAS 157, which exclude lease transactions from the scope of SFAS 157 and also defer the effective date of the adoption of SFAS 157 for non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities that are nonrecurring. The provisions of SFAS 157 are effective for the fiscal year beginningan arrangement. This standard must be adopted by us no later than January 1, 2008, except for certain non-financial assets and liabilities for which the effective date has been deferred to January 1, 2009.2011. The adoption of SFAS 157 and its related



        pronouncements arethis standard update is not expected to have a material effectimpact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.statements.

                In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159, "The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities" ("SFAS 159"). SFAS 159 permits entities to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. SFAS 159 will be effective for the first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. We will not adopt the alternative provided in this statement.

                In June 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued FASB Interpretation No. ("FIN") 48, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109." FIN No. 48 requires that management determine whether a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination based on the technical merits of the position. Once it is determined that a position meets this recognition threshold, the position is measured to determine the amount of benefit to be recognized in the financial statements. We adopted the provisions of FIN No. 48 on January 1, 2007. As of the date of adoption of FIN No. 48, we did not have any accrued interest or penalties associated with any unrecognized tax positions, and there was no interest expense or expense associated with penalties recognized during the year ended December 31, 2007. The adoption of FIN No. 48 did not have a material effect on our results of operations or financial position.

                In June 2006, the Emerging Issues Task Force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "EITF") reached a conclusion on EITF Issue No. 06-3 "How Taxes Collected from Customers and Remitted to Governmental Authorities Should Be Presented in the Income Statement." The scope of EITF Issue No. 06-3 includes any tax assessed by a governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction between a seller and a customer, and may include, but is not limited to, sales, use, value added, and some excise taxes. The EITF Issue No. 06-3 requires that the presentation of taxes on either a gross basis (included in revenues and costs) or a net basis (excluded from revenues) and is an accounting policy decision that should be disclosed. We collect services and value added taxes from customers and record these amounts on a net basis, which is within the scope of EITF Issue No. 06-3. EITF Issue No. 06-3 applied to financial reports for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2006. The adoption of EITF Issue No. 06-3 did not have an impact on our results of operations or our financial position.

                In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141R, "Business Combinations". SFAS 141R requires the acquiring entity in a business combination to record all assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective acquisition-date fair values, changes the recognition of assets acquired and liabilities assumed arising from contingencies, changes the recognition and measurement of contingent consideration, and requires the expensing of acquisition-related costs as incurred. SFAS 141R also requires additional disclosure of information surrounding a business combination, such that users of the entity's financial statements can fully understand the nature and financial impact of the business combination. SFAS 141R applies prospectively to business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008. An entity may not apply it before that date. The provisions of SFAS 141R will only impact us if we are party to a business combination after the pronouncement has been adopted.


        ITEM 7A.    QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

                We are exposed to certain market risks. These risks, which include interest rate risk and foreign currency exchange risk, arise in the normal course of business rather than from trading activities.

        Interest Rate Risk

                Our cash flow exposure due to changes in interest rates related to our debt is limited as our 1.00% $200.0 million Convertible Notes and Senior Notes (the "Notes") have a fixed interest rate.rates. The fair value of theour Convertible Notes may increase or decrease for various reasons, including fluctuations in the market price of our common stock, fluctuations in market interest rates and fluctuations in general economic conditions. Based upon the quoted market price at December 31, 2007,2010, the fair value of our Convertible Notes was approximately $184.0$78.4 million.

                Our interest income is sensitive to changes in the general level of interest rates. However, based upon the nature and current level of our investments, which are primarily money market funds included in cash and cash equivalents, we believe that there is no material interest rate exposure related to our investments.

        Senior Secured Notes

                In January 2011, we issued our 8.375% Senior Notes due February 15, 2018, for an aggregate principal amount of $175.0 million in a private offering for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The Senior Notes are secured and bear interest at a fixed rate of 8.375% per annum. Interest is payable in cash semiannually in arrears on February 15 and August 15, of each year, beginning on August 15, 2011. We received net proceeds of approximately $170.5 million after deducting $4.5 million of issuance costs. We will incur approximately $15.3 million of additional annual interest expense related to the issuance of the Senior Notes. This includes $14.7 million from the interest on the Senior Notes and $0.6 million from the amortization of the costs related to the Senior Notes.


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        Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

                Our European and Canadian operations outside of the U.S. expose us to potentially unfavorable adverse movements in foreign currency rate changes. We have not entered into forward exchange contracts related to our foreign currency exposure. While we record financial results and assets and liabilities from our European and Canadianinternational operations in euros and the Canadian dollar, respectively,functional currency, which is generally the local currency, these results are reflected in our consolidated financial statements in U.S. dollars. The assets and liabilities associated with our European and Canadian operations are translated into U.S. dollars and reflected in our consolidated financial statements in U.S. dollars. Therefore, our reported results are exposed to fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the eurolocal currencies, in particular the Euro and the Canadian dollar. In addition, we fund the euro-based operating expenses and associatedcertain cash flow requirements of our Europeaninternational operations including IRU and expansion related obligations, in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, in the event that the euro strengthenslocal currencies strengthen versus the U.S. dollar to a greater extent than planned the revenues, expenses and cash flowsflow requirements associated with our Europeaninternational operations may be significantly higher in U.S.-dollar terms than planned. Changes in foreign currency rates could adversely affect our operating results.


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        ITEM 8.    INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

         
         Page

        Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

         4142

        Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 20062009 and 20072010

         4243

        Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2005,2008, December 31, 20062009 and December 31, 20072010

         4344

        Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2005,2008, December 31, 20062009 and December 31, 20072010

         4445

        Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2005,2008, December 31, 20062009 and December 31, 20072010

         46

        Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

         47

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        Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

        The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Cogent Communications Group, Inc.

                We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2007.2010. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the index at 15(a) 2. These financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits.

                We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

                In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and subsidiaries at December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2007,2010, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein.

                As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2006, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123(R), Share Based Payment.

        We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Cogent Communications Group, Inc.'s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007,2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control-IntegratedControl—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 26, 200828, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

        /s/ Ernst & Young LLP

        /s/ Ernst & Young LLP

        McLean, VA
        February 26, 200828, 2011


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        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

        AS OF DECEMBER 31, 20062009 AND 20072010

        (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)

         
         2006
         2007
         
        Assets       
        Current assets:       
        Cash and cash equivalents $42,642 $177,021 
        Short term investments ($0 and $812 restricted, respectively)  80  812 
        Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,233 and $1,159, respectively  20,053  21,760 
        Prepaid expenses and other current assets  5,339  6,636 
          
         
         
        Total current assets  68,114  206,229 
        Property and equipment:       
        Property and equipment  512,321  561,907 
        Accumulated depreciation and amortization  (249,053) (316,487)
          
         
         
        Total property and equipment, net  263,268  245,420 
        Intangible assets, net  1,150  165 
        Deposits and other assets ($1,118 and $306 restricted, respectively)  4,344  3,511 
          
         
         
        Total assets $336,876 $455,325 
          
         
         
        Liabilities and stockholders' equity       
        Current liabilities:       
        Accounts payable $9,096 $12,868 
        Accrued and other current liabilities  11,779  12,891 
        Convertible subordinated notes, net of discount of $1,213  8,978   
        Current maturities, capital lease obligations  6,027  7,717 
          
         
         
        Total current liabilities  35,880  33,476 
        Capital lease obligations, net of current maturities  82,019  84,857 
        Convertible senior notes, net of discount of $4,133    195,867 
        Other long term liabilities  3,345  2,295 
          
         
         
        Total liabilities  121,244  316,495 
          
         
         
        Commitments and contingencies       
        Stockholders' equity:       
        Common stock, $0.001 par value; 75,000,000 shares authorized; 48,928,108 and 47,929,874 shares issued and outstanding, respectively  49  48 
        Additional paid-in capital  478,140  430,402 
        Stock purchase warrants  764  764 
        Accumulated other comprehensive income—foreign currency translation adjustment  1,638  3,600 
        Accumulated deficit  (264,959) (295,984)
          
         
         
        Total stockholders' equity  215,632  138,830 
          
         
         
        Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $336,876 $455,325 
          
         
         

         
         2009 2010 

        Assets

               

        Current assets:

               

        Cash and cash equivalents

         $55,929 $56,283 

        Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $2,516 and $2,464, respectively

          22,877  23,702 

        Prepaid expenses and other current assets

          8,045  8,654 
              

        Total current assets

          86,851  88,639 

        Property and equipment:

               

        Property and equipment

          695,437  759,901 

        Accumulated depreciation and amortization

          (431,653) (479,446)
              

        Total property and equipment, net

          263,784  280,455 

        Deposits and other assets ($469 and $462 restricted, respectively)

          4,360  7,009 
              

        Total assets

         $354,995 $376,103 
              

        Liabilities and stockholders' equity

               

        Current liabilities:

               

        Accounts payable

         $12,781 $15,979 

        Accrued and other current liabilities

          17,609  19,538 

        Current maturities, capital lease obligations

          5,643  6,143 
              

        Total current liabilities

          36,033  41,660 

        Capital lease obligations, net of current maturities

          104,021  105,562 

        Convertible senior notes, net of discount of $25,708 and $20,758, respectively

          66,270  71,220 

        Other long term liabilities

          4,187  5,860 
              

        Total liabilities

          210,511  224,302 
              

        Commitments and contingencies

               

        Stockholders' equity:

               

        Common stock, $0.001 par value; 75,000,000 shares authorized; 44,853,974 and 45,838,510 shares issued and outstanding, respectively

          45  46 

        Additional paid-in capital

          475,158  482,737 

        Accumulated other comprehensive income—foreign currency translation adjustment

          1,976  1,044 

        Accumulated deficit

          (332,695) (332,026)
              

        Total stockholders' equity

          144,484  151,801 
              

        Total liabilities and stockholders' equity

         $354,995 $376,103 
              

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated balance sheets.


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        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

        FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005,2008, DECEMBER 31, 20062009 AND DECEMBER 31, 20072010

        (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)

         
         2005
         2006
         2007
         
        Service revenue, net $135,213 $149,071 $185,663 
        Operating expenses:          
        Network operations (including $399, $315 and $208 of equity-based compensation expense, respectively, exclusive of amounts shown separately)  86,193  80,421  87,756 
        Selling, general, and administrative (including $12,906, $10,194 and $10,176 of equity-based compensation expense, and $4,574, $2,584 and $2,005 of bad debt expense, respectively)  54,250  56,787  62,187 
        Lease restructuring charge  1,319     
        Depreciation and amortization  55,600  58,414  65,638 
          
         
         
         
        Total operating expenses  197,362  195,622  215,581 
          
         
         
         
        Operating loss  (62,149) (46,551) (29,918)
        Gain—Cisco credit facility  842     
        Gains—lease obligation restructurings  844  255  2,110 
        Gains—disposition of assets  3,372  254  95 
        Interest income and other  1,320  2,969  6,914 
        Interest expense  (11,747) (10,684) (10,226)
          
         
         
         
        Net loss $(67,518)$(53,757)$(31,025)
          
         
         
         
        Net loss per common share:          
        Basic and diluted net loss per common share $(1.96)$(1.16)$(0.65)
          
         
         
         
        Weighted-average common shares—basic and diluted  34,439,937  46,343,372  47,800,159 
          
         
         
         

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated statements.


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES
        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
        FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005 DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND DECEMBER 31, 2007
        (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AMOUNTS)

         
         Common Stock
          
          
          
          
         Preferred Stock—F
         Preferred Stock—G
         Preferred Stock—H
         Preferred Stock—I
         
         
         Additional Paid-in
        Capital

         Deferred Compensation
          
         Stock Purchase Warrants
         
         
         Shares
         Amount
         Treasury Stock
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         
        Balance at December 31, 2004 827,487  1  236,692  (22,533) (90) 764 11,000  10,904 41,021  40,778 45,821  44,309 2,575  2,545 
        Total, December 31, 2004                                      
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees (23,069)   (686) 697           (14) (11)   
         Equity-based compensation       13,306                 
         Foreign currency translation                        
         Issuances of common stock, net 11,719,231  11  64,712  (1,150)                
         Conversion of preferred stock into common stock 31,569,003  32  139,782       (11,000) (10,904)(41,021) (40,778)(45,807) (44,298)(2,575) (2,545)
         Net loss                        
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2005 44,092,652  44  440,500  (9,680) (90) 764             
        Total, December 31, 2005                                      
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees (646)                      
         Adoption of SFAS 123(R)—reclassification of deferred compensation     (9,680) 9,680                 
         Equity-based compensation     10,509                   
         Foreign currency translation                        
         Issuances of common stock, net 4,732,500  5  36,474                   
         Exercises of options 103,602    427                           
         Treasury stock retirement     (90)   90                       
         Net loss                        
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2006 48,928,108  49  478,140      764             
        Total, December 31, 2006                                      
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees (22,659)                      
         Equity-based compensation     11,105                   
         Foreign currency translation                        
         Issuances of common stock, net 1,033,404  1                     
         Exercises of options 216,311    1,103                   
         Common stock purchases and retirement (2,225,290) (2) (59,946)                  
         Net loss                        
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2007 47,929,874 $48 $430,402 $ $ $764  $  $  $  $ 
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Total, December 31, 2007                                      

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated statements.


         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Service revenue

         $215,489 $235,807 $263,416 

        Operating expenses:

                  

        Network operations (including $328, $172 and $370 of equity-based compensation expense, respectively, exclusive of amounts shown separately)

          93,055  102,775  119,023 

        Selling, general, and administrative (including $17,548, $8,435 and $6,267 of equity-based compensation expense, respectively)

          80,465  76,905  72,060 

        Asset impairments

          1,592    594 

        Depreciation and amortization

          62,589  59,913  56,524 
                

        Total operating expenses

          237,701  239,593  248,201 
                

        Operating (loss) income

          (22,212) (3,786) 15,215 

        Gains—purchases of convertible senior notes

          23,075     

        Interest income and other

          4,025  1,108  959 

        Interest expense

          (18,574) (15,720) (16,682)
                

        Loss before income taxes

          (13,686) (18,398) (508)

        Income tax (provision) benefit

          (1,536) 1,247  1,177 
                

        Net (loss) income

         $(15,222)$(17,151)$669 
                

        Basic net (loss) income per common share

         $(0.34)$(0.39)$0.01 
                

        Weighted-average common shares—basic

          44,563,727  44,028,736  44,633,878 
                

        Diluted net (loss) income per common share

         $(0.34)$(0.39)$0.01 
                

        Weighted-average common shares—diluted

          44,563,727  44,028,736  44,790,753 
                

        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES
        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (Continued)
        FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005 DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND DECEMBER 31, 2007
        (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AMOUNTS)

         
         Preferred Stock—J
         Preferred Stock—K
         Preferred Stock—L
         Preferred Stock—M
          
          
          
          
         
         
         Foreign Currency
        Translation Adjustment

         Accumulated Deficit
         Total Stockholder's
        Equity

         Comprehensive
        Loss

         
         
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         Shares
         Amount
         
        Balance at December 31, 2004 3,891  19,421 2,600  2,588 185  927 3,701  18,353  1,515  (143,684) 212,490    
        Total, Year Ended December 31, 2004                               (88,773)
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees                     
         Equity-based compensation                  13,306   
         Foreign currency translation              (850)   (850) (850)
         Issuances of common stock, net                  63,573   
         Conversion of preferred stock into common stock (3,891) (19,421)(2,600) (2,588)(185) (927)(3,701) (18,353)        
         Net loss                (67,518) (67,518) (67,518)
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2005              665  (211,202) 221,001    
        Total, Year Ended December 31, 2005                               (68,368)
                                       
         
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees                     
         Adoption of SFAS 123(R)—reclassification of deferred compensation                     
         Equity-based compensation                  10,509   
         Foreign currency translation              973    973  973 
         Issuances of common stock, net                  36,479   
         Exercises of options                  427   
         Treasury stock retirement                     
         Net loss                (53,757) (53,757) (53,757)
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2006              1,638  (264,959) 215,632    
        Total, Year Ended December 31, 2006                               (52,784)
                                       
         
         Forfeitures of shares granted to employees                     
         Equity-based compensation                  11,105   
         Foreign currency translation              1,962    1,962  1,962 
         Issuances of common stock, net                  1   
         Exercises of options                  1,103   
         Common stock purchases and retirement                  (59,948)  
         Net loss                (31,025) (31,025) (31,025)
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
        Balance at December 31, 2007  $  $  $  $ $3,600 $(295,984)$138,830    
          
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
            
        Total, Year Ended December 31, 2007                              $(29,063)
                                       
         

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated statements.


        Table of Contents



        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

        FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008 DECEMBER 31, 2009 AND DECEMBER 31, 2010

        (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AMOUNTS)

         
         Common Stock  
          
         Foreign
        Currency
        Translation
        Adjustment
          
          
          
         
         
         Additional
        Paid-in
        Capital
         Stock
        Purchase
        Warrants
         Accumulated
        Deficit
         Total
        Stockholder's
        Equity
         Comprehensive
        Loss
         
         
         Shares Amount 

        Balance at December 31, 2007

          47,929,874 $48 $505,335 $764 $3,600 $(300,322)$209,425    
                           

        Total, December 31, 2007

                              $(33,401)
                                 

        Forfeitures of shares granted to employees

          (17,596)              

        Equity-based compensation

              18,901        18,901   

        Foreign currency translation

                  (3,028)   (3,028) (3,028)

        Issuances of common stock, net

          715,610               

        Exercises of options

          63,931    148        148   

        Common stock purchases and retirement

          (4,372,870) (4) (59,270)       (59,274)  

        Net loss

                    (15,222) (15,222) (15,222)
                          

        Balance at December 31, 2008

          44,318,949 $44 $465,114 $764 $572 $(315,544)$150,950    
                           

        Total, December 31, 2008

                              $(18,250)
                                 

        Forfeitures of shares granted to employees

          (4,532)              

        Equity-based compensation

              9,654        9,654   

        Foreign currency translation

                  1,404    1,404  1,404 

        Issuances of common stock, net

          25,008               

        Expiration of warrants

              764  (764)        

        Exercises of options

          644,174  1  356        357    

        Common stock purchases and retirement

          (129,625)   (730)       (730)  

        Net loss

                    (17,151) (17,151) (17,151)
                          

        Balance at December 31, 2009

          44,853,974 $45 $475,158 $ $1,976 $(332,695)$144,484    
                           

        Total, December 31, 2009

                              $(15,747)
                                 

        Forfeitures of shares granted to employees

          (61,800)              

        Equity-based compensation

              7,305        7,305   

        Foreign currency translation

                  (932)   (932) (932)

        Issuances of common stock, net

          999,500  1          1   

        Exercises of options

          46,836    274        274    

        Net income

                    669  669  669 
                          

        Balance at December 31, 2010

          45,838,510 $46 $482,737 $ $1,044 $(332,026)$151,801    
                           

        Total, December 31, 2010

                              $(263)
                                 

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated statements.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

        FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005,2008, DECEMBER 31, 20062009 AND DECEMBER 31, 20072010

        (IN THOUSANDS)

         
         2005
         2006
         2007
         
        Cash flows from operating activities:          
        Net loss $(67,518)$(53,757)$(31,025)
        Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:          
         Depreciation and amortization  55,600  58,414  65,638 
         Amortization of debt discount—convertible notes  1,548  2,265  1,576 
         Equity-based compensation expense (net of amounts capitalized)  13,305  10,509  10,384 
         Gains—Cisco credit facility  (842)    
         Gains—lease restructurings dispositions of assets and other, net  (3,983) (540) (2,853)
        Changes in assets and liabilities:          
         Accounts receivable  (3,645) (2,758) (399)
         Prepaid expenses and other current assets  34  (1,321) (679)
         Deposits and other assets  (3,700) 563  1,003 
         Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities  139  (8,090) 4,985 
          
         
         
         
         Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities  (9,062) 5,285  48,630 
          
         
         
         
        Cash flows from investing activities:          
        Purchases of property and equipment  (17,342) (21,526) (30,389)
        Purchases of intangible assets  (129) (100)  
        (Purchases) maturities of short term investments  (774) 1,203  (732)
        Purchase of fiber optic network in Germany  (932)    
        Proceeds from asset sales  5,122  945  257 
          
         
         
         
        Net cash used in investing activities  (14,055) (19,478) (30,864)
          
         
         
         
        Cash flows from financing activities:          
        Proceeds from issuance of senior convertible notes, net      195,147 
        Purchases of common stock      (59,949)
        Repayment of convertible subordinated notes      (10,187)
        Proceeds from sales of common stock, net  63,723  36,479   
        Repayment of capital lease obligations  (6,899) (9,861) (9,809)
        Proceeds from exercises of common stock options    427  1,103 
        Proceeds from issuance of subordinated note  10,000     
        Repayment of subordinated note  (10,000)    
        Repayment of Cisco note  (17,000)    
        Borrowings under credit facility  10,000     
        Repayments under credit facility  (10,000)    
          
         
         
        ��
        Net cash provided by financing activities  39,824  27,045  116,305 
          
         
         
         
        Effect of exchange rate changes on cash  (668) (93) 308 
          
         
         
         
        Net increase in cash and cash equivalents  16,039  12,759  134,379 
        Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year  13,844  29,883  42,642 
          
         
         
         
        Cash and cash equivalents, end of year $29,883 $42,642 $177,021 
          
         
         
         

        Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
        Cash paid for interest $12,598 $12,235 $9,248 
        Non-cash financing activities—          
        Capital lease obligations incurred  1,213  2,087  11,498 

         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Cash flows from operating activities:

                  

        Net (loss) income

         $(15,222)$(17,151)$669 

        Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating activities:

                  
         

        Depreciation and amortization

          62,589  59,913  56,524 
         

        Asset impairment

          1,592    594 
         

        Amortization of debt discount—convertible notes

          8,049  4,545  4,950 
         

        Equity-based compensation expense (net of amounts capitalized)

          17,876  8,607  6,637 
         

        Gains—purchases of senior convertible notes

          (23,075)    
         

        Gains—dispositions of assets and other, net

          (138) (219) (208)

        Changes in assets and liabilities:

                  
         

        Accounts receivable

          (1,273) (138) (1,603)
         

        Prepaid expenses and other current assets

          495  (1,464) (883)
         

        Deposits and other assets

          (537) (292) (2,698)
         

        Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities

          3,980  3,143  7,495 
                
         

        Net cash provided by operating activities

          54,336  56,944  71,477 
                

        Cash flows from investing activities:

                  

        Purchases of property and equipment

          (33,510) (49,507) (52,757)

        Maturities of short-term investments

          750  62   

        Purchase of other assets

            (246)  

        Proceeds from asset sales

          221  338  530 
                

        Net cash used in investing activities

          (32,539) (49,353) (52,227)
                

        Cash flows from financing activities:

                  

        Purchases of convertible senior notes

          (48,553)    

        Repayment of capital lease obligations

          (17,959) (23,167) (19,148)

        Purchases of common stock

          (59,273) (730)  

        Proceeds from exercises of common stock options

          147  357  274 
                

        Net cash used in financing activities

          (125,638) (23,540) (18,874)
                

        Effect of exchange rate changes on cash

          (1,889) 587  (22)
                

        Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

          (105,730) (15,362) 354 

        Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year

          177,021  71,291  55,929 
                

        Cash and cash equivalents, end of year

         $71,291 $55,929 $56,283 
                

        Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:

                  

        Cash paid for interest

         $10,669 $10,420 $11,925 

        Cash paid for income taxes

          1,720  253  303 

        Non-cash financing activities—

                  
         

        Capital lease obligations incurred

          32,398  27,803  23,291 

        The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated statements.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES



        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS



        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 20072010

        1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies:

        Description of business

                Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (the "Company") is a Delaware corporation and is headquartered in Washington, DC. The Company is a facilities-based provider of low-cost, high-speed Internet access and Internet Protocol ("IP") communications services. The Company's network is specifically designed and optimized to transmit data using IP. The Company delivers its services to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations through approximately 15,000 customer connections in North America and Europe.

                The Company offers on-net Internet access services exclusively through its own facilities, which run all the way to its customers' premises. Because of its integrated network architecture, the Company is not dependent on local telephone companies to serve its on-net customers. The Company provides on-net Internet access to its net centric customers which include certain bandwidth-intensive users such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies and commercial content providers at speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second. These customers generally receive service in colocation facilities and the Company's data centers. The Company also offers Internet access services to its corporate customers in multi-tenant office buildings typically serving law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms and other professional services businesses. The Company operates data centers throughout North America and Europe that allow customers to collocate their equipment and access the Company's network.

                In addition to providing on-net services, the Company also provides Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to its network. The Company serves these off-net corporate customers using other carriers' facilities to provide the "last mile" portion of the link from its customers' premises to the Company's network. The Company also provides certain non-core services that resulted from acquisitions. The Company continues to support but does not actively sell these non-core services.

                The Company has created its network by acquiring optical fiber from underlying carriers and directly connecting Internet routers to this optical fiber. Through 2004, the Company expanded its network through several acquisitions of financially distressed companies or their assets. Since then, it has primarily focused on the growth of its on-net Internet access services.

        Summary of Significant Accounting Policiessignificant accounting policies

        Principles of consolidation

                The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles and include the accounts of the Company and all of its wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

        Reclassification

                Certain previously reported December 31, 2006 balance sheet amounts have been reclassified in order to be consistent with the December 31, 2007 presentation.


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007

        Use of estimates

                The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from these estimates.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies: (Continued)

        Revenue recognition and allowance for doubtful accounts

                The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 104, "Revenue Recognition." The Company's service offerings consist of telecommunications services provided under month-to-month or annual contractsservices. Fixed fees are billed monthly in advance.advance and usage fees are billed monthly in arrears. Net revenues from telecommunication services are recognized when the services are performed, evidence of an arrangement exists, the fee is fixed and determinable and collection is probable. The probability of collection is determined by an analysis of a new customer's credit history and historical payment patterns for existing customers. Service discounts and incentives related to telecommunication services are recorded as a reduction of revenue when granted. Fees billed in connection with customer installations are deferred and recognized ratably over the longer of the contract term or the estimated customer life which is determined by a historical analysis of customer retention.retention and the contract term. The Company expenses the direct costs associated with sales as incurred.

                The Company invoices certain customers for amounts contractually due for unfulfilled minimum contractual obligations and recognizes a corresponding sales allowance equal to this revenuethe amount invoiced resulting in the recognition of no net revenue at the time the customer is billed. The Company vigorously seeks payment of these amounts. The Company recognizes net revenue as these billings are collected in cash.collected.

                The Company establishes a valuationan allowance for doubtful accounts and other sales credit adjustments. Valuation allowancesadjustments related to its trade receivables. Trade receivables are recorded at the invoiced amount and can bear interest. Allowances for sales credits are established through a reduction of revenue, while valuation allowances for doubtful accounts are established through a charge to selling, general, and administrative expenses. The Company assesses the adequacy of these reserves by evaluating general factors, such as the length of time individual receivables are past due, and historical collection experience, and changes in the credit worthiness of its customers. The Company also assesses the ability of specific customers to meet their financial obligations and establishes specific allowances related to these customers. If circumstances relating to specific customers change or economic conditions change such that the Company's past collection experience and assessment of the economic environment are no longer appropriate, the Company's estimate of the recoverability of its trade receivables could be impacted. Accounts receivable balances are written-off against the allowance for doubtful accounts after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. The Company recognized bad debt expense, net of recoveries, of approximately $4.6 million, $4.9 million and $4.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.

        Network operations

                Network operations expenses include costs associated with service delivery, network management, and customer support. This includes the costs of personnel and related operating expenses associated with these activities, network facilities costs, fiber and equipment maintenance fees, leased circuit costs, and access fees paid to building owners. The Company estimates its accruals for any disputed leased circuit obligations based upon the nature and age of the dispute. Network operations costs are impacted by the timing and amounts of disputed circuit costs. The Company generally records these disputed amounts when billed by the vendor and reverses these amounts when the vendor credit has been received or the dispute has otherwise been resolved. The Company does not allocate depreciation and amortization expense to its network operations expense.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 20072010

        1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies: (Continued)

        Foreign currency translation adjustment and comprehensive income (loss)

                The functional currency of Cogent Canada is the Canadian dollar. The functional currency of Cogent Europe is the euro. The consolidated financial statements of Cogent Canada, and Cogent Europe,the Company's non-U.S. operations are translated into U.S. dollars using the period-end foreign currency exchange rates for assets and liabilities and the average foreign currency exchange rates for revenues and expenses. Gains and losses on translation of the accounts of the Company's non-U.S. operations are accumulated and reported as a component of other comprehensive income (loss)loss in stockholders' equity.

                Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 130, "Reporting of Comprehensive Income" requires "comprehensive income" and the components of "other comprehensive income" to be reported in the financial statements and/or notes thereto. The Company's only components of "other comprehensive income"loss" are currency translation adjustments for all periods presented.

        Financial instruments

                The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at purchase to be cash equivalents. The Company determines the appropriate classification of its investments at the time of purchase and evaluates such designation at each balance sheet date. At December 31, 2006 and 2007, the Company's investments consisted of money market accounts (included in cash equivalents) and certificates of deposit.

                At December 31, 20062009 and 2007,December 31, 2010, the carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivable, prepaid and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued expenses approximated fair value because of the short-term nature of these instruments. The Company measures its cash equivalents at fair value based upon quoted (Level 1) market prices and at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. Based upon the quoted (Level 1) market price at December 31, 2007,2010, the fair value of the Company's $200.0$92.0 million convertible senior notes was approximately $184.0$78.4 million.

        Short-term investments

                Short-term investments consist of certificates of deposit with original maturities beyond three months, but less than twelve months. Such short-term investments are carried at amortized cost, which approximates fair value due to the short period of time to maturity. Investments underlying the Company's cash equivalents and short-term investments are classified as "held-to-maturity" in accordance with SFAS No. 115, "Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities."

                The Company was party to letters of credit totaling approximately $1.0$0.4 million as of December 31, 20062009 and $0.5 million as of December 31, 2007.2010. These letters of credit are secured by certificates of deposit ofinvestments totaling approximately $1.1$0.5 million at December 31, 20062009 and December 31, 2007,2010, that are restricted and included in short-term investments and other assets.

        CreditConcentration of credit risk

                The Company's assets that are exposed to credit risk consist of its cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, other assets and accounts receivable. As of December 31, 20062009 and 2007, approximately $37.4 million (4 funds) and $171.9 million (7 funds) of2010, the Company's cash equivalents were invested in demand deposit accounts, overnight investments and money market funds. The largest individual investment amount in an individual fund was $30.9$11.1 million at December 31, 20062009 (demand deposit account) and $50.7$16.7 million at December 31, 2007.2010 (overnight investment). The Company places its cash equivalents and short-term investments in instruments that meet high-quality credit standards as specified in the Company's investment policy guidelines. Accounts receivable are due from customers located in major


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007


        metropolitan areas in the United States, Europe, Canada and Canada.Mexico. Receivables from the Company's net centric (wholesale) customers and customers obtained through business combinations are subject to a higher degree of credit risk than other customers.

                The Company relies upon an equipment vendor for the majority of its network equipment and is also dependent upon third-party fiber providers for providing its services to its customers.

        Property and equipment

                Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated once deployed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Useful lives are determined based on historical usage with consideration given to technological changes and trends in the industry that could impact


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies: (Continued)


        the asset utilization. System infrastructure costs include the capitalized compensation costs of employees directly involved with construction activities and costs incurred by third party contractors. Assets and liabilities under capital leases are recorded at the lesser of the present value of the aggregate future minimum lease payments or the fair value of the assets under lease. Leasehold improvements include costs associated with building improvements. The Company determines the number of renewal option periods, if any, included in the lease term for purposes of amortizing leasehold improvements based upon its assessment at the inception of the lease of the number of option periods that are reasonably assured in accordance with SFAS No. 13 "Accounting for Leases."assured. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred.

                Depreciation and amortization periods are as follows:

        Type of asset

         Depreciation or amortization period
        Indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) Shorter of useful life or IRU lease agreement; generally 15 to 20 years, beginning when the IRU is ready for use
        Network equipment 3 to 8 years
        Leasehold improvements Shorter of lease term or useful life
        Software 5 years
        Owned buildings 40 years
        Office and other equipment 3 to 7 years
        System infrastructure 5 to 10 years

        Long-lived assets

                The Company's long-lived assets include property and equipment and identifiable intangible assets. These long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount shouldmay not be addressed pursuant to SFAS No. 144, "Accounting for therecoverable. Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets." Pursuant to SFAS No. 144, impairment is determined by comparing the carrying value of these long-lived assets to management's probability weighted estimate of the future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets. In the event an impairment exists, a loss is recognized based on the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the asset, which would be determined by using quoted market prices or valuation techniques such as the discounted present value of expected future cash flows, appraisals, or other pricing models. Management believes that no such impairment existed as of December 31, 2006 or 2007. In the event there are changes in the planned use of the Company's long-term assets or the Company's expected future undiscounted cash flows are reduced significantly, the Company's assessment of its ability to recover the carrying value of these assets under SFAS No. 144 could change.

        Asset retirement obligations

                The Company's asset retirement obligations consist of restoration requirements for certain leased facilities. The Company recognizes a liability for the present value of the estimated fair value of contractual obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset in the period incurred. The present value of the fair value of the obligation is also capitalized as property, plant and equipment and then amortized over the estimated remaining useful life of the associated asset.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 20072010

        Asset retirement obligations1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies: (Continued)


                In accordance with SFAS No. 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations,"Increases to the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation isliability due to the passage of time are recognized within selling, general and administrative expenses in the periodCompany's consolidated statements of operations. Changes in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimatethe liability due to revisions to estimates of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costsfuture cash flows are capitalized as part ofrecognized by increasing or decreasing the liability with the offset adjusting the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset. The Company records changes in the liability for an asset retirement obligation due to passage of time using the effective interest rate method. The interest rate used to measure that change is the credit-adjusted risk-free rate that existed when the liability was initially measured.

        Convertible Senior NotesEquity-based compensation

                The Company evaluatedrecognizes compensation expense for its share-based payments granted to its employees based on their grant date fair values with the embedded conversion optionexpense being recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. The Company begins recording equity-based compensation expense related to its performance awards when it is probable that the performance conditions will be met. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized in the statement of its 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes (the "Notes") in accordance with SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities", EITF Issue No. 00-19 "Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settledoperations in a Company's Own Stock"manner consistent with the classification of the employee's salary and EITF Issue No. 01-6 "The Meaningother compensation. See Note 8 for additional information related to share-based payments.

        Debt with conversion options

                On January 1, 2009, the Company adopted the provisions of IndexedAccounting Standards Codification ("ASC") ASC 470-20, Debt, "Debt with Conversion and Other Options" ("ASC 470-20"). ASC 470-20 clarified the accounting for convertible debt instruments that may be settled in cash (including partial cash settlement) upon conversion. ASC 470-20 requires issuers to account separately for the liability and equity components of certain convertible debt instruments in a Company's Own Stock." The Company concludedmanner that reflects the embedded conversion option contained withinissuer's nonconvertible debt borrowing rate when interest cost is recognized. ASC 470-20 requires bifurcation of a component of the Notes should notdebt, classification of that component in equity and the amortization of the resulting discount on the debt to be accounted for separately because the conversion option is indexed torecognized as part of interest expense in the Company's common stock and would be classified within stockholders' equity, if issued on a standalone basis.consolidated statements of operations.

                The Company also evaluatedestimated the termsfair value of convertible notes on the Notes forissuance date and on each purchase date. The fair value that was assigned to the liability component of convertible notes was determined using interest rates of similar debt that excluded a beneficial conversion feature in accordance with EITF No. 98-5, "Accounting for Convertible Securities with Beneficial Conversion Features or Contingently Adjustable Conversion Ratios" and EITF No. 00-27, "Application of Issue 98-5 to Certain Convertible Instruments." The Company concludedthen applying that there was no beneficial conversion feature at the commitment date based on the conversioneffective interest rate of the Notes relative to the commitment date stock price. The Company continuescash flows associated with the convertible notes to evaluate potential future beneficial conversion charges based upon potential future triggering conversion events.calculate the present value.

        Income taxes

                The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with SFAS No. 109, "Accounting for Income Taxes." Under SFAS No. 109,Company's deferred tax assets or liabilities are computed based upon the differences between financial statement and income tax bases of assets and liabilities using the enacted marginal tax rate. Deferred income tax expense or benefits are based upon the changes in the assets or liability from period to period. At each balance sheet date, the Company assesses the likelihood that it will be able to realize its deferred tax assets. The Company considers all available positive and negative evidence in assessing the need for a valuation allowance. The Company will reduce its valuation allowance if the Company concludes that it is more likely than not that it would be able to realize its deferred tax assets.

                In June 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued FASB Interpretation No. ("FIN") 48, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109." FIN No. 48 requires that management determineManagement determines whether a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination based on the technical merits of the position. Once it is determined that a position meets


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        1. Description of the business and summary of significant accounting policies: (Continued)


        this recognition threshold, the position is measured to determine the amount of benefit to be recognized in the financial statements. The Company adopted the provisions of FIN No. 48 on January 1, 2007. As a result of adopting FIN No. 48, the Company did not recognize any previously unrecognized tax positions. The adoption of FIN No. 48 did not have a material effect on the Company's results of operations or financial position. The Company's policy is to recognize interest and penalties accrued on any unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. There was no interest expense or expense associated with penalties recognized during the year ended December 31, 2007.


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007

                The Company or one of its subsidiaries files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company is subject to U.S. federal tax and state tax examinations for years from 20042005 to 2007.2010. The Company is subject to tax examinations in its foreign jurisdictions generally for years from 20012000 to 2007.2010. Management does not believe there will be any material changes in its unrecognized tax positions over the next 12 months.

        Equity-based compensation

                Prior to January 1, 2006, the Company accounted for its equity-based compensation under the recognition and measurement provisions of Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees" ("Opinion 25"), and related Interpretations, as permitted by SFAS No. 123, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation." Effective January 1, 2006, the Company adopted SFAS No. 123(R), "Share-Based Payment", using the modified-prospective transition method.

                Under the modified-prospective transition method, compensation cost recognized includes: (a) compensation cost for all equity-based payments granted prior to but not yet vested as of January 1, 2006, based on the grant date fair value, and (b) compensation cost for all share-based payments granted subsequent to January 1, 2006, based on the grant-date fair value. Results for prior periods have not been restated. As a result of adopting SFAS No. 123(R), the Company's net loss for the year ended December 31, 2006, was approximately $0.7 million greater than if it had continued to account for share-based compensation under Opinion 25. Upon the adoption of SFAS No. 123(R), $9.7 million of deferred compensation was offset against additional paid-in-capital.

                Pro forma information regarding net loss and net loss per share is required by SFAS No. 123 and, in periods prior to January 1, 2006, had been determined as if the Company had accounted for its employee stock options under the fair value method. The fair value of each option grant was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

                The following table illustrates the effect on net loss and net loss per share if the Company had applied the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS No. 123 for the year ended December 31, 2005 (in thousands except per share amounts):

         
         Year Ended
        December 31, 2005

         
        Net loss available to common shareholders, as reported $(67,518)
        Add: equity-based compensation expense included in reported net loss, net of related tax effects  13,305 
        Deduct: total stock-based employee compensation expense determined under fair value based method, net of related tax effects  (13,918)
          
         
        Pro forma—net loss available to common shareholders $(68,131)
          
         
        Loss per share available to common shareholders, as reported—basic and diluted $(1.96)
          
         
        Pro forma loss per share available to common shareholders—basic and diluted $(1.98)
          
         

                The weighted-average per share grant date fair value of options for common stock was $4.95 in 2005, $6.16 in 2006 and $12.27 in 2007.


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007

                The following assumptions were used for determining the fair value of options granted in the three years ended December 31, 2007:

         
         Year Ended
        December 31, 2005

         Year Ended
        December 31, 2006

         Year Ended
        December 31, 2007

         
        Dividend yield 0.0%0.0%0.0%
        Expected volatility—average 159.8%58.2%55.1%
        Risk-free interest rate—average 4.1%4.8%4.5%
        Expected life of the option term (in years) 5.0 5.0 5.9 

        Basic and diluted net loss(loss) income per common share

                Net lossBasic earnings per share is presented in accordance with the provisions of SFAS No. 128 "Earnings per Share." SFAS No. 128 requires a presentation of basic EPS and diluted EPS. Basic EPS("EPS") excludes dilution for common stock equivalents and is computed by dividing net income or loss(loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, adjusted, using the if-converted method, for the effect of common stock equivalents arising from the assumed conversion of participating convertible securities, if dilutive.period. Diluted net loss per common shareEPS is based on the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period, adjusted for the effect of common stock equivalents, arising fromif dilutive.

                Shares of restricted stock are included in the assumed exercisecomputation of basic EPS as they vest and are included in diluted EPS, to the extent they are dilutive, determined using the treasury stock options, warrants,method. As of December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, 1.7 million, 0.4 million and 0.4 million unvested shares of restricted common stock, respectively, are not included in the conversioncomputation of debt, preferred stock and participating convertible securities, if dilutive.diluted (loss) income per share, as the effect would be anti-dilutive.

                Using the "if-converted" method, the shares issuable upon conversion of the Company's 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes (the "Notes""Convertible Notes") were anti-dilutive for the yearyears ended December 31, 2007.2008, 2009 and 2010. Accordingly, theirthe impact has been excluded from the computation of diluted loss per share.EPS computations. The Convertible Notes are convertible into shares of the Company's Commoncommon stock at an initial conversion price of $49.18 per share, yielding 4.11.9 million common shares at December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, subject to certain adjustments set forth in the indenture. Common

                The Company computes the dilutive effect of outstanding options using the treasury stock equivalents have also been excluded from the net loss per share calculations for all periods presented because their effect would be anti-dilutive.

        method. For the years ended December 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 20072010 options to purchase 1.21.1 million, 1.20.4 million shares and 1.10.2 million shares of common stock, respectively, at weighted-average exercise prices of $2.68, $2.73$5.65 and $5.75$12.59 and $17.84 per share, respectively, are not included in the computation of diluted earningsloss per share as they arethe effect would be anti-dilutive. Unvested restricted stock is not included in

                The following details the computationdetermination of earnings per share until vested. For the yearsdiluted weighted average shares for the year ended December 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007, 0.3 million shares, 0.4 million shares and 1.2 million shares of unvested restricted stock, respectively, are not included in the computation of basic earnings per share and will be included as this stock vests.2010:

        Recent accounting pronouncements

                In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements" ("SFAS 157"). SFAS 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. 157-1, "Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Other Accounting Pronouncements That Address Fair Value Measurements for Purposes of Lease Classification or Measurement under Statement 13" and FSP No. 157-2, "Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157" as amendments to SFAS 157, which exclude lease transactions from the scope of SFAS 157 and also defer the effective date of the adoption of SFAS 157 for non-financial


        Year Ended December 31, 2010

        Weighted average common shares outstanding—basic

        44,633,878

        Dilutive effect of stock options

        76,336

        Dilutive effect of restricted stock

        80,539

        Weighted average shares—diluted

        44,790,753

        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 2007


        assets and non-financial liabilities that are nonrecurring. The provisions of SFAS 157 are effective for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008, except for certain non-financial assets and liabilities for which the effective date has been deferred to January 1, 2009. The adoption of SFAS 157 and its related pronouncements are not expected to have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

                In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159, "The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities" ("SFAS 159"). SFAS 159 permits entities to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. The objective is to improve financial reporting by providing entities with the opportunity to mitigate volatility in reported earnings caused by measuring related assets and liabilities differently without having to apply complex hedge accounting provisions. SFAS 159 will be effective for the first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. The Company will not adopt the alternative provided in this statement.

                In June 2006, the Emerging Issues Task Force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "EITF") reached a conclusion on EITF Issue No. 06-3 "How Taxes Collected from Customers and Remitted to Governmental Authorities Should Be Presented in the Income Statement." The scope of EITF Issue No. 06-3 includes any tax assessed by a governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction between a seller and a customer, and may include, but is not limited to, sales, use, value added, and some excise taxes. EITF Issue No. 06-3 requires that the presentation of taxes on either a gross basis (included in revenues and costs) or a net basis (excluded from revenues) and is an accounting policy decision that should be disclosed. The Company collects services and value added taxes from customers and records these amounts on a net basis, which is within the scope of EITF Issue No. 06-3. EITF Issue No. 06-3 applied to financial reports for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2006. The adoption of EITF Issue No. 06-3 did not have any impact on the Company's results of operations or financial position.

                In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141R, "Business Combinations". SFAS 141R requires the acquiring entity in a business combination to record all assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective acquisition-date fair values, changes the recognition of assets acquired and liabilities assumed arising from contingencies, changes the recognition and measurement of contingent consideration, and requires the expensing of acquisition-related costs as incurred. SFAS No. 141R also requires additional disclosure of information surrounding a business combination, such that users of the entity's financial statements can fully understand the nature and financial impact of the business combination. SFAS 141R applies prospectively to business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008. An entity may not apply it before that date. The provisions of SFAS No. 141R will only impact us if the Company is party to a business combination after the pronouncement has been adopted.


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 20072010

        2. Property and equipment:

                Property and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):

         
         December 31,
         
         
         2006
         2007
         
        Owned assets:       
        Network equipment $244,688 $267,538 
        Leasehold improvements  68,452  75,865 
        System infrastructure  38,670  42,344 
        Software  7,800  7,867 
        Office and other equipment  7,395  8,720 
        Buildings  1,418  1,623 
        Land  125  139 
          
         
         
           368,548  404,096 
        Less—Accumulated depreciation and amortization  (213,625) (272,321)
          
         
         
           154,923  131,775 

        Assets under capital leases:

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
        IRUs  143,773  157,811 
        Less—Accumulated depreciation and amortization  (35,428) (44,166)
          
         
         
           108,345  113,645 
          
         
         
        Property and equipment, net $263,268 $245,420 
          
         
         

         
         December 31, 
         
         2009 2010 

        Owned assets:

               

        Network equipment

         $319,178 $342,146 

        Leasehold improvements

          92,567  102,975 

        System infrastructure

          51,134  57,314 

        Software

          8,827  8,982 

        Office and other equipment

          7,554  9,354 

        Building

          1,591  1,471 

        Land

          135  125 
              

          480,986  522,367 

        Less—Accumulated depreciation and amortization

          (365,288) (401,435)
              

          115,698  120,932 

        Assets under capital leases:

               

        IRUs

          214,451  237,534 

        Less—Accumulated depreciation and amortization

          (66,365) (78,011)
              

          148,086  159,523 
              

        Property and equipment, net

         $263,784 $280,455 
              

                Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment and capital leases was $53.7$62.6 million, $56.8$59.6 million and $64.5$56.5 million, for the years ended December 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 2007,2010, respectively.

          Asset sales

                In 2005, the Company sold a building and land for net proceeds of $5.1 million. This transaction resulted in a gain of approximately $3.9 million. In 2006, the Company sold another building and land for net proceeds of $0.8 million. This transaction resulted in a gain of approximately $0.3 million.

          Capitalized labor and relatedconstruction costs

                The Company capitalizes the compensation cost of employees directly involved with its construction activities. In 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 2007,2010, the Company capitalized compensation costcosts of $2.2$4.1 million, $2.1$4.5 million and $3.5$5.9 million respectively. These amounts are included in system infrastructure costs.

        3.     Accrued and other current liabilities:

        Paris office lease—restructuring chargeAsset impairments

                In 2004,During the French subsidiaryfirst quarter of Cogent Europe re-located its Paris headquarters. The estimated net present value of the remaining lease obligation, net of estimated sublease income, was recorded as a lease restructuring charge in 2004. In 2005,2008, the Company revised its estimateidentified an impaired IRU asset that resulted in an asset impairment charge of $1.6 million. The impaired IRU asset was no longer in use and the Company obtained alternative dark fiber that serves the related facilities and customers. As of December 31, 2010, the Company's balance sheet includes a capital lease liability including accrued interest totaling $2.7 million related to this IRU as the requirements for sublease incomethe extinguishment of such liability have not been met and payments with the vendor are in dispute.

                In the three months ended March 31, 2010 the Company recorded an impairment charge for certain property and equipment that were no longer in use totaling $0.6 million.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 2007


        estimated that the net present value of the remaining lease obligation increased by approximately $1.3 million and recorded an additional lease restructuring charge. A reconciliation of the amounts related to these contract termination costs is as follows (in thousands):

        Lease restructuring accrual

          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2004 $1,611 
        Amortization of discount  144 
        Charged to costs—2005  1,319 
        Effect of exchange rates  (236)
        Amounts paid  (1,286)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2005  1,552 
        Effect of exchange rates  40 
        Amortization of discount  114 
        Amounts paid  (1,313)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2006  393 
        Amortization of discount  7 
        Amounts paid  (400)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2007 $ 
          
         

        Acquired lease obligations

                In December 2004, the Company accrued for the net present value of estimated cash flows for amounts related to leases of abandoned facilities acquired in an acquisition. In 2005, the Company revised its estimate for sublease income and estimated that the net present value of the remaining lease obligation increased by approximately $1.6 million and recorded a corresponding increase to the acquired intangible assets. In August 2006, the Company placed one of these facilities into service and reversed the associated liability resulting in an increase to other income of approximately $0.4 million. In September 2007, the Company entered into a settlement agreement under which the Company was released from its obligation under one of the facility leases. This settlement agreement resulted in a gain of approximately $2.1 million recorded as a gain on lease restructurings in the accompanying


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES2010

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)3. Accrued and other liabilities:

        DECEMBER 31, 2005, 2006 and 2007


        consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2007. A reconciliation of the amounts related to these contract termination costs is as follows (in thousands):

        Acquired unused lease obligations

          
         
        Assumed obligation—balance December 31, 2004 $1,894 
        Increase to obligation—2005  1,563 
        Amortization of discount  105 
        Amounts paid  (842)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2005  2,720 
        Amortization of discount  154 
        Facility placed into service  (395)
        Amounts paid  (725)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2006  1,754 
        Amortization of discount  82 
        Settlement amount  (1,325)
        Amounts paid  (441)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2007 (included in accrued and other current liabilities) $70 
          
         

        Asset retirement obligations

                The Company provides for asset retirement obligations for certain points of presence in its networks. A reconciliation of the amounts related to these obligations as follows (in thousands):

        Asset retirement obligations

          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2004 $1,202 
        Effect of exchange rates  (128)
        Amortization of discount  45 
        Amounts paid  (274)
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2005  845 
        Effect of exchange rates  101 
        Amortization of discount  40 
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2006  986 
        Effect of exchange rates  119 
        Amortization of discount  47 
          
         
        Balance—December 31, 2007 (recorded as other long term liabilities) $1,152 
          
         

                Accrued and other current liabilities as of December 31 consist of the following (in thousands):

         
         2006
         2007
        General operating expenditures $5,993 $4,976
        Lease restructuring accrual  393  
        Acquired unused lease obligations  512  70
        Deferred revenue—short term  1,265  1,642
        Payroll and benefits  1,465  2,634
        Taxes—non-income based  585  985
        Interest  1,566  2,584
          
         
        Total $11,779 $12,891
          
         

         
         2009 2010 

        Operating accruals

         $7,682 $8,499 

        Deferred revenue—current portion

          3,220  3,893 

        Payroll and benefits

          2,325  2,155 

        Taxes—non-income based

          646  1,448 

        Interest

          3,736  3,543 
              

        Total

         $17,609 $19,538 
              

        Asset retirement obligations

                In the first quarter of 2010, the Company determined that its estimates of restoration costs for its leased facility asset retirement obligations were too high based on current costs to restore and changes in the expected timing of the payment of those costs due to the extensions of lease terms. As a result, in the first quarter of 2010, the Company revised its estimates of the cash flows that it believes will be required to settle its leased facility asset retirement obligations at the end of the respective lease terms, which resulted in a reduction to the Company's asset retirement obligation liability. As a result of the revisions in the estimated amount and timing of cash flows for its asset retirement obligations, in the three months ended March 31, 2010, the Company reduced its asset retirement obligation liability by $0.9 million with an offsetting reduction to depreciation and amortization of $0.7 million and selling, general and administrative expenses of $0.2 million.

                A reconciliation of the amounts related to these obligations is as follows (in thousands):

        Asset retirement obligations
          
         

        Balance—December 31, 2007

         $1,152 

        Effect of exchange rates

          (49)

        Amortization of discount

          53 
            

        Balance—December 31, 2008

          1,156 

        Effect of exchange rates

          20 

        Amortization of discount

          32 
            

        Balance—December 31, 2009

          1,208 

        Effect of exchange rates

          (77)

        Revision to estimated obligation

          (909)

        Amortization of discount

          11 
            

        Balance—December 31, 2010 (recorded as other long term liabilities)

         $233 
            

        4.     Intangible assets:Table of Contents

                Intangible assets as of December
        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, consist of the following (in thousands):

         
         2006
         2007
         
        Peering arrangements $16,440 $16,440 
        Customer contracts  12,435  12,545 
        Trade name  1,764  1,764 
        Non-compete agreements  431  431 
        Licenses  615  711 
          
         
         
        Total  31,685  31,891 
        Less—accumulated amortization  (30,535) (31,726)
          
         
         
        Intangible assets, net $1,150 $165 
          
         
         

                Intangible assets are being amortized over periods ranging from 12 to 60 months. Intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis or using an accelerated method consistent with expected cash flows from the related assets. Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 2007 was approximately $2.0 million, $1.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Future amortization expense related to intangible assets of $0.2 million is expected to be recognized through the year ending December 31, 2009.2010

        5.4. Long-term debt and credit facility:debt:

        Convertible Senior Notessenior notes

                In June 2007, the Company issued 1.00%its Convertible Senior Notes (the "Notes") due June 15, 2027, for an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million in a private offering for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The Convertible Notes mature on June 15, 2027, are unsecured, and bear interest at 1.00% per annum. The Convertible Notes will rank equally with any future senior debt and senior to any future subordinated debt and will be effectively subordinated to all existing and future liabilities of the Company's subsidiaries and to any secured debt the Company may issue, to the extent of the value of the collateral. Interest is payable in cash semiannually in arrears on June 15 and December 15, of each year, beginning on December 15, 2007. The Company received net proceeds from the issuance of the Convertible Notes of approximately $195.1 million, after deducting the original issue discount of 2.25% and issuance costs. The Company used $10.6 million of the proceeds to repay principal and accrued interest on its existing convertible subordinated notes on June 15, 2007 and used approximately $50.1 million of the net proceeds to repurchase approximately 1.8 million shares of its common stock concurrently with the Notes offering. These 1.8 million common shares were subsequently retired. The discount and other issuance costs are being amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method through June 15, 2014, which is the earliest put date. The Company intends to use the remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes and to fund the common stock buyback program discussed in Note 8.

        Conversion Processprocess and Other Termsother terms of the Convertible Notes

                The Convertible Notes are convertible into shares of the Company's common stock at an initial conversion price of $49.18 per share, or 20.3355 shares for each $1,000 principal amount of Convertible Notes, subject to adjustment for certain events as set forth in the indenture. Depending upon the price of the Company's common stock at the time of conversion, holders of the Convertible Notes will receive additional shares of the Company's common stock. Upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, the Company will have the right to deliver shares of its common stock, cash or a combination of cash and shares of its common stock. The Convertible Notes are convertible (i) during any fiscal quarter after the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2007, if the closing sale price of the Company's common stock for 20 or more trading days in a period of 30



        consecutive trading days ending on the last trading day of the immediately preceding fiscal quarter exceeds 130% of the conversion price in effect on the last trading day of the immediately preceding fiscal quarter, or (ii) specified corporate transactions occur, or (iii) the trading price of the Convertible Notes falls below a certain threshold, or (iv) if the Company calls the Convertible Notes for redemption, or (v) on or after April 15, 2027, until maturity. In addition, following specified corporate transactions, the Company will increase the conversion rate for holders who elect to convert notes in connection with such corporate transactions, provided that in no event may the shares issued upon conversion, as a result of adjustment or otherwise, result in the issuance of more than 35.5872 common shares per $1,000 principal amount or approximately 7.1 million common shares.amount. The Convertible Notes include an "Irrevocable Election of Settlement" whereby the Company may choose, in its sole discretion, and without the consent of the holders of the Convertible Notes, to waive its right to settle the conversion feature in either cash or stock or in any combination at its option.

        The Convertible Notes may be redeemed by the Company at any time after June 20, 2014 at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest. Holders of the Convertible Notes have the right to require the Company to repurchase for cash all or some of their notes on June 15, 2014, 2017 and 2022 and upon the occurrence of certain designated events at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest.

        Registration Rightsrights

                Under the terms of the Convertible Notes, the Company is required to use reasonable efforts to file and maintain a shelf registration statement with the SEC covering the resale of the Convertible


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        4. Long-term debt: (Continued)


        Notes and the common stock issuable on conversion of the Convertible Notes. If the Company fails to meet these terms, the Company will be required to pay special interest on the Convertible Notes in the amount of 0.25% for the first 90 days after the occurrence of the failure to meet and 0.50% thereafter. In addition to the special interest, additional interest of 0.25% per annum will accrue in the event of default, as defined in the indenture. The Company filed a shelf registration statement registering the Convertible Notes and common stock issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes in July 2007.

                The Company separately accounted for the debt and equity components of its Convertible Subordinated Notes—Allied RiserNotes in a manner that reflected its nonconvertible debt (unsecured debt) borrowing rate. The debt and equity components for the Convertible Notes were as follows (in thousands):

         
         December 31, 
         
         2009 2010 

        Principal amount of convertible senior notes

         $91,978 $91,978 

        Unamortized discount

          (25,708) (20,758)

        Net carrying amount

          66,270  71,220 

        Additional paid-in capital

          74,933  74,933 

                The Company's $10.2 million 7.50% convertible subordinated notes were recorded at their fair valueAt December 31, 2010, the unamortized discount had a remaining recognition period of approximately $2.9 million in connection with the Allied Riser merger in 2002.3.5 years. The discount was amortized toamount of interest expense throughrecognized and effective interest rate for the maturity date. The notesyears ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and accrued interest2010 were fully paid in June 2007.as follows (in thousands):

         
         Year Ended December 31, 
         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Contractual coupon interest

         $1,785 $920 $920 

        Amortization of discount and costs on Notes

          8,094  4,559  4,964 
                

        Interest expense

         $9,879 $5,497 $5,884 
                

        Effective interest rate

          8.7% 8.7% 8.7%

        Credit Facility

                The Company had a credit facility with a commercial bank that provides for borrowings up to $20.0 million which matured on April 1, 2007.

        Cisco NotePurchases of Convertible Notes

                In June 2005,2008, the Company used a portionpurchased an aggregate of $108.0 million of face value of the proceeds from its June 2005 public offering to repay its $17.0Convertible Notes for $48.6 million amended and restated Cisco note. The note was subject to mandatory prepayment in full upon the completioncash in a series of any equity financing or receipt of loan proceeds in excess of $30.0 million. The repayment of the notetransactions. These transactions resulted in a gain, of $0.8$23.1 million representingfor the amountyear ended December 31, 2008.

        Revolving line of credit

                In October 2009, the estimated futureCompany entered into a $20.0 million revolving line of credit facility with a bank. The revolving facility had a floating interest payments.rate of one month LIBOR plus 2.5% per annum, subject to a minimum interest rate of 3.0% and has a commitment fee of 0.3% per annum. There have been no borrowings under the revolving facility and the Company was in compliance with its covenants. The facility expired on October 14, 2010.


        6.Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        5. Income taxes:

                The provision (benefit) for income taxes is comprised of the following (in thousands):

         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Current provision

                  

        Federal income tax

         $593 $ $(563)

        State income tax

          943  255  724 

        Foreign income tax

              128 

        Deferred provision

                  

        Foreign income tax

            (1,502) (1,466)
                

        Total income tax provision (benefit)

         $1,536 $(1,247)$(1,177)
                

                The net deferred tax asset is comprised of the following (in thousands):

         
         December 31
         
         
         2006
         2007
         
        Net operating loss carry-forwards $319,768 $344,145 
        Depreciation  (38,370) (26,007)
        Start-up expenditures  2,838  3,160 
        Deferred compensation  4,783  6,060 
        Other  (482) 77 
        Valuation allowance  (288,537) (327,435)
          
         
         
        Net deferred tax asset $ $ 
          
         
         

         
         December 31, 
         
         2009 2010 

        Net operating loss carry-forwards

         $359,546 $340,711 

        Depreciation

          (11,374) 6,685 

        Convertible notes

          (10,211) (7,531)

        Equity-based compensation

          1,295  705 

        Tax credits

          2,290  2,748 

        Accrued liabilities and other

          98  3,437 

        Valuation allowance

          (340,132) (343,690)
              

        Net deferred tax asset

         $1,512 $3,065 
              

                DueAt each balance sheet date, the Company assesses the likelihood that it will be able to the uncertainty surrounding the realization ofrealize its net deferred tax asset,assets. The Company considers all available positive and negative evidence in assessing the need for a valuation allowance. At December 31, 2009, the Company has recorded a valuation allowance for the full amountconcluded that it was more likely than not that it would be able to realize certain of its net deferred tax asset. Should the Company achieve taxable income, its deferred tax assets may be availableprimarily as a result of expected future taxable income related to offset futureits Canadian operations. Accordingly, the Company reduced a portion of its valuation allowance related to these deferred tax assets and recorded an income tax liabilities. Thebenefit of $1.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2009. At December 31, 2010, the Company concluded that it was more likely than not that it would be able to realize the remaining of its Canadian deferred tax assets related to its Canadian operations. Accordingly, the Company reduced the remaining valuation allowance related to these deferred tax assets and recorded an income tax benefit of $1.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2009 and 2010 the Company maintained a full valuation allowance against its other deferred tax assets consisting primarily of net operating loss carryforwards.

                As of December 31, 2010, the Company has combined net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $1.0$1.1 billion. TheThis amount includes federal and state net operating loss carry-forwards forin the United States of approximately $407$376.0 million, expire from 2023 to 2027. The Company has net operating loss carry-forwards related to its European, Canadian and Mexican operations of approximately $600$686.6 million, $6.2 million and $0.8 million, respectively. Section 382 of which approximately $108 millionthe Internal Revenue Code in the United States limits the utilization of net operating losses when ownership changes, as defined by that section, occur. The


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        5. Income taxes: (Continued)


        Company has performed an analysis of its Section 382 ownership changes and has determined that the utilization of certain of its net operating loss carryforwards in the United States may be limited. The net operating loss carryforwards in the United States will expire, beginning in 2016.if unused, between 2022 and 2029. The remaining $492 million of European net operating loss carry-forwards do not expire.related to the Canadian operations expire if unused, between 2015 and 2027. The federal and state net operating loss carry-forwards of Allied Riser Communications Corporation of approximately $183 million are subject to certain limitations on annual utilization duerelated to the change in ownership as a result of the merger as prescribed by federalMexican operations expire if unused, between 2019 and state tax laws.2020. The Company's net operating loss carry-forwards could alsorelated to the European operations include $540.8 million that do not expire and $145.8 million that expire between 2011 and 2026.

                In the normal course of business the Company takes positions on its tax returns that may be subjectchallenged by taxing authorities. The Company evaluates all uncertain tax positions to certain additional limitations on annual utilization if certain changesassess whether the position will more likely than not be sustained upon examination. If the Company determines that the tax position is more likely than not to be sustained, the Company records the amount of the benefit that is more likely than not to be realized when the tax position is settled. This liability, including accrued interest and penalties, is included in ownership have occurred or were to occur as prescribed by the lawsother long-term liabilities in the respective jurisdictions.accompanying balance sheets and was $0.6 million as of December 31, 2009 and $0.9 million as of December 31, 2010. During the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010 the Company recognized approximately $0, $0.1 million and $0.1 million in interest and penalties related to its uncertain tax positions. The Company does not expect the final resolution of tax examinations to have a material impact on the Company's financial results in the next 12 months.

                A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):

         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Beginning balance of unrecognized tax benefits

         $ $504 $504 

        Gross increases—tax positions in prior periods

              194 

        Gross increases—tax positions in current period

          504     
                

        Ending balance of unrecognized tax benefits

         $504 $504 $698 
                

                The following is a reconciliation of the Federal statutory income tax ratetaxes to the effective rateamounts reported in the financial statements.statements (in thousands).

         
         2005
         2006
         2007
         
        Federal income tax benefit at statutory rates 34.0%34.0%34.0%
        State income tax benefit at statutory rates, net of Federal benefit 4.0 4.0 4.0 
        Impact of foreign operations (0.4)(0.6)(0.8)
        Non-deductible expenses 0.1 7.5 4.7 
        Change in valuation allowance (37.7)(44.9)(41.9)
          
         
         
         
        Effective income tax rate %%%
          
         
         
         

         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Federal income tax at statutory rates

         $4,790 $6,439 $178 

        Effect of:

                  
         

        State income tax, net of federal benefit

          534  718  (455)
         

        State tax credits

            1,601  17 
         

        Impact of foreign operations

          13,960    (1,385)
         

        Non-deductible expenses

          (3,942) (1,468) (735)
         

        Alternative minimum tax

          (588)   564 
         

        Change in valuation allowance

          (16,290) (6,043) 2,993 
                

        Income tax (expense) benefit

         $(1,536)$1,247 $1,177 
                

        7.Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        6. Commitments and contingencies:

        Capital leases—fiber lease agreements

                The Company has entered into lease agreements with severalnumerous providers forof dark fiber primarily under 15-2515–20 year IRUs with additional renewal terms. These IRUs connect the Company's international backbone fibers with the multi-tenant office buildings and the customers served by the Company. Once the Company has accepted the related fiber route, leases that meet the criteria for



        treatment as capital leases are recorded as a capital lease obligation and an IRU asset. The future minimum payments under these agreements are as follows (in thousands):

        For the year ending December 31,    
        2008 $15,651 
        2009  12,025 
        2010  16,894 
        2011  10,809 
        2012  10,803 
        Thereafter  88,523 
          
         
        Total minimum lease obligations  154,705 
        Less—amounts representing interest  (62,131)
          
         
        Present value of minimum lease obligations  92,574 
        Current maturities  (7,717)
          
         
        Capital lease obligations, net of current maturities $84,857 
          
         

        Capital lease obligation amendments

                Cogent Spain negotiated modifications to certain of its IRU capital lease obligations. These modifications have generally reduced IRU lease payments and extended the lease terms. A 2005 lease modification resulted in a gain of approximately $0.8 million. A 2006 lease modification resulted in a gain of approximately $0.3 million. These transactions resulted in gains since the differences between the carrying values of the old IRU obligations and the net present values of the new IRU obligations were greater than the carrying values of the related IRU assets.

        For the year ending December 31,
          
         

        2011

         $18,421 

        2012

          16,865 

        2013

          16,469 

        2014

          16,048 

        2015

          16,181 

        Thereafter

          129,478 
            

        Total minimum lease obligations

          213,462 

        Less—amounts representing interest

          (101,757)
            

        Present value of minimum lease obligations

          111,705 

        Current maturities

          (6,143)
            

        Capital lease obligations, net of current maturities

         $105,562 
            

        Current and potential litigation

                The Company is involved in disputes with certain telephone companies that provide it local circuits or leased optical fibers. The total amount claimed by these vendors is approximately $4.4 million. The Company does not believe any of these amounts are owed to these providers and intends to vigorously defend its position and believes that it has adequately reserved for any potential liability.

                The Company has been made aware of several other companies in its own and in other industries that use the word "Cogent" in their corporate names. One company has informed the Company that it believes the Company's use of the name "Cogent" infringes on its intellectual property rights in that name. If such a challenge is successful, the Company could be required to change its name and lose the value associated with the Cogent name in its markets. Management does not believe such a challenge, if successful, would have a material impact on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operations.

                In the normal course of business the Company is involved in other legal activities and claims. Because such matters are subject to many uncertainties and the outcomes are not predictable with assurance, the liability related to these legal actions and claims cannot be determined with certainty. Management does not believe that such claims and actions will have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

        Operating leases, maintenance and tenant license agreements

                The Company leases office space, network equipment sites, and data center facilities under operating leases. The Company also enters into building access agreements with the landlords of multi- tenant office buildings. The Company pays fees for the maintenance of its leased dark fiber and in certain cases the


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        6. Commitments and contingencies: (Continued)


        certain cases the Company connects its customers to its network underenters into operating lease commitments for fiber. Future minimum annual payments under these arrangements are as follows (in thousands):

        For the year ending December 31,

          
        2008 $35,145
        2009  29,333
        2010  25,706
        2011  22,696
        2012  20,357
        Thereafter  92,171
          
          $225,408
          

        For the year ending December 31,
          
         

        2011

         $43,947 

        2012

          32,809 

        2013

          26,125 

        2014

          22,609 

        2015

          19,779 

        Thereafter

          116,228 
            

         $261,497 
            

                Expenses related to these arrangements was $36.8were $44.9 million in 2005, $33.82008, $49.0 million in 20062009 and $40.5$53.5 million in 2007. The Company has sublet certain office space and facilities. Future minimum payments under these sub-lease agreements are approximately $0.5 million, $0.1 million, and $0.1 million for the years ending December 31, 2008 through December 31, 2010, respectively.2010.

        Unconditional purchase obligations

                Unconditional purchase obligations for equipment and services totaled approximately $7.3$10.3 million at December 31, 20072010 and are expected to be fulfilled within one year. As of December 31, 20072010 the Company had committed to additional dark fiber IRU lease agreements totaling approximately $40.4$62.6 million in future payments for fiber lease and maintenance payments to be paid over periods of up to 20 years. These obligations begin when the related fiber is accepted, which is generally expected to occur in 2008.2011. Future minimum payments under these obligations are approximately, $8.4$9.2 million, $1.9$3.0 million, $1.9$3.0 million, $1.9$3.0 million, and $1.9$3.0 million for the years ending December 31, 20082011 to December 31, 20122015, respectively, and approximately $24.4$41.5 million, thereafter. In June 2009, the Company entered into an amended equipment purchase agreement with a vendor. Under the agreement, and prior agreements, the Company is required to purchase equipment totaling approximately $23.2 million through 2011. Approximately $6.4 million remains to be ordered under the agreement.

        Defined contribution plan

                The Company sponsors a 401(k) defined contribution plan that, effective in August 2007, provides for a Company match.matching payment. The Company matchmatching payments were approximately $0.3 million for 2007 was approximately $0.1 million2008, 2009 and was2010 and were paid in cash.

        8.7. Stockholders' equity:

        Authorized shares

                The Company has 75.0 million shares of authorized $0.001 par value common sharesstock and 10,000 authorized but unissued shares of $0.001 par value preferred stock. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per common share and, subject to any rights of any series of preferred stock, dividends may be declared and paid on the common stock when determined by the Company's Board of Directors.


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        7. Stockholders' equity: (Continued)

        Second $50.0 Million Common Stock Buyback Programstock buybacks

                In August 2007, the Company's board of directors approved a $50.0 million common stock buyback program (the "Buyback Program"). UnderIn June 2008, the Company's board of directors approved an additional $50.0 million of purchases of the Company's common stock under the Buyback Program the Company is authorized to purchase up to $50.0 million of its common stockoccur prior to December 31, 2008. During 20072009. In the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2009, the Company purchased approximately 446,0004.4 million and 0.1 million shares of its common stock, at an average price of $22.19 per sharerespectively, for approximately $9.9 million. From January 1, 2008 to February 26, 2008,$59.3 million and $0.7 million, respectively, under the Company purchased approximately 689,000 additional shares of its common stock at an average price of $18.59 per share for approximately $12.8 million. All purchasedBuyback Program. These common shares were subsequently retired. There were no purchases of the Company's common stock in 2010.


        Treasury stock retirementAllied Riser warrants

                In September 2006,connection with the February 2002 merger with Allied Riser, the Company retired its 61,462 shares of treasury stock. As a result, $0.1 million of treasury stock was offset against additional paid-in-capital.

        Equity conversion

                In February 2005, holders of the Company's preferred stock elected toassumed warrants issued by Allied Riser that could convert all of their shares of preferred stock into 31.6 millionapproximately 5,200 shares of the Company's common stock. AsDuring the year ended December 31, 2009, these warrants with a result, the Company no longer has outstanding shares of preferred stock. The accounting for this transaction resulted in the elimination of the balances of the Series F through M preferred stock and an increasecarrying amount of approximately $139.8$0.8 million expired resulting in a reduction to warrants and a corresponding increase to additional paid-in-capital.paid-in capital.

        Public offerings

                On June 13, 2005, the Company sold 10.0 million shares of common stock at $6.00 per share in a public offering. On June 16, 2005, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 1.5 million shares of common stock at $6.00 per share. This public offering resulted in net proceeds to the Company of $63.7 million, after underwriting, legal, accounting and printing costs.

                On June 7, 2006, the Company sold 4.35 million shares of common stock at $9.00 per share and certain selling shareholders sold 6.0 million shares of common stock at the same price in a public offering. This public offering resulted in net proceeds to the Company, after underwriting, legal, accounting and printing costs of approximately $36.5 million.

        9.8. Stock option and award plan:

        Incentive Award Planaward plan

                The compensation committee ofCompany has an award plan, the board of directors adopted and the stockholders approved, the Company's 2004 Incentive Award Plan, as amended (the "Award Plan")., under which grants of restricted stock and options for common stock are made. Stock options granted under the Award Plan generally vest over a four-year period and have a term of ten years. Grants of shares of restricted stock granted under the Award Plan generally vest over periods ranging from immediatethree to four years. Compensation expense for all awards is recognized over the service period. Awards with graded vesting to overterms are recognized on a four-year period.straight line basis. Certain option and share grants provide for accelerated vesting if there is a change in control.control, as defined. For grants of restricted stock, when an employee terminates prior to full vesting the employee retains their vested shares and the employees' unvested shares are returned to the plan. For grants of options for common stock, when an employee terminates prior to full vesting the employee may elect to exercise their vested options for a period of ninety days and any unvested options are returned to the plan. Compensation expense for all awards is recognized ratably over the service period. Shares issued to satisfy awards are provided from the Company's authorized shares. In

                On April 2007,15, 2010, the Company's stockholders approved a 1.3 million increase to the authorized shares in the Award Plan was amendedPlan. In the second quarter of 2010, the Company granted approximately 0.9 million restricted shares to increasecertain of its employees that will vest over a three year period. These restricted shares were valued at approximately $9.6 million and will be recognized as equity-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the numberthree year service period. The Company also granted an additional 0.2 million restricted shares that are subject to certain performance conditions based upon the Company's operating metrics for 2010, 2011 and 2012. In November 2010, the performance conditions for 2010 were modified. The Company expects to record approximately $0.5 million of authorizedequity-based compensation expense related to the modified conditions for 2010 through the end of the service period on April 15, 2011 since it is considered probable that the modified performance conditions would be met. The total equity based compensation expense for the


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        8. Stock option and award plan: (Continued)


        performance shares by 2.0 million.related to 2011 (if the conditions are met) is approximately $0.9 million and will be recognized over the requisite service period which is approximately one year. As of December 31, 2007,2010, of the 5.87.1 million authorized shares under the Award Plan there were a total of 970,0000.3 million shares available for grant.

                The accounting for equity-based compensation expense requires the Company to make estimates and judgments that affect its financial statements. These estimates include the following.

          Expected Dividend Yield—The Company has never declared or paid dividends and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

          Expected Volatility—The Company uses its historical volatility for a period commensurate with the expected term.

          Risk-Free Interest Rate—The Company uses the zero coupon U.S. Treasury rate during the quarter having a term that most closely resembles the expected term of the option.

          Expected Term of the Option—The Company estimates the expected life of the option term by analyzing historical stock option exercises and other relevant data.

          Forfeiture Rates—The Company estimates its forfeiture rate based on historical data with further consideration given to the class of employees to whom the options or shares were granted.

                The weighted-average per share grant date fair value of options was $7.20 in 2008, $4.73 in 2009 and $5.44 in 2010. The following assumptions were used for determining the fair value of options granted in the three years ended December 31, 2010:

        Black-Scholes Assumptions
         Year Ended
        December 31, 2008
         Year Ended
        December 31, 2009
         Year Ended
        December 31, 2010
         

        Dividend yield

          0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

        Expected volatility

          62.1% 69.7% 65.3%

        Risk-free interest rate

          2.9% 2.2% 1.8%

        Expected life of the option term (in years)

          5.3  5.3  5.2 

        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        8. Stock optionsoption and award plan: (Continued)

                Stock option activity under the Company's Award Plan during the period from December 31, 20062009 to December 31, 2007,2010, was as follows:

         
         Number of
        Options

         Weighted-average
        exercise price

        Outstanding at December 31, 2006 1,152,976 $2.73
        Granted 244,919 $21.84
        Cancelled (64,230)$15.19
        Exercised—intrinsic value $4.5 million; cash received $1.1 million (212,811)$5.05
          
           
        Outstanding at December 31, 2007—$20.4 million intrinsic value and 7.3 years weighted-average remaining contractual term 1,120,854 $5.75
          
           
        Exercisable at December 31, 2007—$17.0 million intrinsic value and 6.8 years weighted-average remaining contractual term 757,034 $1.20
        Expected to vest—$18.0 million intrinsic value and 7.0 years weighted-average remaining contractual term 881,156 $3.36

         
         Number of
        Options
         Weighted-Average
        Exercise Price
         

        Outstanding at December 31, 2009

          432,046 $12.58 

        Granted

          42,614 $9.66 

        Cancelled

          (84,540)$20.16 

        Exercised—intrinsic value $0.3 million; cash received $0.3 million

          (46,836)$5.86 
               

        Outstanding at December 31, 2010—$1.6 million intrinsic value and 5.9 years weighted-average remaining contractual term

          343,284 $11.27 
               

        Exercisable at December 31, 2010—$1.3 million intrinsic value and 5.2 years weighted-average remaining contractual term

          271,669 $11.38 
               

        Expected to vest—$1.5 million intrinsic value and 5.9 years weighted-average remaining contractual term

          335,019 $11.30 
               

                For the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010, the Company's employees exercised options for approximately 0.1 million, 0.6 million and 0.1 million common shares, respectively. Stock options outstanding and exercisable under the Award Plan by price range at December 31, 20072010 were as follows:

        Range of Exercise Prices

         Number Outstanding 12/31/2007
         Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)
         Weighted-Average Exercise Price
         Number Exercisable As of 12/31/2007
         Weighted-Average Exercise Price
        $0.00 to $0.01 (granted below market value) 624,782 6.72 $0.00 611,071 $0.00
        $4.39 to $6.00 241,758 7.01 $5.55 130.606 $5.72
        $6.20 to $25.46 228,652 9.05 $19.12 14,463 $9.25
        $25.50 to $33.56 25,662 9.45 $28.58 894 $32.00
          
         
         
         
         
        $0.00 to $33.56 1,120,854 7.32 $5.75 757,034 $1.20
          
         
         
         
         

                Compensation expense related to stock options and restricted stock was approximately $13.3 million, $10.5 million and $10.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2005, December 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007, respectively. As of December 31, 2007 there was approximately $22.6 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested equity-based compensation awards. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately twenty-one months. In January 2007 and 2008, the Company granted approximately 51,000 vested shares of common stock to its non-management Directors resulting in approximately $0.9 million and $1.2 million of equity-based compensation expense, respectively. In January 2008, the Company granted approximately 620,000 shares of common stock to certain employees resulting in approximately $14.7 million of equity-based compensation expense to be amortized over the service periods of three to four years.

        Range of Exercise Prices
         Number
        Outstanding
        As of
        12/31/2010
         Weighted-
        Average
        Remaining
        Contractual
        Life (years)
         Weighted-
        Average
        Exercise
        Price
         Number
        Exercisable
        As of
        12/31/2010
         Weighted-
        Average
        Exercise
        Price
         

        $0.00 to $6.00

          118,172  4.26 $5.17  115,109 $5.19 

        $6.09 to $10.05

          70,080  7.52 $8.21  35,492 $7.93 

        $10.19 to $17.00

          42,891  8.08 $12.14  17,735 $13.28 

        $17.38 to $17.38

          74,304  5.80 $17.38  72,816 $17.38 

        $19.43 to $33.56

          37,837  5.96 $22.98  30,517 $23.31 
                    

        $0.00 to $33.56

          343,284  5.93 $11.27  271,669 $11.38 
                    

        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        8. Stock option and award plan: (Continued)

                A summary of the Company's non-vested restricted stock awards as of December 31, 20072010 and the changes during the year ended December 31, 20072010 is as follows:

        Non-vested awards

         Shares
         Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
        Non-vested at December 31, 2006 370,480 $17.66
        Granted 1,033,404 $25.08
        Vested (179,207)$11.36
        Forfeited (22,659)$25.46
          
         
        Non-vested at December 31, 2007 1,202,018 $22.64
          
         

        Non-vested awards
         Shares Weighted-Average
        Grant Date
        Fair Value
         

        Non-vested at December 31, 2009

          447,099 $22.72 

        Granted

          1,229,900 $9.17 

        Vested

          (214,691)$23.22 

        Forfeited

          (83,400)$10.53 
              

        Non-vested at December 31, 2010

          1,378,908 $11.09 
              

                The weighted average per share grant date fair value of restricted stock granted to employees was $4.93$22.59 in 2005 (200,0002008 (0.7 million shares), $18.63$6.65 in 2006 (382,5002009 (25,008 shares) and $25.08$9.17 in 2007 (1,033,4042010 (1.2 million shares). The fair value was determined using the quoted market price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant. The fair value of shares of restricted stock vested in the years endingended December 31, 2005, 20062008, 2009 and 20072010 was approximately $6.0$3.6 million, $4.1$10.8 million, and $4.3$2.1 million respectively.

                Equity-based compensation expense related to stock options and restricted stock was approximately $17.9 million, $8.6 million and $6.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. The Company capitalized compensation expense related to stock options and restricted stock of approximately $1.0 million, $1.0 million and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. As of December 31, 2010 there was approximately $11.7 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested equity-based compensation awards. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2 years.

        10.9. Related party transactions:

        Office lease and equipment purchases

                The Company's headquarters is located in an office building owned by an entity controlled bya partnership (6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership). The two owners of the partnership are the Company's Chief Executive Officer.Officer, who has a 51% interest in the partnership and his wife, who has a 49% interest in the partnership. The Company paid $0.4 million in 2005, $0.4 million in 2006 and $0.6 million in 20072008, 2009 and 2010 in rent and related costs (including taxes and utilities) to this entity. Thepartnership under a lease that expires in August 2010.2012. The dollar value of the Company's Chief Executive Officer's interest in the lease payments in 2010 was $0.3 million. The dollar value of his wife's interest in the lease payments in 2010 was $0.3 million. If the Company's Chief Executive Officer's interest is combined with that of his wife then the total dollar value of his interest in the lease payments in 2010 was $0.6 million.

                In 2007,2008, 2009 and 2010, the Company purchased approximately $0.2$0.1 million, $13,000 and $0.1 million of equipment from an equipment vendor. One of the Company's directors is also a director of the equipment vendor.


        LNG Holdings SA ("LNG")Table of Contents

                In 2006
        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2007, the Company paid approximately $0.2 million and $34,000, respectively, for professional services performed for LNG, a company controlled by the Company's Chief Executive Officer. In 2007, the Company received reimbursement for approximately $0.1 million of professional fees paid for LNG in 2006.2010

        11.10. Geographic information:

                Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company has one operating segment. Below are the Company's net revenues and long lived assets by geographic region (in thousands):

         
         Years Ended December 31,
         
         2005
         2006
         2007
        Service Revenue, net         
        North America $108,260 $117,475 $144,696
        Europe  26,953  31,596  40,967
          
         
         
        Total $135,213 $149,071 $185,663
          
         
         

         
         Years Ended December 31, 
         
         2008 2009 2010 

        Service Revenue

                  

        North America

         $167,316 $182,606 $205,052 

        Europe

          48,173  53,201  58,364 
                

        Total

         $215,489 $235,807 $263,416 
                



         December 31, 2006
         December 31, 2007
         December 31,
        2009
         December 31,
        2010
         
        Long lived assets, net     
        North America $221,942 $198,621 $215,681 $221,312 
        Europe 42,476 46,964 48,281 59,252 
         
         
             
        Total $264,418 $245,585 $263,962 $280,564 
         
         
             

        12.11. Quarterly financial information (unaudited):

         
         Three months ended
         
         
         March 31, 2006
         June 30,
        2006

         September 30, 2006
         December 31, 2006
         
         
         (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

         
        Service revenue, net $34,447 $36,155 $37,954 $40,515 
        Network operations, including equity-based compensation expense  20,442  20,177  19,432  20,371 
        Operating loss  (14,318) (13,545) (10,645) (8,044)
        Gains—asset sales and lease obligations      255  254 
        Net loss  (16,441) (15,491) (11,854) (9,971)
        Net loss per common share—basic and diluted  (0.38) (0.34) (0.24) (0.21)
        Weighted-average number of shares outstanding—basic and diluted  43,841,837  45,099,826  48,463,130  48,510,716 
         
         Three months ended
         
         
         March 31, 2007
         June 30,
        2007

         September 30, 2007
         December 31, 2007
         
         
         (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

         
        Service revenue, net $43,621 $45,108 $46,969 $49,965 
        Network operations, including equity-based compensation expense  21,064  21,502  22,771  22,460 
        Operating loss  (7,482) (7,743) (7,941) (6,753)
        Gains—asset sales and lease obligations  13    2,110  82 
        Net loss  (9,404) (9,192) (5,423) (7,006)
        Net loss per common share—basic and diluted  (0.19) (0.19) (0.12) (0.15)
        Weighted-average number of shares outstanding—basic and diluted  48,655,385  48,378,853  47,073,070  46,885,843 

         
         Three months ended 
         
         March 31,
        2009
         June 30,
        2009
         September 30,
        2009
         December 31,
        2009(1)
         
         
         (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
         

        Service revenue

         $55,076 $57,991 $60,229 $62,511 

        Network operations, including equity-based compensation expense

          24,194  24,558  26,400  27,621 

        Operating (loss) income

          (4,500) (1,103) 458  1,361 

        Net loss

          (8,160) (4,453) (3,279) (1,259)

        Net loss per common share—basic and diluted

          (0.19) (0.10) (0.07) (0.03)

        Weighted-average number of shares outstanding—basic and diluted

          42,758,372  43,689,747  43,894,098  44,242,791 

        (1)
        In the fourth quarter of 2009 the Company recognized a tax benefit. (See Note 5)

        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        11. Quarterly financial information (unaudited): (Continued)

         
         Three months ended 
         
         March 31,
        2010(3)
         June 30,
        2010
         September 30,
        2010
         December 31,
        2010(2)
         
         
         (in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
         

        Service revenue

         $62,776 $64,395 $66,783 $69,461 

        Network operations, including equity-based compensation expense

          28,098  29,224  30,639  31,063 

        Operating income

          2,688  2,981  3,749  5,864 

        Net (loss) income

          (570) (883) (462) 2,584 

        Net (loss) income per common share—basic

          (0.01) (0.02) (0.01) 0.06 

        Weighted-average number of shares outstanding—basic

          44,464,821  44,525,633  44,585,230  44,646,381 

        Net (loss) income per common share—diluted

          (0.01) (0.02) (0.01) 0.06 

        Weighted-average number of shares outstanding—diluted

          44,464,821  44,525,633  44,585,230  45,005,387 

        (2)
        In the fourth quarter of 2010 the Company recognized a tax benefit. (See Note 5)

        (3)
        In the first quarter of 2010 the Company recorded an impairment charge and adjusted its asset retirement obligations. (See Notes 2 and 3)

        12. Subsequent events:

        Senior Secured Notes

                In January 2011, the Company issued its 8.375% Senior Secured Notes (the "Senior Notes") due February 15, 2018, for an aggregate principal amount of $175.0 million in a private offering for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The Senior Notes are secured and bear interest at 8.375% per annum. Interest is payable in cash semiannually in arrears on February 15 and August 15, of each year, beginning on August 15, 2011. The Company received net proceeds of approximately $170.5 million after deducting $4.5 million of issuance costs. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Senior Notes for general corporate purposes and/or repurchases of its common stock or its Convertible Notes or a special dividend to its stockholders. The Company will incur approximately $15.3 million of additional annual interest expense related to the issuance of the Senior Notes. This includes $14.7 million from the interest on the Senior Notes and $0.6 million from the amortization of the costs related to the Senior Notes.

                The Senior Notes are fully guaranteed on a senior secured basis, jointly and severally, by each of the Company's existing domestic and future material domestic subsidiaries, subject to certain exceptions and permitted liens. Under certain circumstances, subsidiaries may be released from these guarantees without the consent of the holders of the Senior Notes. The Senior Notes and the guarantees are secured by (i) first priority liens on substantially all of Company's and its guarantors' assets, (ii) all of the equity interests in any of its domestic subsidiaries and (iii) 65% of the equity interests of its first-tier foreign subsidiaries held by Company and its guarantors. The Senior Notes and the guarantees represent Company's and the guarantors' senior secured obligations and effectively rank equally and ratably with all of its and the guarantors' existing and future first lien obligations, to the extent of the


        Table of Contents


        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

        NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)

        DECEMBER 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010

        12. Subsequent events: (Continued)


        value of the collateral securing such indebtedness, subject to permitted liens; are structurally subordinated to any existing and future indebtedness and liabilities of non-guarantor subsidiaries and rank equally in right of payment with all of its and the guarantors' existing and future senior indebtedness.

                The Senior Notes may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at any time prior to February 15, 2015 at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount plus a "make-whole" premium, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. The Senior Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time on or after February 15, 2015 at the applicable redemption prices specified under the indenture governing the Senior Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. In addition, the Company may redeem up to 35% of the Senior Notes before February 15, 2014 with the net cash proceeds from certain equity offerings. If the Company experiences specific kinds of changes of control, the Company must offer to repurchase all of the Senior Notes at a purchase price of 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the repurchase date.

                The indenture governing the Senior Notes, among other things, limits the Company's ability and its guarantors' ability to incur indebtedness; to pay dividends or make other distributions; to make certain investments and other restricted payments; to create liens; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets; to incur restrictions on the ability of a subsidiary to pay dividends or make other payments; and to enter into certain transactions with its affiliates.


        Table of Contents

        ITEM 9.    CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

                None.

        ITEM 9A.    CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

                We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

                As required by SEC Rule 13a-15(b), an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our management, including our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, concluded that the design and operation of these disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

                There has been no change in our internal controls over financial reporting during our most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.


        Table of Contents


        MANAGEMENT'S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL
        OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

                We are responsible for the preparation and integrity of our published financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and, accordingly, include amounts based on judgments and estimates made by our management. We also prepared the other information included in the annual report and are responsible for its accuracy and consistency with the financial statements.

                We are responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of internal control over financial reporting, which is intended to provide reasonable assurance to our management and Board of Directors regarding the reliability of our financial statements. The system includes but is not limited to:

          a documented organizational structure and division of responsibility;

          established policies and procedures, including a code of conduct to foster a strong ethical climate which is communicated throughout the company;

          regular reviews of our financial statements by qualified individuals; and

          the careful selection, training and development of our people.

                There are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system of internal control, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of controls. Also, the effectiveness of an internal control system may change over time. We have implemented a system of internal control that was designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

                We have assessed our internal control system in relation to criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting described in "Internal Control-Integrated Framework" issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission. Based upon these criteria, we believe that, as of December 31, 2007,2010, our system of internal control over financial reporting was effective.

                The independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, has audited our 20072010 financial statements. Ernst & Young LLP was given unrestricted access to all financial records and related data, including minutes of all meetings of stockholders, the Board of Directors and committees of the Board. Ernst & Young LLP has issued an unqualified report on our 20072010 financial statements as a result of the audit and also has issued an unqualified report on our internal control over financial reporting which is attached hereto.

        Cogent Communications Group, Inc.  

        February 26, 2008
        28, 2011

         

         

        By:



        /s/ 
        DAVID SCHAEFFER

        David Schaeffer
        Chief Executive Officer

         

         

        By:



        /s/ 
        THADDEUS WEED

        Thaddeus Weed
        Chief Financial Officer

         

         

        Table of Contents


        Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
        On Internal Control over Financial Reporting

        The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Cogent Communications Group, Inc.

                We have audited Cogent Communications Group, Inc.'s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007,2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Cogent Communications Group, Inc.'s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

                We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

                A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

                Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

                In our opinion, Cogent Communications Group, Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007,2010, based on the COSO criteria.

                We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 20062009 and 2007,2010, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 20072010 of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and subsidiaries and our report dated February 26, 200828, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

        /s/ Ernst & Young LLP

        /s/ Ernst & Young LLP

        McLean, VA
        February 26, 200828, 2011


        Table of Contents

        ITEM 9B.    OTHER INFORMATION

                Not applicable.


        PART III

        ITEM 10.    DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

                The information required by this Item 10 is incorporated in this report by reference to the information set forth under the captions entitled "Election of Directors," "The Board of Directors and Committees," and "Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance" in the 20082011 Proxy Statement for the 20082011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which is expected to be filed with the Commission within 120 days after the close of our fiscal year.

        ITEM 11.    EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

                The information required by this Item 11 is incorporated in this report by reference to the information set forth under the captions entitled "The Board of Directors and Committees," "Executive Compensation", "Employment Agreements", "Compensation Committee Report on Executive Compensation," and "Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation" in the 20082011 Proxy Statement.

        ITEM 12.    SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

                The information required by this Item 12 is incorporated in this report by reference to the information set forth under the caption "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management" in the 20082011 Proxy Statement.

        ITEM 13.    CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

                The information required by this Item 13 is incorporated in this report by reference to the information set forth under the caption "Certain Transactions" in the 20082011 Proxy Statement.

        ITEM 14.    PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

                The information required by this Item 14 is incorporated in this report by reference to the information set forth under the caption "Relationship With Independent Public Accountants" in the 20082011 Proxy Statement.


        Table of Contents


        PART IV

        ITEM 15.    EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

        (a)1.Financial Statements. A list of financial statements included herein is set forth in the Index to Financial Statements appearing in "ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA."

         

        2.



        2.


        Financial Statement Schedules. The Financial Statement Schedule described below is filed as part of the report.





         

         

        Description

         

         





        Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts.

         

         





        All other financial statement schedules are not required under the relevant instructions or are inapplicable and therefore have been omitted.

        (b)
        Exhibits.

        2.1Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of January 2, 2004, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., Lux Merger Sub, Inc. and Symposium Gamma, Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on January 8, 2004, and incorporated herein by reference)

        2.2

         

        Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of March 30, 2004, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., DE Merger Sub, Inc. and Symposium Omega, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibits 2.6 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, filed on March 30, 2004)

        2.3(b)

         

        Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of August 12, 2004, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., Marvin Internet, Inc., and UFO Group, Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.6 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        2.4

         

        Asset Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 15, 2004, between Global Access telecommunications Inc., Symposium Gamma, Inc. and Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.7 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)Exhibits

        2.5

         

        Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 26, 2004, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., Cogent Potomac, Inc. and NVA Acquisition, Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.8 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        2.6

         

        Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of Assets, dated December 1, 2004, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., SFX Acquisition, Inc. and Verio Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.9 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        3.1

         

          3.1


        Fifth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        3.2

         





          3.2


        Amended and Restated Bylaws in effect from September 17, 2007 (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on November 8, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        4.1

         





          4.1


        Indenture related to the Convertible Senior Notes due 2027, dated as June 11, 2007, between Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (including form of 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2027) (previously filed as Exhibit 4.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on June 12, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        4.2

         





          4.2


        Form of 1.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2027 ((previously filed as Exhibit A to the Exhibit 4.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on June 12, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        4.3

         





          4.3


        Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of June 11, 2007, by and among Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., UBS Securities LLC, RBC Capital Markets Corporation and Cowen and Company, LLC (previously filed as Exhibit 4.3 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on June 12, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.1

         

        Seventh Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement




          4.4


        Indenture related to the 8.375% Senior Secured Notes due 2018, dated as of January 26, 2011, among Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated October 26, 2004the guarantors named therein and Wilmington Trust FSB, as trustee and collateral agent (including form of 8.375% Senior Secured Notes due 2018 attached as Exhibit A thereto) (previously filed as Exhibit 10.24.1 to our AnnualPeriodic Report on Form 10-K,8-K, filed on March 31, 2005,February 1, 2011, and incorporated herein by reference)



        10.2

         





          4.5


        Form of 8.375% Senior Secured Notes due 2018 (previously filed as Exhibit A to the Exhibit 4.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on February 1, 2011, and incorporated herein by reference)

        Table of Contents

        10.1Fiber Optic Network Leased Fiber Agreement, dated February 7, 2000, by and between Cogent Communications, Inc. and Metromedia Fiber Network Services, Inc., as amended July 19, 2001 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on October 16, 2001)*

        10.3

         





        10.2


        Dark Fiber IRU Agreement, dated April 14, 2000, between WilTel Communications, Inc. and Cogent Communications, Inc., as amended June 27, 2000, December 11, 2000, January 26, 2001, and February 21, 2001 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on October 16, 2001)*

        10.4

         





        10.3


        David Schaeffer Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated February 7, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on October 16, 2001)

        10.5

         

        Form of Restricted Stock Agreement relating to Series H Participating Convertible Preferred Stock (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-8, Commission File No. 333-108702, filed on September 11, 2003)

        10.6

         



        10.4


        Lease for Headquarters Space by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated September 1, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on October 16, 2001)

        10.7

         





        10.5


        Renewal of Lease for Headquarters Space, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated August 5, 2003 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on November 14, 2003)

        10.8

         

        The Amended and Restated Cogent Communications Group, Inc. 2000 Equity Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on October 16, 2001)

        10.9

         



        10.6


        2003 Incentive Award Plan of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-8, Commission File No. 333-108702, filed on September 11, 2003)

        10.10

         





        10.7


        2004 Incentive Award Plan of Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (as amended and restated through JuneApril 15, 2010) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 20, 20072010, and filed herewith)incorporated herein by reference)

        10.11

         





        10.8


        Dark Fiber Lease Agreement dated November 21, 2001, by and between Cogent Communications, Inc. and Qwest Communications Corporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to our Registration Statement on Form S-4, as amended by a Form S-4/A (Amendment No. 2), Commission File No. 333-71684, filed on December 7, 2001)

        10.12

         





        10.9


        Robert N. Beury, Jr. Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated June 15, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.20 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2003)

        10.13

         





        10.10


        Mark Schleifer Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated September 18, 2000 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.21 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2003)

        10.14

         

        R. Reed Harrison Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated July 1, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on August 16, 2004)

        10.15

         



        10.11


        Brad Kummer Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated January 11, 2000, (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.23 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1, Commission File No. 333-122821, filed on February 14, 2005)

        Table of Contents


        10.16


        10.12Extension of Lease for Headquarters Space, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated February 3, 2005 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.27 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 31, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.17

         

        Notice of Grant, dated November 4, 2005, made to David Schaeffer (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on November 7, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.18

         



        10.13


        Extension of Lease for Headquarters Space to August 31, 2006, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated July 21, 2005 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-K, filed on August 15, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.19

         





        10.14


        Option for extension of Lease for Headquarters Space to August 31, 2007, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated July 21, 2005 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-K, filed on August 15, 2005, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.20

         





        10.15


        Extension of Lease for headquarters space to August 31, 2010, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated June 20, 2006 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on August 8, 2006, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.21

         





        10.16


        Jeffery S. Karnes Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated May 17, 2004 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.25 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 14, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.22

         





        10.17


        David Schaeffer Amendment No. 2 to Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated as of March 12, 2007 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.26 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 14, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.23

         





        10.18


        Robert N. Beury, Jr. Employment Agreement with Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated as of March 12, 2007 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.27 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 14, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.24

         





        10.19


        Thaddeus G. Weed Employment Agreements, dated September 25, 2003 through October 26, 2006 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.28 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 14, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.25

         





        10.20


        Amendment No. 3 to Employment Agreement of Dave Schaeffer, dated as of August 7, 2007 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on August 8, 2007, and incorporated herein by reference)

        10.26

         





        10.21


        Form of Restricted Stock Agreement made to Vice Presidents and certain other employees on January 1, 2008 (filed herewith)2008) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on February 27, 2008)

        10.27

         





        10.22


        Form of Restricted Stock Agreement made to Mr. Schaeffer on January 1, 2008) (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.27 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on February 27, 2008)

        Table of Contents

        10.23Extension of Lease for headquarters space to August 31, 2012 and addition of 3rd floor office space, by and between 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., dated as of August 7, 2008 (filed herewith)(previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on August 8, 2008, and incorporated herein by reference)

        21.1

         

        Subsidiaries (filed herewith)

        23.1

         



        10.24


        Amendment No. 4 to Employment Agreement of Dave Schaeffer, dated as of February 26, 2010 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.25 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 1, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference)







        10.25


        Form of Restricted Stock Award made to Mr. Schaeffer on April 15, 2010 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 20, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference).







        10.26


        Form of Restricted Stock Award to Vice Presidents on April 15, 2010 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 20, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference)







        10.27


        Amendment No. 5 to Employment Agreement of Dave Schaeffer, dated April 7, 2010 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 7, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference).







        21.1


        Subsidiaries (filed herewith)







        23.1


        Consent of Ernst & Young LLP (filed herewith)

        31.1

         





        31.1


        Certification of Chief Executive Officer (filed herewith)

        31.2

         





        31.2


        Certification of Chief Financial Officer (filed herewith)

        32.1

         





        32.1


        Certification of Chief Executive Officer (filed herewith)

        32.2

         





        32.2


        Certification of Chief Financial Officer (filed herewith)







        99.1


        Policy Against Excise Tax Gross-ups on "Golden Parachute" Payments, with effect from April 7, 2010 (previously filed as Exhibit 99.1 to our Periodic Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 7, 2010, and incorporated herein by reference).

          *
          Confidential treatment requested and obtained as to certain portions. Portions have been omitted pursuant to this request where indicated by an asterisk.

        Table of Contents



        Schedule II

        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
        VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS
        (in thousands)

        Description

         Balance at
        Beginning of
        Period

         Charged to
        Costs and Expenses(a)

         Deductions
         Balance at
        End of
        Period

        Allowance for doubtful accounts (deducted from accounts receivable)            
        Year ended December 31, 2005 $3,229 $4,831 $6,623 $1,437
        Year ended December 31, 2006 $1,437 $3,410 $3,614 $1,233
        Year ended December 31, 2007 $1,233 $2,705 $2,779 $1,159

        Allowance for Credits (deducted from accounts receivable)

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
        Year ended December 31, 2005 $150 $33 $ $183
        Year ended December 31, 2006 $183 $ $61 $122
        Year ended December 31, 2007 $122 $ $98 $24

        Allowance for Unfulfilled Customer Purchase Obligations (deducted from accounts receivable)

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
        Year ended December 31, 2005 $164 $2,008 $1,767 $405
        Year ended December 31, 2006 $405 $1,585 $1,406 $584
        Year ended December 31, 2007 $584 $2,134 $1,611 $1,107

        Lease restructuring accrual

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         
        Year ended December 31, 2005 $1,611 $1,319 $1,378 $1,552
        Year ended December 31, 2006 $1,552 $114 $1,273 $393
        Year ended December 31, 2007 $393 $7 $400 $

        Description
         Balance at
        Beginning of
        Period
         Charged to
        Costs and
        Expenses(a)
         Deductions Balance at
        End of
        Period
         

        Allowance for doubtful accounts (deducted from accounts receivable)

                     

        Year ended December 31, 2008

         $1,159 $5,677 $4,922 $1,914 

        Year ended December 31, 2009

         $1,914 $5,531 $4,929 $2,516 

        Year ended December 31, 2010

         $2,516 $5,456 $5,508 $2,464 

        Allowance for Unfulfilled Customer Purchase Obligations (deducted from accounts receivable)

                     

        Year ended December 31, 2008

         $1,107 $24,481 $24,257 $1,331 

        Year ended December 31, 2009

         $1,331 $11,729 $11,264 $1,796 

        Year ended December 31, 2010

         $1,796 $4,934 $5,154 $1,576 

        (a)
        Bad debt expense, net of recoveries, was approximately $4.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2005, $2.62008, $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 20062009 and $2.0$4.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.2010.

        Table of Contents


        SIGNATURES

                Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.

        Dated: February 27, 2008

        By:

        /s/  
        DAVID SCHAEFFER      
          Name:David SchaefferCOGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.

        Dated: February 28, 2011

         
        Title:
        By:


        /s/ DAVID SCHAEFFER

        Name: David Schaeffer
        Title:
        Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

                Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

        Signature
         
        Title
         
        Date

         

         

         

         

         
        /s/ DAVID SCHAEFFER

        David Schaeffer
         Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
        (Principal (Principal Executive Officer)
         February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        THADDEUS G. WEED

        Thaddeus G. Weed

         

        Chief Financial Officer
        (Principal (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

         

        February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        EREL MARGALIT

        Erel Margalit

         

        Director

         

        February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        TIMOTHY WEINGARTEN

        Timothy Weingarten

         

        Director

         

        February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        STEVEN BROOKS

        Steven Brooks

         

        Director

         

        February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        RICHARD T. LIEBHABER

        Richard T. Liebhaber

         

        Director

         

        February 27, 200828, 2011


        /s/ 
        DAVID BLAKE BATH

        David Blake Bath

         

        Director


        February 27, 2008

        /s/  
        LEWIS H. FERGUSON III      
        Lewis H. Ferguson III

         

        DirectorFebruary 28, 2011

        /s/ MARC MONTAGNER

        Marc Montagner

         

        Director


        February 27, 200828, 2011



        QuickLinks

        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007
        TABLE OF CONTENTS
        DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
        SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
        PART I
        PART II
        Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND 2007 (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)
        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005, DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND DECEMBER 31, 2007 (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)
        COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005, DECEMBER 31, 2006 AND DECEMBER 31, 2007 (IN THOUSANDS)
        MANAGEMENT'S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
        Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm On Internal Control over Financial Reporting
        PART III
        PART IV
        Schedule II COGENT COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS (in thousands)
        SIGNATURES