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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

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

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2016

OR

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

Commission File No. 000-51829

COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

2450 N Street N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20037

(Address of Principal Executive Offices and Zip Code)

(202) 295-4200

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

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, and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes x  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 x  No  o

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):

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

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

Common Stock, $.001 par value 45,228,854 Shares Outstanding as of April 30, 2016

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INDEX

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PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1.                FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

AS OF MARCH 31, 2016 AND DECEMBER 31, 2015

(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE DATA)

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

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COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2016 AND MARCH 31, 2015

(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)

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

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COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2016 AND MARCH 31, 2015

(IN THOUSANDS)

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

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COGENT COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1.   Description of the business and recent developments:

Reorganization and merger

On May 15, 2014, pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (“Group”), a Delaware corporation, Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Holdings”) and Cogent Communications Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Merger Sub”), Group adopted a new holding company organizational structure whereby Group is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Holdings.  Holdings is a “successor issuer” to Group pursuant to Rule 12g-3(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).  In connection with the succession, the common stock of Holdings is deemed to be registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act by operation of law.

References to the “Company” for events that occurred prior to May 15, 2014 refer to Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries and on and after May 15, 2014 the “Company” refers to Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Description of business

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 primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe and Asia.

The Company offers on-net Internet access services exclusively through its own facilities, which run from its network to its customers’ premises. The Company is not dependent on local telephone companies to serve its customers for its on-net Internet access services because of its integrated network architecture. The Company offers its on-net services to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to its network. The Company’s on-net service consists of high-speed Internet access and IP connectivity ranging from 100 Megabits per second to 100 Gigabits per second of bandwidth. The Company provides its on-net Internet access services to its corporate and net-centric customers. The Company’s 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. The Company’s net-centric customers include bandwidth-intensive users such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, content delivery network companies and commercial content and application service providers. These net-centric customers obtain the Company’s services in carrier neutral data centers and in the Company’s data centers. The Company operates data centers throughout North America and Europe that allow its customers to collocate their equipment and access the Company’s network.

In addition to providing its on-net services, the Company provides Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to its network. The Company provides this off-net service primarily to corporate customers using other carriers’ facilities to provide the “last mile” portion of the link from the 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.

Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments that the Company considers necessary for the fair presentation of its results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods covered, and of the financial position of the Company at the date of the interim condensed consolidated balance sheet. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for the entire year. While the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to not make the information misleading, these interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include all wholly-owned subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and activity have been eliminated.

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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.

Financial instruments

At March 31, 2016, the carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, 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 amortized cost, which approximates fair value based upon quoted market prices (Level 1). Based upon recent trading prices (Level 2 — market approach) at March 31, 2016 the fair value of the Company’s $200.0 million senior unsecured notes was $196.0 million and the fair value of the Company’s $250.0 million senior secured notes was $247.5 million.

The Company was party to letters of credit totaling $0.1 million as of March 31, 2016. These letters of credit are secured by investments that are restricted and included in other assets.

Gross receipts taxes, universal service fund and other surcharges

Revenue recognition standards include guidance relating to taxes or surcharges assessed by a governmental authority that are directly imposed on a revenue-producing transaction between a seller and a customer and may include, but are not limited to, gross receipts taxes, excise taxes, Universal Service Fund fees and certain state regulatory fees. Such charges may be presented gross or net based upon the Company’s accounting policy election. The Company records certain excise taxes and surcharges on a gross basis and includes them in its revenues and costs of network operations. Excise taxes and surcharges billed to customers and recorded on a gross basis (as service revenue and network operations expense) were $2.0 million and $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015, respectively.

Basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share

Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) excludes dilution for common stock equivalents and is computed by dividing net income or (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS is based on the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period, adjusted for the effect of dilutive common stock equivalents.  Shares of restricted stock are included in the computation of basic EPS as they vest and are included in diluted EPS, to the extent they are dilutive, determined using the treasury stock method. For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company’s employees exercised options for 9,510 and 6,459 common shares, respectively.

The following details the determination of diluted weighted average shares for the three months ended March 31, 2016:

The following details unvested shares of restricted common stock as well as the anti-dilutive effects of stock options and restricted stock awards outstanding:

Recent accounting pronouncements—to be adopted

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. The ASU will replace most existing accounting for lease guidance when it becomes effective. The new standard is effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2019. Early application is permitted. The standard must be adopted using the modified retrospective approach. The standard will require the Company to record a right to use asset and a lease liability for most of the Company’s leases including the Company’s leases currently treated as operating leases. The Company is evaluating the effect that ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures and has not yet determined the effect of the standard on its ongoing financial reporting.

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In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The ASU will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. The new standard is effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2018. Early application is permitted for annual periods beginning after December 31, 2016. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. The Company is evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The Company has not yet selected a transition method nor has it determined the effect of the standard on its ongoing financial reporting.

2. Property and equipment:

Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment and capital leases was $17.8 million and $17.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The Company capitalized salaries and related benefits of employees working directly on the construction and build-out of its network of $2.2 million and $2.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Exchange agreement

In the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company exchanged certain used network equipment and cash consideration for new network equipment. The fair value of the equipment received was estimated to be $5.1 million and $6.6 million, respectively, and after considering the cash component the transactions resulted in gains of $1.9 million and $1.5 million, respectively. The estimated fair value of the equipment received was based upon the cash consideration price the Company pays for the new network equipment on a standalone basis (Level 3).

Purchase and installment payment agreements

In January 2015, the Company entered into a purchase agreement with a vendor. Under the purchase agreement the Company was required to purchase a total of $28.9 million of network equipment during the eighteen month term.  As of March 31, 2016, the Company completed the purchases required under the purchase agreement. In March 2015, the Company entered into an installment payment agreement (“IPA”) with this vendor.  Under the IPA the Company was able to purchase up to $25.0 million of network equipment in exchange for interest free note obligations each with a twenty-four month term.  There are no payments under each note obligation for the first six months followed by eighteen equal installment payments for the remaining eighteen month term. As of March 31, 2016, and December 31, 2015 there was $19.0 million and $21.2 million, respectively, of note obligations outstanding under the IPA, secured by the related equipment.  The Company recorded the net present value of the note obligation utilizing an imputed interest rate.  The resulting discount was $0.6 million and $0.8 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, and is being amortized over the note term using the effective interest rate method.

Gain on capital lease termination

In March 2015 the Company elected to terminate certain IRU capital lease obligations in Spain with a vendor.  The Company has obtained alternative fiber to serve its customers in Spain. Under its estimate of the termination provisions of the related contracts the Company has recorded an estimated termination liability of $8.1 million included in accrued and other current liabilities.  The difference between the remaining carrying amount of the related IRU capital lease liabilities ($29.9 million), the remaining net book value of the IRU assets ($10.0 million) and the termination liability and amounts due through the termination date was recorded as a gain on capital lease termination of $10.1 million.

3. Long-term debt:

Debt extinguishment, redemption and new debt issuance- $250.0 million

In March 2015, Group redeemed its $240.0 million 8.375% senior notes due in 2018 (the “2018 Notes”) with the proceeds from its February 2015 issuance of $250.0 million of 5.375% senior secured notes (the “2022 Notes”) and existing cash on hand. In February 2015 the Company deposited $251.6 million with the trustee for the benefit of the holders of the 2018 Notes in order to redeem on March 12, 2015 the entire outstanding amount of 2018 Notes at a redemption price of 104.188% of the $240.0 million principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest. As a result of this transaction the Company incurred a loss on debt extinguishment and redemption of $10.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015.

The 2022 Notes were sold in private offerings for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A and mature on March 1, 2022. Interest accrues at 5.375% beginning on February 20, 2015 and is paid semi-annually in arrears on March 1 and September 1 of each year, commencing on September 1, 2015. The net proceeds from the offering were $248.7 million after deducting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. The net proceeds from the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes.

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Senior unsecured notes- $200.0 million

On April 9, 2014, Cogent Communications Finance, Inc. (“Cogent Finance”), a newly formed financing subsidiary of Group, completed an offering of $200.0 million in aggregate principal amount at par of 5.625% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “2021 Notes”).  The 2021 Notes were sold in private offerings for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. Cogent Finance merged with Group, with Group continuing as the surviving corporation (the “Finance Merger”).  At the time of consummation of the Finance Merger, Group assumed the obligations of Cogent Finance under the 2021 Notes and the indenture governing the 2021 Notes (the “Indenture”) and Group and each of Group’s domestic subsidiaries became party to the Indenture pursuant to a supplemental indenture to the Indenture and the obligations under the Indenture became obligations solely of Group and each of Group’s domestic subsidiaries.  Holdings also provided a guarantee of the 2021 Notes but Holdings is not subject to any of the covenants under the Indenture.  The net proceeds from the offering were $195.8 million after deducting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. The net proceeds from the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes.

Limitations under the Indentures

The indentures governing the 2022 and 2021 Notes, among other things, limits the Company’s 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. Limitations on the ability to incur additional indebtedness (excluding IRU agreements incurred in the normal course of business) include a restriction on incurring additional indebtedness if the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio, as defined in the indentures is greater than 5.0. Permitted investments and payments that are not restricted total $27.1 million as of March 31, 2016 plus Holdings permitted investments of $0.8 million as of March 31, 2016 which are not subject to these limitations for a total permitted investment amount of $27.9 million as of March 31, 2016. This amount may be increased by the Company’s consolidated cash flow, as defined in the indentures, as long as the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio is less than 4.25. The Company’s consolidated leverage ratio is currently above 4.25 so as of March 31, 2016 no amounts other than those described above are available for permitted investments including dividends and stock purchases.

Senior secured notes- $240.0 million

On January 26, 2011 and on August 19, 2013, the Company issued its 8.375% 2018 Notes for aggregate principal amounts of $175.0 million and $65.0 million, respectively, in private offerings for resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to SEC Rule 144A. The 2018 Notes were secured and bore interest at 8.375% per annum. Interest was payable in cash semiannually in arrears on February 15 and August 15, of each year. On January 26, 2011, the Company received net proceeds of $170.5 million after deducting $4.5 million of issuance costs from issuing $175.0 million of its 2018 Notes. On August 19, 2013, the Company received net proceeds of approximately $69.9 million after deducting $1.0 million of issuance costs from issuing $65.0 million of 2018 Notes. The 2018 Notes sold in August 2013 were sold at 109.00% of par value. The resulting $5.9 million premium was being amortized as a reduction to interest expense to the maturity date using the effective interest rate method.  In March 2015, the 2018 Notes were extinguished and redeemed with the proceeds of the Company’s issuance of its $250.0 million of 2022 Notes and cash on hand.

4. Commitments and contingencies:

Current and potential litigation

In accordance with the accounting guidance for contingencies, the Company accrues its estimate of a contingent liability when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Where it is probable that a liability has been incurred and there is a range of expected loss for which no amount in the range is more likely than any other amount, the Company accrues at the low end of the range. The Company reviews its accruals at least quarterly and adjusts them to reflect the impact of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and other information and events pertaining to a particular matter. The Company has taken certain positions related to its obligations for leased circuit and dark fiber obligations for which it is reasonably possible could result in a loss of up to $2.5 million in excess of the amount accrued at March 31, 2016.

Certain former sales employees of the Company filed a collective action against the Company in December 2011 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division alleging misclassification of the Company’s sales employees throughout the United States in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The lawsuit sought to recover pay for allegedly unpaid overtime and other damages, including attorney’s fees. In March 2014, the judge de-certified the collective action. Each of the former employees that opted-in to the collective action retained the right to file an individual action. Approximately 70 former employees did so. The Company has settled a number of the cases that were filed and made the required settlement payments. Currently, only one case in California remains (Ambrosia v. Cogent Communications, Inc. in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California). On January 4, 2016, the judge provisionally certified a class and collective action related to the employees in California. The Company has sought appellate review of the decision. The Company denies the claims and believes that the claims for unpaid overtime are without merit. The Company believes its classification of sales employees is in compliance with applicable law.

In the ordinary 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. Judgment is required in estimating the ultimate outcome of any dispute resolution process, as well as any other amounts that may be incurred to conclude the negotiations or settle any litigation. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions and such differences could be material.

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5.    Income taxes:

The components of income (loss) before income taxes consist of the following (in thousands):

6. Common stock buyback program:

The Company’s Board of Directors has approved purchases of the Company’s common stock under a buyback program (the “Buyback Program”) through December 31, 2016.  At March 31, 2016, there was approximately $47.8 million remaining for purchases under the Buyback Program.  During the three months ended March 31, 2015 the Company purchased 0.2 million shares of its common stock for $8.1 million.  There were no purchases of common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2016.

7. Dividends on common stock:

Dividends are recorded as a reduction to retained earnings. Dividends on unvested restricted shares of common stock are paid as the awards vest. The Company’s initial quarterly dividend payment was made in the third quarter of 2012. In addition to the Company’s regular quarterly dividends, in 2013, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an additional return of capital program (the “Capital Program”). Under the Capital Program the Company plans on returning additional capital to the Company’s shareholders each quarter through either stock buybacks or a special dividend or a combination of stock buybacks and a special dividend. The aggregate payment under the Capital Program initially was a minimum of $10.0 million each quarter and was increased to be a minimum of $12.0 million each quarter. Amounts paid under the Capital Program are in addition to the Company’s regular quarterly dividend payments.

On May 4, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of our quarterly dividend of $0.37 per common share. The dividend for the second quarter of 2016 will be paid to holders of record on May 20, 2016. This estimated $16.4 million dividend payment is expected to be made on June 7, 2016.

The payment of any future dividends and any other returns of capital, including stock buybacks and our Capital Program, will be at the discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors and may be reduced, eliminated or increased and will be dependent upon the Company’s financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements, limitations under the Company’s debt indentures and other factors deemed relevant by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company is a Delaware Corporation and under the General Corporate Law of the State of Delaware distributions may be restricted including a restriction that distributions, including stock purchases and dividends, do not result in an impairment of a corporation’s capital, as defined under Delaware Law. The indentures governing the Company’s notes limit the Company’s ability to return cash to its stockholders. Consequently, on November 2, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors suspended the $12.0 million quarterly minimum payment under the Capital Program. As the Company’s cash flow increases the indenture covenants permit additional distributions to stockholders. See Note 3 for additional discussion of limitations on the Capital Program.

8. Related party transactions:

Office leases

The Company’s headquarters was located in an office building owned by Niobium LLC (a successor to 6715 Kenilworth Avenue Partnership). The two owners of Niobium LLC are the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, David Schaeffer, who has a 51% interest in Niobium LLC and his wife who has a 49% interest. The lease was scheduled to end on August 31, 2016 and was cancellable by the Company upon 60 days’ notice. The Company terminated the lease effective as of May 10, 2015. In April 2015, the Company entered into a new lease agreement for its headquarters building with Sodium LLC whose two owners are the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, who has a 51% interest in Sodium LLC and his wife who has a 49% interest. The Company moved into the new headquarters building in May 2015. The fixed annual rent for the new headquarters building is $1.0 million per year plus an allocation of taxes and utilities. The lease term is for five years and is cancellable by the Company upon 60 days’ notice. The Company’s audit committee reviews and approves all transactions with related parties. The Company paid $0.3 million and $0.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, for rent and related costs (including taxes and utilities) to these lessors for these leases.

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9. Segment information:

The Company operates as one operating segment. The Company’s service revenue and long lived assets by geographic region are as follows (in thousands):

The majority of North American revenue consists of services delivered within the United States.

ITEM 2.                          MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis together with our condensed 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, 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 to US dollar and Canadian dollar to US dollar exchange rates) on the translation of our non-US dollar denominated revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities; legal and operational difficulties in new markets; the imposition of a requirement that we contribute to the US Universal Service Fund; changes in government policy and/or regulation, including rules regarding data protection, cyber security and net neutrality; 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 an equipment vendor, Cisco Systems Inc., and the potential for hardware or software problems associated with such 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, our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

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. We deliver our services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe and in Asia.

Our on-net service consists of high-speed Internet access and IP connectivity ranging from 100 Megabits per second to 100 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 to corporate customers and net-centric customers. Our corporate customers are located in multi-tenant office buildings and in our data centers and typically include law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms and other professional services businesses. Our net-centric customers include bandwidth-intensive users such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, content delivery networks and commercial content and application service providers. These net-centric customers generally receive our services in colocation facilities and in our data centers.

Our off-net services are sold to businesses that are connected to our network primarily by means of “last mile” access service lines obtained from other carriers, primarily in the form of metropolitan Ethernet circuits. Our non-core services, which consist primarily of legacy services of companies whose assets or businesses we have acquired, primarily include 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. Our network is physically connected entirely through our facilities to 2,271 buildings in which we provide our on-net services, including 1,545 multi-tenant office buildings. We also provide on-net services in carrier-neutral data centers, Cogent controlled data centers and single-tenant office buildings. We operate 51 Cogent controlled data centers totaling 565,000 square feet. Because of our integrated network architecture, we are not dependent on local telephone companies or cable 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 these services generate gross profit margins that are greater than the gross profit margins of our off-net services.

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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. We are responding to this opportunity by increasing our sales and marketing efforts including increasing our number of sales representatives and 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 cost of extending our network to reach new customers with the revenue expected to be generated by those customers. In addition, we may add customers to our network through strategic acquisitions.

We believe some of the most important trends in our industry are the continued long-term growth in Internet traffic and a decline in Internet access prices on a per megabit basis. The effective price per megabit for our corporate customers is declining as the bandwidth utilization and connection size of our corporate customer connections increases. As Internet traffic continues to grow and prices per unit of traffic continue to decline, we believe we can continue to load our network and gain market share from less efficient network operators. 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 profitability. Our revenue may also be negatively affected if we are unable to grow our Internet traffic or if the rate of growth of Internet traffic does not offset an expected decline in our per unit pricing. We do not know if Internet traffic will increase or decrease, or the rate at which it will increase or decrease. Changes in Internet traffic will be a function of the number of Internet users, the amount of time users spend on the Internet, the applications for which the Internet is used, the bandwidth intensity of these applications and the pricing of Internet services, and other factors.

The growth in Internet traffic has a more significant impact on our net-centric customers who represent the vast majority 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 on a price per megabit basis. Our corporate customers tend to utilize a small portion of their allocated bandwidth on their connections and tend to purchase their service on a per connection basis.

We are a facilities-based provider of Internet access and communications services. Facilities-based providers require significant physical assets, or network facilities, to provide their services. Typically when a facilities-based network services provider begins providing its services in a new jurisdiction losses are incurred for several years until economies of scale have been achieved. Our foreign operations are in Europe, Canada, Mexico and Asia. Europe accounts for roughly 80% of our foreign operations. Our European operations have incurred losses and will continue to do so until our European customer base and revenues have grown enough to achieve sufficient economies of scale.

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 and increase the capacity of our network. Our future capital expenditures will be based primarily on the expansion of our network and the addition of on-net buildings. We plan to continue to expand our network and to increase the number of on-net buildings we serve including multi-tenant office buildings and carrier neutral data centers. Many factors can affect our ability to add buildings to our network. These factors include the willingness of building owners to grant us access rights, the availability of optical fiber networks to serve those buildings, the cost to connect buildings to our network and equipment availability.

Three Months Ended March 31, 2016 Compared to the Three Months Ended March 31, 2015

The following summary table presents a comparison of our results of operations with respect to certain key financial measures. The comparisons illustrated in the table are discussed in greater detail below.

(1)         Includes equity-based compensation expenses of $121 and $172 in the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

(2)         Includes equity-based compensation expenses of $2,060 and $2,969 in the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

NM — not meaningful

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Service Revenue. Our service revenue increased 11.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. The impact of exchange rates resulted in a decrease of revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2016 of approximately $0.9 million.  All foreign currency comparisons herein reflect our first quarter 2016 results translated at the average foreign currency exchange rates for the first quarter of 2015.  For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, on-net, off-net and non-core revenues represented 72.7%, 27.1% and 0.2% and 73.3%, 26.4% and 0.3% of our service revenue, respectively. Revenue recognition standards include guidance relating to any tax assessed by a governmental authority that is directly imposed on a revenue-producing transaction between a seller and a customer and may include, but is not limited to, gross receipts taxes, Universal Service Fund fees and certain state regulatory fees. We record these taxes billed to our customers on a gross basis (as service revenue and network operations expense) in our consolidated statements of operations. The impact of these taxes including the Universal Service Fund resulted in an increase of our revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2016 of approximately $2.0 million.

Revenues from our corporate and net centric customers represented 59.7% and 40.3% of total service revenue, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and represented 56.7% and 43.3% of total service revenue, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2015.  Revenues from corporate customers increased 17.2% to $64.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from $55.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015.  Revenues from our net-centric customers increased by 3.8% to $43.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from $42.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015.  The negative impact of foreign exchange had a more significant impact on our net-centric revenues.

Our on-net revenues increased 10.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. We increased the number of our on-net customer connections by 16.0% at March 31, 2016 from March 31, 2015. On-net customer connections increased at a greater rate than on-net revenues primarily due to the 4.1% decline in our on-net ARPU, primarily from a decline in ARPU for our net centric customers and from the negative impact of foreign exchange. ARPU is determined by dividing revenue for the period by the average customer connections for that period. Our average price per megabit for our installed base of customers is determined by dividing the aggregate monthly recurring fixed charges for those customers by the aggregate committed data rate for the same customers. The decline in on-net ARPU is partly attributed to volume and term based pricing discounts. Additionally, on-net customers who cancel their service from our installed base of customers, in general, have an ARPU that is greater than the ARPU for our new customers due to declining prices primarily for our on-net services sold to our net-centric customers. These trends resulted in the reduction to our on-net ARPU and a 14.9% decline in our average price per megabit for our installed base of customers.

Our off-net revenues increased 14.1% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015.  Our off-net revenues increased as we increased the number of our off-net customer connections by 20.2% at March 31, 2016 from March 31, 2015. Our off-net customer connections increased at a greater rate than our off-net revenue primarily due to the 4.9% decrease in our off-net ARPU.

Our non-core revenues decreased 17.3% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. 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 the costs of personnel associated with service delivery, network management and customer support, network facilities costs, fiber and equipment maintenance fees, leased circuit costs, access and facilities fees paid to building owners and excise taxes billed to our customers and recorded on a gross basis. Non-cash equity-based compensation expense is included in network operations expenses consistent with the classification of the employee’s salary and other compensation. Our network operations expenses, including non-cash equity-based compensation expense, increased 15.1% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. The increase is primarily attributable to an increase in costs related to our network and facilities expansion activities, a $2.0 million increase in taxes billed to our customers recorded on a gross basis (in service revenue and cost of network operations expense) and the increase in our off-net revenues. When we provide off-net services we also assume the cost of the associated tail circuits.

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Selling, General, and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses. Our SG&A expenses, including non-cash equity-based compensation expense, decreased 0.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. Non-cash equity-based compensation expense is included in SG&A expenses consistent with the classification of the employee’s salary and other compensation and was $2.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and $3.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. SG&A expenses decreased primarily from an increase in salaries and related costs required to support our expansion and the increase in our sales efforts being offset by a $0.9 million decrease in our legal and economic analysis fees primarily associated with U.S. net neutrality and interconnection regulatory matters, a $0.9 million reduction in non-cash equity based compensation expense and a $0.6 million decrease in our bad debt expense. Our sales force headcount increased by 12.6% from 459 at March 31, 2015 to 517 at March 31, 2016 and our total headcount increased by 8.9% from 785 at March 31, 2015 to 855 at March 31, 2016.

Gains on Equipment Transactions.  In the three months ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015, we exchanged certain used network equipment and cash consideration for new network equipment resulting in gains of $1.9 million and $1.5 million, respectively, based upon the estimated fair value of the new network equipment less the carrying amount of the returned used network equipment and the cash paid.

Gain on capital lease termination. In March 2015 we elected to terminate certain IRU capital lease obligations in Spain with a vendor.  Under our estimate of the termination provisions of the related contract we recorded an estimated termination liability of $8.1 million.  The difference between the remaining net present value of the related IRU capital leases ($29.9 million), the remaining net book value of the IRU assets ($10.0 million) and the termination liability and amounts due through the termination date was recorded as a gain on capital lease termination of $10.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Depreciation and Amortization Expenses. Our depreciation and amortization expense increased 1.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 from the three months ended March 31, 2015. The increase is primarily due to the depreciation expense associated with the increase in deployed fixed assets.

Interest Expense. Interest expense results from interest incurred on our $250.0 million of senior secured notes that we issued on February 20, 2015, $200.0 million of senior unsecured notes that we issued on April 9, 2014, $240.0 million of senior secured notes that we issued in August 2013 and January 2011 and redeemed in March 2015 and interest on our capital lease obligations. Our interest expense decreased by 11.0% due to the March 2015 redemption of our $240 million of 8.375% senior secured notes that carried a higher interest rate than our $250.0 million of 5.375% senior secured notes that we issued in February 2015. Additionally, in March 2015 we elected to terminate $29.9 million of capital lease obligations in Spain with a vendor reducing our interest expense on our capital leases.

Debt extinguishment, redemption and new debt issuance- $250.0 million.  In March 2015, we redeemed our $240.0 million 8.375% senior notes due in 2018 at a redemption price of 104.188% of the $240.0 million principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest with the proceeds from our February 2015 issuance of $250.0 million of 5.375% senior secured notes and existing cash on hand. As a result of this transaction we incurred a loss on debt extinguishment and redemption of $10.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015.

Income Tax Provision.  Our income tax provision was $2.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. The increase in our income tax provision was related to an increase in deferred income tax expense from an increase in income before taxes in the United States.

Buildings On-net. As of March 31, 2016 and 2015, we had a total of 2,271 and 2,155 on-net buildings connected to our network, respectively.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

In assessing our liquidity, management reviews and analyzes our current cash balances, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, capital expenditure commitments, and required capital lease and debt payments and other obligations.

Cash Flows

The following table sets forth our consolidated cash flows.

Net Cash 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 interest payments made to our capital lease vendors and our note holders. Our changes in cash provided by operating activities are primarily due to changes in our operating profit and changes in our interest payments. Cash provided by operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 includes interest payments on our note obligations of $6.7 million and $10.1 million, respectively.

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Net Cash Used In Investing Activities.  Our primary use of cash for investing activities is for purchases of property and equipment. Purchases of property and equipment were $15.0 million and $12.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The changes in purchases of property and equipment are primarily due to the timing and scope of our network expansion activities including geographic expansion and adding buildings to our network.

Net Cash Used In Financing Activities.  Our primary uses of cash for financing activities are for principal payments under our capital lease obligations and our installment payment agreement, dividend payments, stock purchases and in the three months ended March 31, 2015 we redeemed our $240.0 million senior secured notes for a payment of $251.3 million.  During the three months ended March 31, 2015 we paid $8.1 million for purchases of our common stock. There were no purchases of our common stock in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  Principal payments under our capital lease were $3.4 million and $3.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.  During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 we paid $16.2 million and $16.0 million, respectively, for our quarterly dividend payments. During the three months ended March 31, 2015 we received net proceeds of $248.7 million from the issuance of our $250.0 million senior secured notes.

Cash Position and Indebtedness

Our total indebtedness at March 31, 2016 was $606.0 million and our total cash and cash equivalents were $196.1 million. Our total indebtedness at March 31, 2016 includes $137.0 million of capital lease obligations for dark fiber under long term IRU agreements.

Summarized Financial Information of Holdings

Holdings is an unrestricted subsidiary as defined under the indentures governing our 2021 Notes and our 2022 Notes and Holdings is also a guarantor under these notes.  Under the indentures we are required to disclose financial information of Holdings including its assets, liabilities and its operating results (“Holdings Financial Information”).  The Holdings Financial Information as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2016 is detailed below (in thousands).

Common Stock Buyback Program

Our Board of Directors has approved purchases of our common stock under a buyback program (the “Buyback Program”).  We purchased approximately 0.2 million shares for $8.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2015. There were no purchases of our common stock in the three months ended March 31, 2016.  As of March 31, 2016 there was a total of $47.8 million available under the Buyback Program through December 31, 2016.

Dividends on Common Stock and Return of Capital Program

Dividends are recorded as a reduction to retained earnings. Dividends on unvested restricted shares of common stock are paid as the awards vest. Our initial quarterly dividend payment was made in the third quarter of 2012. On May 4, 2016, our Board of Directors approved the payment of our quarterly dividend of $0.37 per common share. The dividend for the second quarter of 2016 will be paid to holders of record on May 20, 2016. This estimated $16.4 million dividend payment is expected to be made on June 7, 2016.

In addition to our regular quarterly dividends, in 2013, our Board of Directors approved an additional return of capital program (the “Capital Program”). Under the Capital Program we plan on returning additional capital to our shareholders each quarter through either stock buybacks or a special dividend or a combination of stock buybacks and a special dividend. The aggregate payment under the Capital Program initially was a minimum of $10.0 million each quarter and was increased to be a minimum of $12.0 million each quarter. Amounts paid under the Capital Program are in addition to our regular quarterly dividend payments.

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The payment of any future dividends and any other returns of capital, including stock buybacks and our Capital Program, will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and may be reduced, eliminated or increased and will be dependent upon our financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements, limitations under our debt indentures and other factors deemed relevant by the our Board of Directors. We are a Delaware Corporation and under the General Corporate Law of the State of Delaware distributions may be restricted including a restriction that distributions, including stock purchases and dividends, do not result in an impairment of a corporation’s capital, as defined under Delaware Law. The indentures governing our notes limit our ability to return cash to our stockholders. Consequently, on November 2, 2015, our Board of Directors suspended the $12.0 million quarterly minimum payment under the Capital Program. As our cash flow increases the indenture covenants permit additional distributions to stockholders. See Note 3 of our interim condensed consolidated financial for additional discussion of limitations on distributions including under the Capital Program.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

There have been no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments included in Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Future Capital Requirements

We believe that our cash on hand and cash generated from our operating activities will be adequate to meet our working capital, capital expenditure, debt service, dividend payments and other cash requirements for the next twelve months if we execute our business plan.

Any future acquisitions or other significant unplanned costs or cash requirements in excess of amounts we currently hold 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 add to our network, reduce our planned increase in our sales and marketing efforts, 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 operations and financial condition. If issuing equity securities raises additional funds, substantial dilution to existing stockholders may result.

We may need to or elect to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness at or before maturity and we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to refinance any such indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may elect to secure additional capital in the future, at acceptable terms, to improve our liquidity or fund acquisitions or for general corporate purposes. In addition, in an effort to reduce future cash interest payments as well as future amounts due at maturity or to extend debt maturities, we may, from time to time, issue new debt, enter into debt for debt, or cash transactions to purchase our outstanding debt securities in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. We will evaluate any such transactions in light of the existing market conditions. The amounts involved in any such transaction, individually or in the aggregate, may be material.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have 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 risks that could arise if we had engaged in these relationships.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Estimates

Management believes that as of March 31, 2016, there have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and significant estimates from those listed in Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements—to be Adopted

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. The ASU will replace most existing accounting for lease guidance when it becomes effective. The new standard is effective for us beginning on January 1, 2019. Early application is permitted. The standard must be adopted using the modified retrospective approach. The standard will require us to record a right to use asset and a lease liability for most of our leases including our leases currently treated as operating leases. We are evaluating the effect that ASU 2016-02 will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

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In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The ASU will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. The new standard is effective for us on January 1, 2018. Early application is permitted for annual periods beginning after December 31, 2016. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. We are evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. We have not yet selected a transition method nor have we determined the effect of the standard on our ongoing financial reporting.

ITEM 3.                QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Management believes that as of March 31, 2016, there have been no material changes to our exposures to market risk from those disclosed in Item 7A “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

ITEM 4.                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 disclosures. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes 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 our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) 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 our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level as of the end of the period covered by this report.

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

PART II OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1.                LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are involved in legal proceedings in the ordinary course of our business that we do not expect to have a material impact on our operations or results of operations.  Note 4 of our interim condensed consolidated financial statements includes information on these proceedings.

ITEM 2.                UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

Our Board of Directors has authorized a plan to permit the repurchase of our common stock in negotiated and open market transactions through December 31, 2016. We may purchase shares from time to time depending on market, economic, and other factors.. There were no purchases of our common stock repurchases during the first quarter of 2016 and as of March 31, 2016 there was $47.8 million remaining under the authorization.

ITEM 6.                EXHIBITS.

(a) Exhibits

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements 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.

Exhibit Index

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