Stealth Communications

About Stealth Communications

Stealth Communications operates as a fiber-based Internet Service Provider (ISP), focusing on delivering high-speed connectivity to commercial clients throughout New York City. The company was founded in 1995 by Shrihari Pandit and his wife, Jinci Liu, initially as a self-financed consumer ISP during the dial-up era. Faced with significant pricing pressures, the founders pivoted to the business-to-business market, offering services like fractional T-1 lines. A crucial turning point came in 2013 when Stealth Communications obtained a franchise from the City of New York, authorizing it to build and manage its own fiber optic network within the city's public right-of-way. This move allowed the company to overcome its reliance on competitors for dark fiber and establish true infrastructure independence.

The company's primary service is providing dedicated, symmetrical fiber optic internet connections with speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 100 Gbps. Unlike shared network models like PON, Stealth allocates a unique wavelength of light for each customer, ensuring guaranteed bandwidth and low latency without data caps. This is achieved by implementing Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology in its network. Its client base includes businesses in finance, real estate, education, media, and government agencies. The company generates revenue through monthly fees for its internet services, with prices varying based on the dedicated bandwidth provided. Stealth also offers dark fiber and proactive cyber defense services.

A key operational advantage is its vertically integrated approach; Stealth employs its own in-house construction crews for laying fiber, splicing cables, and performing installations and repairs. This model provides greater control over deployment schedules and service quality. The company utilizes the underground conduit system maintained by Empire City Subway to run its cables. Significant milestones include a 2015 public-private partnership with New York City to extend fiber broadband into underserved industrial zones in Brooklyn and Queens. By May 2019, the company had laid over 80 fiber route miles, connecting hundreds of commercial buildings. Shrihari Pandit, with a background as an ISP operator since the industry's early days, serves as the President and CEO, while Jinci Liu is the Managing Director, responsible for corporate strategy.