Lightpath, an all-fiber connectivity supplier, has entered right into a definitive settlement to accumulate a considerable portion of the belongings of United Fiber and Knowledge (UFD), signaling a strategic enlargement in its infrastructure capabilities. This transfer, pending regulatory approvals, is predicted to culminate within the third quarter of 2024, marking a major step in enhancing digital connectivity throughout key areas in america.
United Fiber and Knowledge boasts a noteworthy 323-route mile community that stretches from New York Metropolis to Ashburn, Virginia. This hall hyperlinks the nation’s largest inhabitants heart with Ashburn, acknowledged globally as a significant hub for information facilities and cloud ecosystems. UFD additionally manages a 79-mile metro community that spans New York Metropolis and New Jersey. This consists of over 350 related enterprise and information heart areas and incorporates a essential high-fiber rely crossing of the Hudson River. This specific asset is poised to bolster Lightpath’s current infrastructure, which presently consists of three Hudson River crossings.
The strategic significance of the UFD acquisition lies in its distinctive geographical route, which diverges from the standard long-haul paths alongside the I-95 hall. UFD’s community, geared up with the most recent optical applied sciences offered by Ciena, helps high-capacity connections similar to darkish fiber, Ethernet, and wavelengths as much as 800 Gbps.
By integrating UFD’s belongings, Lightpath will lengthen its already huge community, which incorporates over 20,000 route miles and companies greater than 15,000 areas, together with key information facilities and cable touchdown stations alongside the East Coast. Monetary trms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.
Excessive-Development Ashburn Knowledge Heart Ecosystem
Chris Morley, CEO of Lightpath, highlighted the acquisition as a pure extension of the corporate’s rising fiber belongings within the Larger New York Metropolis Metropolitan space. He famous, “The addition of United Fiber & Knowledge considerably boosts our capability to fulfill buyer calls for within the high-growth Ashburn information heart ecosystem and dramatically will increase our protection in Manhattan. We are going to now serve almost 1,500 enterprise and information heart locations within the space, a fivefold improve over the previous three years.”
Upon completion of the acquisition, UFD clients will acquire entry to Lightpath’s complete community and full suite of companies, which embody Wavelengths, Ethernet, Web, Personal Networks, Darkish Fiber, LP FlexNet, Voice, Safety Options, and different Managed Providers. These companies are essential for companies searching for sturdy connectivity options to main cloud suppliers and over 140 information facilities and seven cable touchdown stations.