For many years to come, Bandwidth IG aims to be transforming the San Francisco Bay Area’s fiber infrastructure. With its most recent network expansion, the dark fiber provider would reach one of the world’s biggest data center markets with over 310 route miles and over 2 million fiber miles.
With a high-capacity fiber ring connecting Great Oaks and Santa Clara and extending along the East Bay and Peninsula, Bandwidth IG’s new fiber network will include the first maritime cable installed beneath the San Francisco Bay in more than 20 years. It would form the newest and largest fiber ring in the Bay Area, tying into downtown San Francisco.
According to Patton Lochridge, Chief Commercial Officer of Bandwidth IG, “Building the San Francisco Bay Area with new purpose-built, mission-critical infrastructure becomes a market necessity with unprecedented demand for data center space and power. Dark fiber is the backbone of data transmission, but many of the Bay Area’s established networks are undersized or unable to handle the demands of the biggest data users in the world. We’re paving the way for connection in crucial market segments so that hyperscalers and data centers can fully use AI and other game-changing technologies by keeping our emphasis on new fiber infrastructure.”
Connectivity between San Francisco and East Bay
Cushman & Wakefield predicts that demand for data centers will continue to be driven by cloud and artificial intelligence, with Silicon Valley being the leading North American market. With 824 MW of the market now in operation and another 315 MW under development, it would be clear that additional fiber is required to support Silicon Valley’s data center ecosystem.
In addition to offering the market more capacity, Bandwidth IG’s networks would be positioned to provide the quickest path possible, which lowers network latency. Bandwidth IG built one of the few subsea cables under San Francisco Bay with the greatest fiber count available in the market to encircle the northern portion of the ring and provide a direct channel for connection between San Francisco and the East Bay region. In addition, it would be the first fiber cable for communications services to be constructed under the Bay in many years.
After the expansion is complete, Bandwidth IG’s San Francisco Bay Area network will reach ten more facilities in addition to over 65 data centers. By Q2 2024, the project is anticipated to be finished.
