US fiber firm Lightpath is moving into deploying Edge data centers, adding compute to locations along its fiber routes.
The company this week announced it has closed on the acquisition of the majority of assets from United Fiber and Data (UFD), and is launching a modular Edge data center unit, known as LightCube Edge Data Centers.
Lightpath announced it was acquiring United Fiber and Data in June 2024, taking over a 323-route mile, high-fiber count network between New York City and Ashburn, Virginia, as well as a 79-route mile metro network in New York City and New Jersey.
“This route represents a strategic addition to the Lightpath network extending our reach from the Northeast into the ever-expanding data center ecosystem in Ashburn,” stated Chris Morley, CEO, Lightpath. “We will continue to aggressively pursue organic and inorganic opportunities to meet both the metro and the long-haul requirements on behalf of our hyperscaler, carrier, and enterprise customers.”
The company’s new data centers will be first deployed along its NYC-Ashburn network route.
Lightpath said its data centers will be modular, secure, and customizable facilities that support the capacity for 864-count fiber cables and the corresponding space and power for Edge compute workloads.
The company will be upgrading four existing in-line amplifier (ILA) along its NYC-Ashburn route with new LightCubes in response to customer demand.
Further details on locations, specifications, and timelines for delivery were not shared. DCD has reached out for more information.
ILAs serve to amplify optical signals along fiber routes. According to Meta, they are often placed in remote locations between data centers.
“This route represents a unique opportunity for customers to connect these critical markets with diversity, latency management, and soon the addition of Edge compute facilities,” said Tim Haverkate, EVP of major infrastructure solutions at Lightpath.
“Lightpath has seen surging demand on this route, with nearly 25 percent of the cable under contract, a 3.5x increase since the transaction was initially announced. Further, we are engaged in active conversations with 20 customers resulting in an opportunity pipeline that would oversubscribe the route as it exists today.”
Previously known as Optimum Lightpath, Lightpath has traditionally been telecommunications provider focused on the New York area, but has expanded its footprint along the US east coast over the years.
Altice USA owns a 50.01 percent interest in Lightpath, while Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners owns the remainder – buying its stake from Altice in 2020.
Altice took over Lightpath as part of its 2015 acquisition of Cablevision. Cablevision formed Lightpath around 1991 as a competitive local exchange carrier.
Last month Lightpath launched two new units; major infrastructure solutions for large-scale connectivity, and core infrastructure and network solutions for connecting enterprise customers to their digital destinations.
The major infra unit, led by EVP Tim Haverkate, will focus on connecting customers with large bandwidth needs by building and marketing high-capacity infrastructure between existing and new data centers and cable landing stations.
