Unite Private Networks lays out 200-mile fiber network expansion

Unite Private Networks (UPN), an emerging competitive network provider focused on underserved communities, has begun work on a new 200 route mile fiber network expansion connecting the Kansas City and Omaha markets.  

This route will follow the I-29 corridor, extending north from Kansas City through St. Joseph, northwest Missouri, southwest Iowa and ultimately connecting to existing UPN fiber networks in Omaha, Lincoln and southeast Nebraska.  

The service provider said it expects to complete the expansion by the first quarter of 2015.

Serving a mix of service provider, government, data center and enterprise business customers, the new route will provide two main benefits: broadening the availability of lit services such as Ethernet and wavelength services and dark fiber, while offering what it claims to be lower latency and diversity from existing carrier networks in the region.

UPN's profile in serving underserved communities may have gained momentum in recent years, but the company is hardly new. Over the past 16 years, the company has built a sizeable network presence that reaches 250 communities across 20 states, with more than 4,000 metro fiber route miles and 2,000 on-net buildings. 

Providing a mix of dark and lit fiber services to underserved communities has become a growing concern and drive in recent years as more rural communities have been looking to expand broadband services for residential and anchor institutions like schools and libraries. A number of local school districts throughout its territories have been able to gain fiber-based connections that large incumbent telcos would have likely not been able to provide.

For more:
- see the release

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