FiberLight will officially inaugurate 100G long-haul connectivity between its metro networks on Nov. 15, giving its wholesale and business customers an expanded set of transport options.
Specifically, FiberLight will give customers that want to use these networks what it says is complete point-to-point connectivity between cities in different states across its network of metro markets.
For FiberLight, the lighting of these markets is about providing network continuity. These long-haul circuits connect the service provider’s metro networks in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast with its growing reach in Texas.
Business and wholesale customers will be able to get access to direct connect hubs in six major metro markets -- Ashburn, Virginia; Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and Washington, D.C. -- while providing additional connectivity into several other networks in Texas, including Houston and Austin.
The diverse 100G backbone network ring also provides interconnection between various markets and subsea landing points, and enhances connectivity to thousands of on-net and near-net buildings.
This network offering leveraging the ongoing build outs FiberLight has undertaken in Texas.
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In July, FiberLight established additional low-latency connectivity between the western portions of the company's Texas network to tie its 10,000 mile network together. That network build enabled FiberLight to provide direct high-bandwidth transport capabilities into regional and national data centers in Dallas and Houston. It will also be able to address metros across FiberLight's southeastern network for businesses and regional service providers and carriers in West Texas.
By completing these long-haul extensions, FiberLight can also make its fiber network more attractive to key industry verticals like health care and education, which are increasingly leveraging a mix of lit and dark fiber fiber-based services.
In particular, FiberLight is keen on getting a large piece of the education market by selling dark fiber solutions to school districts via the FCC’s E-Rate program. In its E-Rate order that was issued in 2015, the FCC amended the eligible services list to support the equal treatment of lit and dark fiber services changed the rules that allow schools to purchase dark fiber solutions.
Besides school districts, the new 100G network connectivity could be relevant to content providers and social media companies that need contiguous network connectivity across multiple major metro markets.