USA Fiber wraps Ashburn dark fiber conduit, targets content, data center providers

USA Fiber has put the final touches on its Ashburn Ring Conduit System, a 7.3-mile network targeting the needs of the Ashburn, Va., data center market.

USA Fiber Ashburn Loop

Click to see a full-size image. (Source: USA Fiber)

What's interesting about this buildout is the time it took to complete it: just 138 days to complete the multi-conduit system. USA Fiber said that only 75 of those days were active, with no construction work being done on 63 days due to weekends, holidays and weather.

The conduit system will be used for two purposes: to provide dark fiber and conduit services to select customers, and to serve as the anchor destination of USA Fiber's Ashburn Express cable system, which is under construction.

To complete the fiber build, USA Fiber relies on a team consisting of a wide range of expertise in outside plant engineering, project management, maintenance, and construction expertise.

Conducting complex builds is a key focus for USA Fiber.

In October, USA Fiber broke ground on the Ashburn Express, a dark fiber build connecting the area to Baltimore that bypasses the crowded Washington, D.C., market. Crossing the Potomac at an undisclosed right of way easement between Virginia and Maryland, USA Fiber said it will be able to reduce the latency of data traffic coming out of Ashburn that is going to key destinations in Maryland and northward.

Some of the destinations on the route include GigAPoP, civilian federal agency campuses in Maryland, and key sites for the defense department and intelligence community, as well as traffic going to key financial centers including New York City.

USA Fiber is among a number of emerging dark fiber providers that provide alternative routes and high count fiber options to traditional service providers, content providers and data center service providers.

For more:
- see the release

Special Report: AT&T, Verizon, and competitive providers divided on dark fiber

Related articles:
USA Fiber hires competitive industry veteran Schmitt as chief revenue officer
ByteGrid establishes dark fiber connection with USA Fiber
USA Fiber interconnects its dark fiber with Montgomery County, Md.'s FiberNet network
USA Fiber unveils dark fiber peering platform targeting Ashburn, Va., carrier customers