DC BLOX buys network assets to complement SC cable landing station

May 24, 2022
DC BLOX says it has acquired fiber network assets from Light Source Communications and Ascendant Capital Fiber. The assets include a dark fiber network now under development that will connect South Carolina to Georgia.

Data center services provider DC BLOX says it has acquired fiber network assets from Light Source Communications and Ascendant Capital Fiber. The assets include a dark fiber network now under development that will connect South Carolina – and the cable landing station in Myrtle Beach DC BLOX has planned – to Georgia. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Concurrently, Post Road Group, Bain Capital, and Ascendant Capital Partners, Light Source’s principal investor, have agreed to provide funding to DC BLOX “to accelerate deployment of digital infrastructure across the Southeast,” in the words of a DC BLOX press release.

The new, nearly 500-mile dark fiber route will run from the Myrtle Beach cable landing station through Charleston, SC, to Augusta, GA, and downtown Atlanta’s major connectivity centers. It will terminate in Lithia Springs, GA. The new route could serve as the foundation for a diverse geographic route from Ashburn, VA, to the rest of the U.S. Southeast, DC BLOX believes. The company expects both the cable landing station and the new dark fiber network to be completed in 2023.

Light Source Co-Founder and CEO Debra Freitas and Co-Founder, President, and COO Pete Empie will join DC BLOX. The two will assume responsibility for current and future fiber network infrastructure initiatives. Meanwhile, Mark Fortier, most recently vice president, technology infrastructure sales at FiberLight, has joined DC BLOX to help develop carrier and hyperscaler sales.

“The acquisition of these fiber assets and the capabilities of our new team members will provide DC BLOX a more comprehensive ability to meet the data center and communications infrastructure requirements of a broader set of customers across the Southeast region,” said Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “We look forward to the contributions and leadership of Debra, Pete, and Mark to significantly expand our digital infrastructure services capabilities. Moreover, we are grateful for the support we have received from our existing investors, Post Road Group and Bain Capital, and welcome Ascendant Capital Partners, who share our vision and are instrumental to the successful execution of our ambitious growth plans.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.

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