Arcadian Infracom, California Department of Technology partner for middle-mile fiber network deployment
Digital infrastructure development company Arcadian Infracom says it has reached a public/private partnership with the California Department of Technology to build long-haul and middle-mile fiber infrastructure in California. Work on a route that eventually will connect Los Angeles and Phoenix as part of the collaboration is scheduled to begin soon.
The project is the result of a bill the State of California passed in June 2021 that allocated $6 billion to fund its Broadband for All initiative, including $3.25 billion for a middle-mile fiber network within California spanning 10,000 planned miles. The California Department of Technology leads the resulting Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative that also includes partners California Department of Transportation and the California Public Utilities Commission. GoldenStateNet is the state’s third-party administrator.
The 10,000-mile network, with California as an anchor customer, is expected to be ready for service by mid-2027. The California portion of the route is expected to be completed by December 2026.
“Arcadian is pleased to have been selected by the California Department of Technology as its network partner for the construction of 300+ miles of greenfield fiber network in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties,” commented Dan Davis, CEO of Arcadian. “We expect this to be the first of a series of similar fiber infrastructure projects throughout California.”
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in St. Louis, MO, Arcadian builds diverse, lower-latency long-haul fiber routes to connect major data center locations for its cloud and content customers while providing low-cost backhaul to rural and tribal communities for its telecom, cable company, ISP, and enterprise customers. Arcadian has six long-haul fiber routes under development in the Western U.S. that, when completed, will comprise 3500 route miles of fiber infrastructure.
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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.
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