Lightower Dramatically Expands All-Fiber Network in Mid-Atlantic

Lightower Fiber Networks, the premier provider of custom, high-capacity network services that ensure optimal application and business performance, announced today the completion of a major 1,100-mile expansion of its all-fiber, high-performance network throughout Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro region. This major addition is part of the company’s ongoing strategy of aggressive network expansion throughout the region, bringing the Lightower Network to the customers.

In August 2013, Lightower first announced construction of more than 1,100 route miles of fiber network blanketing most of Virginia and into North Carolina. Lightower separately added over 400 route miles of network in the Washington, D.C. Metro region, including parts of northern Virginia and the Maryland suburbs. The D.C. Metro portion was completed in April 2014. Combining this new network with Lightower’s existing network in the area, the company has created a commanding all-fiber network throughout the region to serve the growing demand for bandwidth from enterprises, educational institutions, carriers, government organizations, and military customers.

“At Lightower, we believe in bringing the network to the customers, expanding geographically while still bringing service into individual commercial facilities,” explained Rob Shanahan, CEO of Lightower. “Today, network infrastructure is a critical component of an organization’s overall ability to perform and execute. This network expansion will allow Lightower to bring our high performance solutions to thousands upon thousands of new customers throughout Virginia, greater Washington D.C., and now also North Carolina.”

These network expansions also increase customer connectivity and routing options to Washington D.C., Baltimore, points north of Baltimore, as well as Washington D.C. metro data centers including those in the Ashburn area. Lightower uniquely offers all-fiber connectivity between the Ashburn area and the New York City area that is diverse from the I-95 corridor through its exclusive Transcom Route.

Lightower’s expanded network now includes the following Virginia and North Carolina areas:

• Alexandria, VA
• Arlington, VA
• Ashburn, VA
• Elizabeth City, NC
• Fredericksburg, VA
• Herndon, VA
• Martinsville, VA
• Newport News, VA
• Roanoke, VA
• Reston, VA
• Richmond, VA
• Washington, D.C.

Lightower’s complete suite of all-fiber solutions is available to customers in these expansion areas. The company’s high-performance services include:

• Ethernet service from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps
• Wavelength service from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps
• Dedicated Internet access to 10 Gbps
• Dark fiber
• Data center and cloud connectivity solutions
• Video transport solutions
• Managed private network solutions
• Wireless backhaul solutions
• Access to all 8,500+ Lightower service locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Metro Chicago, including commercial buildings, data centers, financial exchanges, telco hotels and other critical interconnection facilities.

Over the past five years, Lightower has rapidly expanded throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Greater Chicago area. In that time, Lightower has successfully closed and integrated seven acquisitions to complement its strong organic growth.