Harbor Link begins fiber deployment between Alexandria and Ashburn, VA

Nov. 15, 2022

Harbor Link has begun construction in Alexandria, VA, on a fiber route that will connect the town with Ashburn, VA.

Maryland-based Harbor Link Holdings LLC says it has broken ground on a new fiber network that will run between Alexandria and Ashburn, VA. The company received a license agreement from the City of Alexandria to begin construction on what Harbor Link describes as “an eight-way fiber infrastructure.”

The new duct-based fiber link between Alexandria and the data center hub of Ashburn will complement a 60-mile fiber network that Harbor Link is building along I-95 and MD RT-97 between Baltimore and Northern Virginia. Like this first network, which began construction this past January, the Alexandria-to-Ashburn fiber infrastructure will offer multi-path, high-speed connectivity via underground cables. Harbor Link will offer local and long-haul dark fiber capacity on the route with what it asserts will be easy access points.

The fiber projects are part of Harbor Link’s Potomac River Crossing initiative to connect Washington, DC, and Baltimore to Northern Virginia with diverse and redundant routes that offer pathway resiliency and end-to-end latency under 1 msec between Baltimore and Northern Virginia. “We’re very excited to have construction underway in Alexandria. Our vision for a fully redundant and diverse open network system serving Baltimore to Virginia is now underway,” says Felix Dialoiso, founder and CEO of Harbor Link. “We anticipate an explosion of development in the Mid-Atlantic region over the next five years, and Harbor Link’s dark fiber network conduit system is at the forefront of enabling even more expansion in that market.”

Future fiber network construction phases will see expansions further into Virginia, Delaware, and other areas around the Mid-Atlantic region. Harbor Link also has partnered with Harbor Peak Network Solutions LLC, which is building a 6-mile ring in the Ashburn area, to enable further access to the area’s data centers. Harbor Link expects network construction in Alexandria to reach completion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

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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.

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