GIX activates its Hudson River dark fiber route
Global InterXchange (GIX) has made its dark fiber route live, marking the first privately owned, carrier-neutral installation across the Hudson River in two decades.
The new dark fiber route's main goal is to bolster redundancy and diversity between Lower Manhattan and Northern New Jersey.
This dark fiber route offers two unique paths into 60 Hudson Street, significantly boosting network diversity and resilience for financial, telecom, hyperscalers and colocation facilities.
GIX claims the network reduces the total cost of ownership and enables hyperscalers, wholesalers, and resellers to provide additional services on a unique, diverse route through the PATH tunnel.
"The activation of our historic dark fiber route not only sets a new standard for connectivity across the Hudson River," said Joe Falco, President of GIX, "but also delivers reliable, high-speed connectivity that empowers local businesses, communities and global companies through enhanced infrastructure, fostering growth and innovation."
Public-private partnership
As a public-private partnership with New York and New Jersey, the fiber installation spans the Hudson River and links key integration hubs 60 Hudson Street in New York and 165 Halsey Street in New Jersey.
GIX plans to expand further into additional tunnels with the Port Authority. This will enable it to serve a larger group of resellers, wholesalers, global carriers, hyperscalers, AI companies, and financial institutions.
GIX will address connectivity challenges in hard-to-reach areas, ensuring rapid deployment, higher performance, availability and market readiness.
Ruggedized fiber infrastructure
GIX’s dark fiber network’s key focus is being built to withstand harsh conditions.
Leveraging Prysmian fiber cable featuring Corning® SMF-28® Ultra glass guarantees minimal splice points, enhanced operational efficiency, and reduced latency with fortified physical security.
The end-to-end buried fiber cable was designed to withstand extreme weather and meet federal security standards post-9/11.
This network features 1.4 miles of fiber cables through PATH tunnels linking Lower Manhattan and Jersey City and 8,000 feet of buried greenfield fiber across Jersey City, Kearny and Newark.
Security was also a key consideration. GIX’s fiber network features manhole systems with dual-locking lids for superior physical security and 16-ton flood gates on both sides of the Hudson River secure PATH Tunnel infrastructure.
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About the Author
Sean BuckleySean Buckley
Sean is the Editor-in-Chief of Lightwave. He establishes and executes Lightwave's editorial strategy across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products. Before coming to Lightwave in July 2023, he served as editor of Broadband Communities. Earlier, he served as senior editor of FierceTelecom and the editor of the former Telecommunications Magazine. He got his start in the optical industry in 1998 when he became the editor of enterprise and optical networks at Information Gatekeepers. He has a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and lives in Dracut, Mass, with his wife, two sons, and his cat, Dove.
