Ritter Communications’ Little Rock to Tulsa fiber build reflects hyperscalers' fiber demand

The service provider’s new route will serve not only data centers but also enable services for consumers and businesses.

Sean Buckley

Nov. 18, 2025

3 min read

Key Highlights

The fiber network spans over 5,600 miles, connecting seven states and providing diverse connectivity options including Ethernet, wavelength transport, and colocation services.
The project supports hyperscaler AI initiatives, addressing the surge in data center capacity and fiber demand predicted to triple by 2029.
Ritter's network enhances regional and national connectivity, linking to major hubs and carrier hotels in key markets like Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago.
The build positions Ritter as a key wholesale provider, attracting other carriers and businesses seeking reliable, diverse fiber solutions in the South.
Industry reports underscore the urgent need for expanded fiber infrastructure to meet AI-driven data growth, with Ritter's project exemplifying this strategic shift.

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Heath Simpson, CEO of Ritter Communications.

Ritter Communications, a regional provider serving the South, has hatched a new fiber network from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, serving a large hyperscaler data center provider.

As part of a 20-year contract award with a hyperscaler partner, the network will also provide next-generation services to new and existing markets along the route, extending Ritter’s network to its seventh state.

“This network build connects two growing markets and is designed to address the demand we are seeing for residential and commercial services along with customized infrastructure solutions that support our hyperscaler partner’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives,” said Heath Simpson, CEO of Ritter Communications.

Growing wholesale perspective

While Ritter did not reveal who its hyperscaler customer is, the new network could advance the service provider’s profile as another serious player in the wholesale fiber and lit services market to other providers that are planning to expand into new Southern markets.

The service provider has built a fiber network that provides customized wholesale communications solutions network that including more than 5,600 miles of fiber.

With a product portfolio that includes Ethernet services, wavelength transport, Fiber to the Tower (FTT) and colocation, the new fiber build could potentially attract other carriers and businesses along this new route that are looking for alternative network sources.

Network diversity could also be an attractive point. Ritter Communications provides network connectivity on a Mplify-Certified fiber backbone, allowing multiple options to directly connect with more than 10 regional hubs and 18 national hubs, including carrier hotels in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Little Rock and others.

It also provides Fiber to the Tower for cellular carriers and long-haul transport fiber to other carriers and entities. Because its fiber connectivity spans across 7 states in the network and 11 states out of network, Rittter has connectivity to Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

The majority of AI experts have forecast a 3X increase in hyperscale data center capacity (figure 1). The number of new hyperscaler centers to be built annually is forecast to reach 225 by 2032 (figure 2). — The majority of AI experts have forecast a 3X increase in hyperscale data center capacity (figure 1).

The number of new hyperscaler centers to be built annually is forecast to reach 225 by 2032 (figure 2).

AI drives fiber demands

Set to be completed by the end of December 2025, Ritter’s new fiber project reflects the growing role that regional fiber providers are playing in the burgeoning hyperscaler market driven by the ongoing emergence of AI.

Consider the findings of a recent joint Fiber Broadband Association and RVA LLC report called “The Underappreciated Need to Enable AI and Data Center Growth: Increased and More Strategic Fiber Interconnections.”

Deborah Kish, VP of Research and Workforce Development at the Fiber Broadband Association.

The paper highlights what has become an urgent need to expand and upgrade fiber infrastructure to support the exploding capacity demands from artificial intelligence (AI) applications on hyperscale data centers.

As AI rapidly continues to rise, the study said that the U.S. is expected to see at least a 3x increase in hyperscale data center capacity by 2029. However, that increase in capacity would require a 2x increase in fiber route miles and a 2.3x increase in total fiber miles.

FBA and RVA LLC’s report outlines how fiber interconnections have transitioned from a “behind the scenes” data center enabler to foundational infrastructure critical to AI performance, scalability, and security.

“The need for fast, secure, low-latency connections between hyperscale data centers has accelerated with the birth of AI,” said Deborah Kish, VP of Research and Workforce Development at the Fiber Broadband Association.

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