Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) says that a key wireless carrier has chosen it for fiber-to-the-tower (FTT) to new macro towers throughout 21 states in 30 markets. The agreement includes dark fiber infrastructure deployment, and is replacing legacy Ethernet in certain cases. The new infrastructure will support the carrier's goal of enhancing capacity and coverage across its network, supportinggrowing traffic and preparing for 5G, says Zayo. As well as construction of hundreds of route miles of fiber, the deployment will use Zayo's existing fiber-optic network. Zayo did not name the customer.
While this deal regards macro towers, Zayo says it is also deploying small cell infrastructure under other contracts for the customer, including full turnkey implementations in many instances, such as RF design, site acquisition, permitting, and equipment installation.
"This undertaking is the result of a trusted relationship with the customer," said Dan Caruso, Zayo chairman and CEO. "As they continue to densify to meet the growing demand for bandwidth, dark fiber provides the optimal long-term solution."
This agreement follows Zayo's announcement that it increased its footprint in the Texas Triangle after securing several major customer contracts, including the April 2016 FTT builds in San Antonio and Austin for what the company described as "an anchor wireless service provider" (see "Zayo to add fiber-to-the-tower fiber-optic links in San Antonio and Austin").dark
Zayo also announced that it was experiencing increased demand for both connectivity and colocation in the Atlanta area, including an FTT build initiated in late 2015 that enabled the company to offer FTT connections to more than 500 towers in the area in September 2017 (see "Zayo expands Atlanta data center footprint"). The company signed its largest mobile infrastructure contract to date that month, and says it will connect thousands of macro towers for the recently announced wireless carrier, inclusive of both contracts.
For related articles, visit the Network Design Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.
