eX² Technology says that it has signed a three-year contract to assist Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) to commercialize communications infrastructure along APS’s right of way. eX² Technology will exclusively market and offer dark fiber, conduit, regeneration and colocation space, laterals and access points, and other wireline and wireless assets based on APS’s secure 2,700-mile fiber-optic network backbone.
The energy provider’s fiber backbone connects Flagstaff, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Yuma, AZ, while passing several rural unserved and underserved communities. APS deployed the network to support its utility operations, such as monitoring, detecting, and responding to power outages and power grid operations. However, it also realized that it could leverage it fiber infrastructure to provide open access fiber network services and expand broadband throughout the state.
“By making these communication infrastructure assets available to carriers and service providers, it opens up a wealth of broadband expansion opportunities throughout the vast majority of Arizona – to homes, businesses, schools, libraries, healthcare and public safety facilities and more,” said Dominic Pagliuca, senior manager – strategic fiber, at APS.
“We are excited about this partnership and the potential benefits for the broadband industry,” added Jay Jorgensen, COO of eX² Technology. “These newly available dark fiber assets give carriers and service providers alternate routes to key Arizona markets, provide redundancy, and offer connections to data centers and other colocation facilities.”
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