Uniti Fiber to support better city, rural internet, phone transmission

Uniti Fiber, a St. Petersburg, Fla., company serving large data users and network providers in 19 states, is planning to make a multimillion-dollar investment in the Shreveport-Bossier region by installing more than 19,500 strand miles of “thick fiber” optic cable to bring faster, better connectivity and speed to government, schools, businesses and private homes.

“The new dark fiber infrastructure will significantly bolster the telecom capabilities of the region across all industries,” said Greg Ortyl, Uniti Fiber’s senior vice president of sales.

“Dark fiber” is optic fiber that is not immediately needed but is accessible for future use at a fraction of the cost of building as demand accelerates.

“Dark fiber … supports the high bandwidth needs of end users, and positions them to have the infrastructure in place to support the needs of future technology, all data-intensive, high-demand applications,” he said.

“What’s cool about what we’re doing here is it’s going to lay the foundation to support the fifth generation of wireless network. In addition, it provides an opportunity for other businesses and enterprises in the area to take advantage of the high-speed network connectivity options to enhance and expand their operations,” said Ortyl.

Although Uniti Fiber will not have a physical office, “we do have field staff assigned to the market to handle any issues with the network quickly and efficiently. We will also have local construction staff to handle the build in the coming year,” he said.

“Local workers would be primarily those working on the construction of the dark fiber network. This would include workers focused on activities such as field engineering, fiber optic installation services, permitting, etc. The exact number is hard to estimate as we will have a better idea once shovels hit the ground, which is expected to begin in the late spring,” said Ortyl.

“This investment brings to the Shreveport area the latest infrastructure technology and capabilities deployed in many large markets today,” said Ron Mudry, president of Uniti Fiber.

– Kathleen Ward

MORE INFORMATION:

For more information about Uniti Fiber’s planned expansion in the area, visit http://unitifiber.com/newsroom/.