Private report originally published on December 13, 2023 by CRU Wire & Cable News.
Atlanta, Georgia headquartered datacentre and network services provider, DC BLOX has taken advantage of fibre’s opportunities. The main services DC BLOX provide are the construction of datacentres, as well as long-haul cable and subsea optical cable landing stations.
The company, which employs about 60 people and has $100m per annum in sales, builds all types of datacentres including colocation, enterprise/ISP and hyperscale, particularly in underserved markets in the Southeast, initially focussing on towns like Birmingham, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, that did not have much infrastructure.
CRU spoke to Debra Freitas, Chief Commercial Officer at DC BLOX, who initially joined DC BLOX as part of the company’s acquisition of the Southeastern fibre assets from Light Source Communications, which she co-founded and served as CEO. At DC BLOX, she leads the operation and management of the company’s high-speed dark fibre networks which serve hyperscalers, enterprise, and medium to large businesses.
DC BLOX’s major project is its new Myrtle Beach, SC, Cable Landing Station (CLS), which is set to offer a landing for hyperscale cables, including Meta’s Anjana cable. The CLS will provide power to the subsea cables to regenerate the optical signal, host local network equipment associated with the cables, provide colocation space for cable partners and local businesses, and serve as a regional exchange point for communications providers.
The company is also building a new high-capacity terrestrial dark fibre optic route from Myrtle Beach to Atlanta that will greatly improve network capacity between Myrtle Beach and the largest communications market in the Southeast. Freitas assisted DC BLOX in securing a partnership with OFS to be the exclusive fibre optic provider for the CLS’ cable network. The project is DC BLOX’s first long-haul cable route of about 460 miles, using OFS micro-duct optical cable, G652.D, with a 432 fibre count. The project is about 89% complete, according to Freitas.
