Windstream Wholesale, an optical technology leader in fast and flexible advanced solutions, today announced the completion of a new long-haul dark fiber route. This route connects Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, and is now open for business. The new Little Rock to Memphis route is an addition to the company’s initial segment dubbed the “T-Rock Express,” released to customers in August 2022, which connects Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Little Rock.

Windstream joined forces with ADB Companies to help complete the route. ADB is a valued partner renowned for its expertise in constructing networks, connections, and establishing partnerships throughout the telecommunications sector across the country.

In May 2022, Windstream Wholesale announced the beginning of the route expansion from Little Rock to Memphis. The original Tulsa-to-Little Rock segment extends 310 miles, and the new extension from Little Rock to Memphis provides an additional 145 fiber miles, resulting in a total of 455 fiber miles of 432-count, high-capacity fiber. Additionally, lit services of Spectrum and 400G waves are also available for immediate turn-up along the entire route, offering customers further flexibility and diversity. Completion of the route comes as a testament to Windstream Wholesale’s commitment to expanding its network to meet the demands of heavy bandwidth and content provider customers.

Windstream Wholesale has also deployed an integrated OTDR system across most of its nationwide network, which enables real-time route monitoring and immediate notification and location of any fiber cut, dramatically speeding the fiber and service restoral process. Providing unmatched visibility into a customer’s network health and performance, this advanced system will be available to customers by the middle of the first quarter of 2024, with installation being completed this month.

"We're excited to announce that T-Rock is now open for business," said Joe Scattareggia, president of Windstream Wholesale. "The construction and expansion of this route represents a concerted effort from our team and partners to not only meet but exceed the expectations of our customers. Thanks to our strong partnership, we've successfully delivered on our commitments and remain steadfast in our dedication to offering customers high capacity, diversity, and redundancy to propel their networks and businesses forward."

"ADB Companies is honored to collaborate with Windstream Wholesale on the expedited construction of its new dark fiber route connecting Little Rock to Memphis,” said Stacey Thompson, chief operating officer, ADB. “Our teams worked diligently to complete this project ahead of schedule, enabling Windstream Wholesale to swiftly meet their customers' needs for high-capacity, low-latency fiber connectivity. We're thrilled that our construction expertise and commitment to speed contributed to the success of this 'fast and flexible' network expansion. Windstream Wholesale is a valued partner, and we eagerly anticipate working together on future projects as they continue building out best-in-class fiber infrastructure across their footprint."

"The foundation of successful project execution lies in cultivating strong relationships with our partners,” said Karl-Arne Hegewald, senior vice president of network Infrastructure at Windstream. “Our collaboration with ADB empowers us to navigate the complexities of constructing long-haul routes, ensuring that we deliver a top-notch product to our customers precisely as promised."

The inaugural installment of high-count dark fiber along the new route extension has been successfully delivered to a significant hyperscale customer. With the entire route length now ready for customer delivery, this achievement stands as a noteworthy milestone in Windstream’s dedication to network expansion, fostering partnerships, and delivering cutting-edge technology solutions for its customers.

Windstream’s Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON) provides open and disaggregated networking infrastructure, enabling wholesale and enterprise technology customers to select unique custom routes, maintain operational insights with Windstream’s Network Intelligence functions, and place their networks closer to the edge to better serve end-users.

To view the Windstream Wholesale network, visit https://www.windstreamwholesale.com/network-expansion/.

About Windstream

Windstream Holdings is a privately held communications and software company. Windstream Wholesale is an innovative optical technology leader that creates deep partnerships with carriers, content and media providers, federal government agencies and Fortune 100 companies to deliver fast and flexible, customized wave and transport solutions. Additional information is available at windstream.com or windstreamwholesale.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, at @Windstream.

Category: Wholesale

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