Friday Bytes: IFN, The Loop, Connected2Fiber, Vantage, Calix

It’s been a busy week, so here are a few items worth noting that might have slipped past you:

Out in the Midwest this week, a regional fiber operator got a new name but won’t be needing a new acronym. Indiana Fiber Network (IFN) is now Intelligent Fiber Network (IFN), with a new website and branding to match. The move comes as IFN is shifting its focus to include regional opportunities possibly beyond the borders of the state of Indiana. They have plans to invest up to $100M over the next five years into expansion within Indiana itself.

Over in the UK, the Manchester metro area is looking to get a few of its fiber ducks lined up at last. The Tameside Council is working with the independent provider The Loop to hook up its infrastructure to 12km of duct along the Metrolink tram lines to Ashton and another 50km of duct. The end result will hopefully be 10G connectivity for businesses and anchor institutions in what has been an underserved market.

Connected2Fiber has won a convert to its SaaS platform for network and fiber connectivity information. Access Point will be leveraging the company’s Network Finder tool to better connect its clientele to the various fiber networks available to them. Connected2Fiber raised new funding to start this year, and has been using that war chest to expand aggressively.

Vantage Data Centers has finished off its latest upgrade out in California. The expansion makes another 15MW of IT load available, giving them 75MW across five facilities at the company’s Santa Clara campus. Vantage is also busy with an expansion into Ashburn, Virginia.

And CityFibre has brought in Calix to help it better roll out more UK connectivity. CityFibre will be deploying Calix’s AXOS platform to add SDN capabilities, helping better organize the company’s access footprint and preparing for things like 100G and NG-PON2 down the line. CityFibre is building out metro fiber and FTTH access in cities across the UK.

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Categories: Metro fiber · SDN · Software