Lightower Announces 1,500-Mile Expansion of All-Fiber Network in Washington D.C. and Virginia

BOXBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwired - Aug 5, 2013) -

• Premier Metro Fiber Provider Aggressively Expanding in D.C. and Virginia
• Expansion Adds 1,100 Route Miles in Virginia and 400 Route Miles in D.C. Metro
• Coupled with Former Sidera Networks Assets, Lightower Now Major Provider in Region

Lightower Fiber Networks, the premier provider of custom, high-capacity network services that ensure optimal application and business performance, announced today a major 1,500-mile expansion of its all-fiber, high-performance network throughout Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro region, as part of Lightower's on-going expansion strategy. In May 2012, Lightower began constructing over 1,100 route miles of high fiber-count network blanketing most of Virginia and into North Carolina. Additionally, Lightower is announcing the addition of almost 400 route miles in the Washington, D.C. metro region, including parts of northern Virginia and southern Maryland. Combining this new network with the existing network in the area, Lightower enhances its position as a major service provider in the region.

The large-scale expansion of Lightower's network in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina addresses the surging demand in the region for high-performance networking solutions from area enterprises, educational institutions, as well as government and military agencies. The expansion also adds all-fiber connectivity to area data centers, including those in Ashburn, Culpepper, Richmond and Washington, D.C., which offer critical connectivity points for government applications, cloud and content distribution and area technology companies. Customers in the expansion areas gain access to all of Lightower's existing 20,000+ miles of network and 7,500+ service locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Chicago area. 

"This expansion dramatically increases the number of customers Lightower can serve in the Washington, D.C. metro and Virginia markets," stated Rob Shanahan, CEO of Lightower. "Lightower will continue to aggressively invest and expand in this region, all in response to the tremendous demand we are seeing here. Our high-performance networking solutions power some of the largest companies and most demanding applications in the world, and now we are bringing more of this networking power to Washington."

Of particular value to customers in the new expansion areas is Lightower's unique route between Washington, D.C. and New York that is geographically diverse from the I-95 corridor. Lightower is the only provider to offer such a diverse option to customers.

Lightower will rapidly deploy this expansion and start bringing customers online in the fall of 2013. As part of this expansion, Lightower is also investing in expanded sales and support staffs for the region. 

Cities and towns along the Lightower Network expansion include:

• Washington, D.C.
• Bethesda, MD
• Silver Spring, MD
• Arlington, VA
• Alexandria, VA
• Richmond, VA
• Reston, VA
• Herndon, VA
• Ashburn, VA
• Newport News, VA
• Fredericksburg, VA
• Elizabeth City, NC

Lightower's complete suite of all-fiber solutions is available to customers in these expansion areas. Lightower's high-performance services include:

• Ethernet service from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps
• Wavelength service from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps
• Dedicated Internet access to 10 Gbps
• Dark fiber
• Ultra-low latency solutions
• Data Center and Cloud connectivity solutions
• Video transport solutions
• Private network solutions
• Wireless backhaul solutions
• Access to all the 7,500+ Lightower service locations throughout the Northeast, including commercial buildings, data centers, financial exchanges, telco hotels and other critical interconnection facilities.

Lightower has expanded rapidly over the past five years throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Greater Chicago region. During that time, Lightower has successfully closed and integrated seven acquisitions to complement its strong organic growth. Earlier this year, Lightower closed a merger with Sidera Networks, which doubled the size of the company and the Lightower Network. Lightower has also successfully acquired and integrated Veroxity in Boston, Lexent in New York City, Open Access on Long Island, KeySpan Communications in New York, Hudson Valley Datanet in Newburgh NY and National Grid Wireless in New England.

Learn more about Lightower Fiber Networks:

• About Lightower
• Why Choose Lightower?
• Map of the Lightower Network

About Lightower Fiber Networks
Lightower Fiber Networks is the premier, all-fiber provider of custom, high-capacity network services that ensure optimal application and business performance. Serving enterprise, government, carrier and data center customers, our comprehensive suite of fiber-based solutions is delivered across a robust, dense and highly-reliable network. The company offers over 20,000 route miles of network, providing access to over 7,500 service locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Chicago Metro with connectivity to critical international landing sites. Lightower Fiber Networks is headquartered in Boxborough, MA. For more information, visit www.lightower.com or call 1.888.LT.FIBER.