Delaware Electric Cooperative Chooses Lightower for Transformational Statewide Network

BOXBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwired - Jun 7, 2016) -  Lightower Fiber Networks, the premier provider of custom, high-capacity network services that ensure optimal application and business performance, announced today that it has been selected by the Delaware Electric Cooperative (DEC), a non-profit, member-owned electric company, to build a 250-mile, all-fiber, custom network to 28 sites across the state. The new network will reliably connect and future-proof communications amongst DEC's various sites, including offices, control centers, and substations. At the same time, the construction of the new network will bring all-fiber solutions from Lightower to hundreds of DEC member-businesses throughout Delaware.

Serving over 90,000 members in Delaware, DEC is committed to 'keeping the lights on' by providing safe, reliable, and competitively priced energy services for its member-owners and communities. The new, custom network from Lightower offers a reliable and secure way for DEC engineers to communicate directly with its substations and remote advanced electrical equipment, which require ample bandwidth to function efficiently. Now, DEC can detect and prevent outages, and restore power faster, on gear such as automatic reclosers, motor operated air brake switches, load control devices, and its meter reader systems.

"Delaware Electric Cooperative invests in advanced best equipment and solutions in order to deliver highly reliable service to our members," commented Bill Andrew, President and CEO, Delaware Electric Cooperative. "Lightower's all-fiber solution provides DEC with incredibly reliable, secure, and scalable bandwidth everywhere we need it throughout the state. With a state-of-the-art network like this, we can provide industry-leading reliability and emergency response for our electricity customers. At the same time, this project makes DEC the catalyst for making all-fiber networking services available to those same member businesses."

The 250-mile, all-fiber network includes the construction of 180 miles of new network by Lightower for the project. The new network build will also bring the Lightower Network within reach of hundreds of new businesses throughout the state that previously did not have access to all-fiber bandwidth. Lightower customers gain access to the entire suite of Lightower networking solutions and over 15,000 service locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest.

"Lightower worked very closely with Delaware Electric Cooperative to design a custom solution that not only exceeds their requirements for today, but that also essentially future-proofs them as their network needs grow down the road," explained Rob Shanahan, CEO of Lightower. "The scale, performance, and reliability of this DEC network will help them to serve their customers better by allowing them to focus on delivering electricity, while Lightower manages the network. We also look forward to working with DEC members to bring these advanced networking solutions to businesses across Delaware."

With over 30,000 miles of fiber network across 17 states from Maine to North Carolina and out to Chicago, Lightower has the most dense all-fiber network and fiber-connected building count of any broadband service provider in the region. Lightower offers all-fiber networking solutions from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps, in addition to dark fiber.

To learn more about Lightower Solutions for Utilities and Energy Companies, visit www.lightower.com, or call 888-LT-FIBER. Follow Lightower on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Lightower Fiber Networks
Lightower Fiber Networks is the premier provider of all-fiber, high-performance networking solutions delivered over our own network, enabling award-winning customer support and service reliability. Lightower delivers customized solutions to thousands of customers in health care, financial services, media and content, cloud infrastructure, carriers, government, education, and other large enterprises. The Lightower Network extends over 30,000 route miles throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, providing dense connectivity to over 15,000 service locations including 250+ data centers and 5,000+ wireless towers. For more information, visit www.lightower.com or call 1.888.LT.FIBER.

About Delaware Electric Cooperative
Delaware Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility serving over 90,000 member-owners in Kent and Sussex Counties. For more information visit us at http://www.delaware.coop or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.