3Red8, a newly-formed developer and operator of fiber-optic networks in the U.S., announced its plan to build an open access, high-capacity, national dark fiber network across the United States. The name 3Red8 is a reference to the company’s design of its fiber network as a “triple-redundant, figure-eight network architecture”.
Initially, by the end of 2023, 3Red8 intends to construct the first phase of its dark fiber network, as a 750-mile route through Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Subsequently, by the end of 2027, 3Red8 anticipates completing the deployment of 7.0k+ route miles to build its national dark fiber network.
Presently, 3Red8 has not disclosed its equity or debt funding sources for what would ultimately be a several hundred-million-dollar fiber build plan.
3Red8 – Dark Fiber Network in the United States
3Red8 was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is building its fiber transport network along new, diverse paths, stretching across the U.S.
Deployment Plan
3Red8’s national fiber route will span 18 states, reaching both the east and west coast of the United States. Further, the network will extend north to United States’ border with Canada and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Below are further details on the two distinct phases of 3Red8’s fiber build-out:
Phase 1 – East Coast
Phase 1 of 3Red8’s dark fiber network will traverse Interstate 95 (I-95) and U.S. Highway 1 in a North-South direction and Interstate 40 (I-40) in an East-West direction. The following are key locations which each route will connect:
- North-South Route: Ashburn, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Benson, North Carolina; and a cable landing station in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In terms of timing, 3Red8 will start digging this initial fiber route in early April 2022
- East-West Route: Asheville, North Carolina; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Durham, North Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Benson, North Carolina
Overall, 3Red8 expects its Phase 1, 750-mile dark fiber route will be ready for service at the end of 2023.
Phase 2 – National
Phase 2 of 3Red8’s plan consists of building a total of 7.0k+ route miles to create its national dark fiber network. This fiber network will connect with 4 cable landing stations and proposes to have edge data centers placed every 50 miles, for the purposes of facilitating Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G applications. The following are key locations that the Phase 2 fiber network will connect:
- North-South Route: Pembina, North Dakota (along Canada’s border) to Texas City, Texas (at the Gulf of Mexico and situated ~40 miles outside of Houston, Texas)
- East-West Route: Wilmington, North Carolina to Los Angeles, California
Overall, 3Red8 expects its Phase 2, 7.0k-mile dark fiber route will be ready for service at the end of 2027.
Open Access Transport Network
3Red8 is building an open access fiber transport network. Therefore, 3Red8’s network will be available to all internet service providers (ISPs) and carriers to offer broadband services to end users.
To this end, 3Red8 will enable last- and middle-mile networks to be built off of its core fiber network. In turn, the company expects that up to 1,000 new ISPs can be created nationally on the back of its core fiber network investments.
Additionally, 3Red8’s plan includes the development of six new internet exchange points (IXPs), which will allow for more economical / lower-priced connectivity.
Use Cases
3Red8’s fiber network will provide diverse, high-capacity, low-latency, high-reliability, and secure connectivity. As such, the fiber network will support bandwidth-intensive applications, including 5G, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, smart agriculture, Internet of Things (IoT), and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Customers
In addition to serving internet service providers (ISPs) and carriers, 3Red8 also seeks to provide data transport solutions for enterprises, government agencies, and communities.
Notably, 3Red8’s scope in serving communities extends to connecting rural, tribal, and underserved cities & towns along its fiber routes. For example, the company wants to provide symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) broadband for rural and tribal communities.
Management
3Red8’s leadership team includes the following people:
- Mark Adams: Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of 3Red8. Previously, Adams was CEO of Incoming Media, which was ultimately acquired by OVO Mobile. Prior to this role, he was the Vice President & General Manager – North America for Accedo
Below is a recent interview with Mark Adams, as Chief Development Officer of 3Red8, by JSA TV:
- Pablo Oyanguren: Co-Founder of 3Red8. Previously, Oyanguren was Head of Finance at EV Power in Houston, Texas. Prior to this role, he was the Commercial Finance Head – North Latin America Territory for Syngenta
- Peter Ambs: President and Chief Operating Officer of 3Red8. Previously, Ambs held IT-related positions at Ardent Health Services, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico
Partners
3Red8 is partnering with Quanta Telecom, Schneider Electric, Anixter (WESCO), Dentons, EDJX, and Deloitte to plan, design, and build its fiber optic network.
