Northern Virginia and the surrounding Washington D.C./Maryland/Virginia (D.M.V.) region is a major hub for data center activity which requires exceptional levels of Internet connectivity. However, such a high volume of business activity causes a strenuous demand on local Internet infrastructure. This is especially true of underserved communities in the region. The digital divide, a broad gap in accessibility to the Internet connectivity and related services, proliferates throughout the D.M.V. region and the United States as a whole. Harbor Link Holdings LLC, a Maryland-based telecommunications infrastructure company, aims to help close the digital divide with its latest telecommunications build in Northern Virginia.
On November 10, 2022, Harbor Link announced it has broken ground in Alexandria, Virginia, on an underground fiber optic infrastructure build which will connect Alexandria, Arlington, and Ashburn, Virginia. Harbor Link’s build will provide both local and long-haul dark fiber to add needed connectivity options in the Northern Virginia market and reach underserved communities. With easy access points and redundant connectivity of under one millisecond, the project aims to meet the high demands of the region’s business environment and anticipate further growth throughout the next several years. To reach local data centers, Harbor Link is partnering with Harbor Peak Network Solutions LLC on this project, which is building a 6-mile ring In the Ashburn region to provide easy access to the fiber route.
Back in January of 2022, Harbor Link broke ground on another project, a 60-mile conduit build running along Maryland’s I-95 and MD RT-97 to enhance connectivity in the D.M.V. area, which the Alexandra build amplifies. Similar to the I-95 and MD RT-97 route, this new duct features conduit for fiber optic cables to enable multi-path, high-speed connectivity across the greater Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia markets. The underground infrastructure system will provide local and long-haul dark fiber capacity with easy access points to enable connectivity in order to connect data centers and bridge the digital divide for underserved communities.
Harbor Link is on a mission to provide broad, reliable wireless capabilities to underserved communities and businesses across the region; to lift these communities up and help bridge the digital divide. The Maryland and Alexandria groundbreakings represent important steps towards Harbor Link’s vision to create a single, redundant, and diverse network system to bolster connection in underserved communities across Baltimore and Northern Virginia and combat the digital divide. Looking forward, Harbor Link has plans for further network expansions in Virginia, Delaware, and elsewhere around the Mid-Atlantic United States. Harbor Link’s construction in Alexandria aims for completion during Q4 of 2023. Harbor Link is offering flexible lease-agreements on monthly or long-term indefeasible rights of use agreements (IRU’s).