Video Q&A: Hunter Newby of Allied Fiber

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Allied Fiber Founder and CEO Hunter Newby discusses his company's approach to the dark fiber market during a recent industry event in Edison, N.J. (Photo: Rich Miller)

What role does fiber play in the changing geography of the American data center market? After years of building connectivity hubs in the heart of the nation's most connected city, Hunter Newby is now focused on extending broadband infrastructure - and the services it delivers - to smaller markets across America. Newby is the founder and CEO of Allied Fiber, which is building a dark fiber network along railway lines owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. Most fiber routes serve as a limited-access highway between two points, but Allied Fiber uses a unique, multi-duct design to provide periodic on-ramps and off-ramps. This enables all points between the major cities, including wireless towers and rural networks, to gain access to the dark fiber. We spoke with Newby at the recent open house at the IO New Jersey data center in Edison, N.J., where he discussed the geography of the data center industry and Allied Fiber's progress building its new network. This interview runs about 7 minutes.

For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.