US data center firm DC Blox has broken ground on its Myrtle Beach Cable Landing Station (CLS) in South Carolina.
When complete, the facility will be connected to five pre-positioned subsea bore pipes configured for up to five 24-fiber pair subsea cables.
A new dark fiber route linking Myrtle Beach with the connectivity hub of the Southeast in Atlanta is also under construction.
The 15MW CLS is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2023, while the fiber route will be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
“We are celebrating the groundbreaking of the new Myrtle Beach cable landing station and the highly anticipated East-West dark fiber route across the Southeast. We thank all of our partners and local government officials who are helping to drive the development of this digital infrastructure across the region,” said Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC Blox. “The rapid growth we are seeing in cities across the Southeast demand state-of-the-art digital infrastructure to enable local businesses and communities to stay connected, communicate, compete, and thrive in the global economy.”
DC Blox’s nearly 500-mile dark fiber route will be the first high-capacity East-to-West fiber path from South Carolina through Georgia. It will connect from the Myrtle Beach CLS, through Charleston, Augusta, and Atlanta landing in Lithia Springs, Georgia.
“As digital transformation drives the growth of cloud, distributed infrastructure, and next-generation applications, DC Blox is positioning itself as a leader at offering worldwide connectivity,” said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. “Today, we celebrate their presence in our state and look forward to the positive impact they will have in Horry County and across South Carolina.”
News of a Cable Landing Station in Horry County’s Myrtle Beach surfaced in April of this year as local officials looked to sell 20 acres of land at the International Technology and Aerospace Park (ITAP) to an unnamed company. However, the official's documents failed to redact DC Blox’s name in the legal definitions for the land sale. DC Blox confirmed its plans at the site the following May.
Myrtle Beach currently doesn't have any cable landing stations, but two cables are due to land there in the near future. Announced last year, Google’s Firmina cable will run from South Carolina in the US to Las Toninas, Argentina, with additional landings in Praia Grande, Brazil, and Punta del Este, Uruguay. The 12-fiber pair cable is named after Brazilian novelist Maria Firmina dos Reis. It is due to launch in 2023.
Confluence 1, from Confluence Networks, will span the US eastern seaboard and run from Sunny Isles, Florida, to Wall Township, New Jersey. It is also due to go live in 2023; both cables are being supplied by Subcom.
The city agreement with DC Blox suggests the CLS will likely serve Google – referring to its intended use as a CLS for an undisclosed 'cloud technology company'.
The Myrtle Beach International Technology & Aerospace Park (ITAP) is a 460-acre hub aiming to support the aerospace and technology industries.
The Myrtle Beach CLS will be DC Blox’s second location in South Carolina. The company’s Greenville facility opened in January 2022; the company is currently expanding with a second data hall of over 9,000 sq ft.
