US data center firm DC Blox is planning to build a new Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The company announced plans for the 15MW facility this week and is due to be completed in the second quarter of 2023. It will be built to Tier III standards and designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane.
When complete, the facility will be connected to five pre-positioned subsea bore pipes configured for up to five 24-fiber pair subsea cables. Local reports suggest the company is to invest more than $31 million in the project.
“The Southeast is exploding with opportunity and investments in digital infrastructure are key to its growth,” said Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC Blox. “We are proud to announce plans for our seventh connected data center facility in the Southeast with this new Cable Landing Station in Myrtle Beach, SC. Our continued investments in data centers and network infrastructure are a benefit to hyper-scalers, carriers, and enterprises across the region. This new project represents a turning point for DC Blox as we continue to scale and realize our vision to serve locally and connect globally.”
DCD reported on Horry County officials selling around 20 acres of land at the International Technology and Aerospace Park (ITAP) in April. Although officials didn’t name the company and the purchasing party had been redacted in county documents, the files made reference to DC Blox later in the agenda packet under legal definitions for the land sale.
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 county agreement documents suggest the facility will likely serve Google – making reference to its intended use as a CLS for an undisclosed 'cloud technology company' – but the sale agreement will be null and void if said cloud company decides not to land the cable at the facility.
The Myrtle Beach International Technology & Aerospace Park (ITAP) is a 460-acre hub aiming to support the aerospace and technology industries. MHN notes that the project also hinges on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowing the sale of the property, which once belonged to the US Air Force. The land’s FAA obligations require that the proceeds from the sale go toward airport operations.
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.
