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Lightpath Deepens Columbus AI Infrastructure with Third Major Network Award
Lightpath today announced it has secured a third major network award in the Greater Columbus market, reflecting continued, success-based investment driven by hyperscale demand for AI-ready connectivity infrastructure. The latest award builds directly on a network currently under construction, adding 55 route miles of 100% underground, multi-conduit network extending southwest of Columbus toward Cincinnati. This third award brings Lightpath's network under construction in the Greater Columbus Reg
About this update from Optimum Communications, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Award Brings Columbus Network to 304 Miles","length":42,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}},{"type":"text","content":"NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightpath today announced it has secured a third major network award in the Greater Columbus market, reflecting continued, success-based investment driven by hyperscale demand for AI-ready connectivity infrastructure. The latest award builds directly on a network currently under construction, adding 55 route miles of 100% underground, multi-conduit network extending southwest of Columbus toward Cincinnati. This third award brings Lightpath's network under construction in the Greater Columbus Region to 304 total route miles.","length":588,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"Lightpath Logo (PRNewsfoto/Lightpath)","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"Lightpath Logo (PRNewsfoto/Lightpath)","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":317,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/424a55d38ea0a2a19b04e19bd963ff57"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ddi6TH1vFLd_JxqiniUKwA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTU1OTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/424a55d38ea0a2a19b04e19bd963ff57","width":400,"height":317}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1530415/Lightpath_Logo_1.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":"The cumulative scale of investment reinforces Columbus's role as a leading deployment market for customers who require high-capacity fiber networks to support production-grade AI and data center workloads. Columbus is one of several markets in the US where large-scale compute platform customers are expanding across multiple regions simultaneously and prioritizing network scale, predictable performance, and long-term resiliency.","length":435,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Construction across the Columbus market is proceeding in phases. Approximately 102 route miles — about one-third of the total announced build — are scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026, ahead of the original delivery timeline. The remaining mileage is expected to come online in the first half of 2027.","length":321,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":""Securing a third award in Columbus underscores the consistency of demand we're see...