Zayo is expanding its fiber network into Richmond, VA with a build of 60 miles marking Zayo’s initial Dark Fiber presence in Richmond. The project is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2012.

Once complete, the 60-mile build will consist of a metro ring through the southeast portion of the Richmond Central Business District (CBD) and a larger ring with connectivity up to Henrico and Laurel.  Alongside the new fiber build, Zayo will now have diverse access into a large data center campus in Richmond. As Zayo’s 3^rd new market build of the year, this expansion will provide connectivity into a key data center in the Richmond area.

For more information on Zayo, visit www.zayo.com.

24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network is expanding its high bandwidth network in Washington, DC and Virginia by adding over 300 route miles to its existing network. This major expansion will provide connectivity to downtown Washington, DC, McLean, Reston and Ashburn back to its existing Maryland network.

With the addition of these fiber optic routes, 24/7 extends its ability to connect carrier customers to critical sites, such as key facilities in Washington, DC and data centers in Northern Virginia, Maryland’s 270 corridor and the corridor parallel to Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Washington. The Mid-Atlantic is a central access point for national and international business, and 24/7’s strategic investment in expanding the region is a major focus for the company. Through this expansion, 24/7’s network will total 800 fiber route miles throughout the greater DC and Maryland area.

For more information on 24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network, visit www.247midatlantic.com.

 Inteliquent™ (Nasdaq: IQNT), a leading provider of global interconnection and interoperability solutions, has been added to the Secured Servers bandwidth blend at Phoenix NAP.

“We are thrilled with the addition of Inteliquent to our bandwidth solution,” states Ian McClarty, President of Phoenix NAP. “As a major global carrier, Inteliquent ’s services will offer improved connectivity for Phoenix NAP Secured Servers clients. First coming into our data center in 2010, we have seen the company grow and are looking forward to expanding our relationship even more in the future.”

A global provider of advanced network solutions, Inteliquent ’s bandwidth services, including IP Transit, provide improved connectivity to Phoenix NAPs Secured Servers clients linking to Europe, and across the globe. As a top 5 global IP carrier, the addition of Inteliquent in the Phoenix NAP data center dramatically increases Phoenix NAP’s clients’ access to locations that are otherwise inaccessible.

“We’re pleased to be affiliated with the Phoenix NAP data center, as they are a premier provider of colocation and advanced cloud hosting services,” comments Maurizio Binello, Vice President, Network Planning & Procurement at Inteliquent. “We have a rich history in network interconnection and are excited to be available to provide Phoenix NAP’s clients with advanced networking solutions, including IP transit services.”

To learn more about Inteliquent’s game-changing products and services, contact info@inteliquent.com or visit www.inteliquent.com.

ViaWest’s Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Roy Dimoff, has been named finalist for the Network Products Guide Executive of the Year award. Network Products Guide industry and peer awards are the premier information technology awards honoring achievements and recognitions in every facet of the IT industry.

Since launching ViaWest in early 1999, Mr. Dimoff continues to drive ViaWest’s success through strategic positioning, strong financial management, and an instinctive feel for merger and acquisition selection. Dimoff holds a number of prestigious awards including Denver Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Technology, Telecom and Media,” Colorado Technology Association’s ”Technology Executive of the Year” and Ernst & Young’s  “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for the Rocky Mountain Region. Dimoff has cultivated an organizational culture at ViaWest built on trust, collaboration, communication, and community.

Network Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping decision makers and end-users informed of the choices they can make in all areas of information technology as the industry’s leading technology research and advisory publication. The guide includes the best products and services, roadmaps, industry directions, technology advancements and independent product evaluations.

For additional information on Dimoff and other ViaWest executives, please visit our website at www.viawest.com.

zColo will provide carrier-neutral interconnection and colocation services for First Communications directly into the Meet-Me-Room at 60 Hudson St. First Communications is a leading regional communications provider, which offers metro and long-haul fiber network services across the United States.

The connectivity into 60 Hudson will allow ease of access into the facility for First Communications’ customers, particularly those utilizing its MPLS platform due to the extensive network options available. First Communications will have access to national and global networks with direct in-suite connections to nearly 50 customers and intra-building risers to 27 suites in 60 Hudson, including the zColo operated building Meet-Me-Room.

Offering high-capacity long-haul and metro fiber network services and voice and high-speed data services across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic U.S. and into Canada, First Communications network includes more than 5,600 fiber route miles, 250,000 fiber miles and 600 on-net wire centers.

For more information on Zayo, visit www.zayo.com.

Allied Fiber’s CEO, Hunter Newby is participating on the panel, “Optical Networking & Wholesale Services” at Light Reading’s Packet-Optical Transport Evolution 2012, taking place on Thursday, May 17^th at 10:45 am. Panelists will discuss the latest developments on the wholesale services front to meet the booming traffic demand that is associated with high-capacity business services, consumer video services and mobile backhaul applications.

Carol Wilson, Chief Editor of Light Reading, will moderate the panel. Additional panelists include Don MacNeil, Chief Marketing Officer of XO Communications and Joe Mocerino, Principal Solutions Architect, Packet Optical Networking at Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.

Allied Fiber owns, builds and will operate its own network-neutral, fiber optic cable system, connecting sub-sea landing points, cell towers, data centers, carrier hotels, colocation huts, enterprise buildings, schools and governments with next generation, long-haul and short-haul dark fiber. This necessary dark fiber network, planned to unite along its route the continental United States, is created to address America’s need for more broadband access, wireless backhaul, data center distribution and lower latency communications services. To learn more about Allied Fiber, visit www.alliedfiber.com

This article was originally posted at CommPro.Biz

As you know, Web 1.0 was characterized by prolific content creation: organizations raced to claim their static presences on the Internet and produce commerce-driven media. Web 2.0 – and social media – brought with it an era of connectivity and reciprocity.

And today, branded content now tells stories, and provides value to the consumer. So what will the next iteration of the World Wide Web’s impact on brands look like?

In order to understand this, we must evaluate the current situation of online content. Mobile access to the Internet has resulted in hyper-productivity—namely, more people creating more content more often, and in more places. Instead of owning one online property, such as a blog or a dot-com, virtually everyone on the Web manages several pieces of real estate through which they publish content and interact with their social networks.

But with new opportunities arise new challenges. The demand is high for a reduction in noise; several applications have appeared allowing users to vet relevant content, prioritize the content, and discover more content that aligns more closely with their interests. So what will Web 3.0 be about?

The answer: Personalization.

Navigating the Web has become stressful, and users are seeking a more pleasant experience. Relevancy is now the name of the game: Brands must now compete for the attention of their audiences by providing personal value to the users. This means that we can no longer identify target audiences in terms of demographic; but rather, along passion points. Passion points are the things that users are passionate about, the types of content that they actively seek out online.

Personalization will occur in three specific areas:

1. Data Collection

The future will bring more niche networks that connect people and things in similar ways that humans connect in the offline world. This is called the interest graph. The interest graph is the data collected from a user’s online actions that give insight into that user’s passions, interests, and activates. The interest graph is especially useful to marketers looking to amplify their brand’s message within niche markets.

2. Technology Development

Technology will not only be built with function in mind, but with social components built in to the device, resulting in a new breed of “smart appliances.” Think of all the social actions that people take around food, from sharing recipes to uploading photos of their favorite dishes. A refrigerator with Internet access can not only recommend recipes based on your existing inventory, but suggest recipes that your friends have tried (and even gave a positive rating to).

3. Personalized Engagement

With a staggering rate of new users joining more and more social networks, billions upon billions of data points are being produced every day. The brands that will succeed in meeting their business objectives are the ones that can scale for personalized engagement across multiple platforms. Each platform requires a different approach, different technology, and yields different results. It’s no longer about maintaining a presence on social – it’s about tailoring what you publish and how you interact to unique audiences within each channel.

The future of social is about the online world meeting the offline world in ways that are as diverse and as personal as the individuals using them. To learn more about the future of social from influential new media experts like Joseph Jaffe, check out the video below:

Lightower Fiber Networks will add over 100 route miles of new fiber through several major expansions of its industry-leading all-fiber network in Central and Northern New Jersey. The expansion will spread throughout the counties of Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Middlesex, and Mercer.

Lightower’s New Jersey network expansion program is in direct response to the surging demand for fiber-based networking solutions from Garden State financial institutions, enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies. With this expansion, Lightower’s network now reaches from New Hampshire and Albany in the north, to Princeton, New Jersey in the south. Customers will have immediate access to Lightower’s complete suite of end-to-end fiber networking solutions including Ethernet, wavelengths, dark fiber, Internet access, video transport, private networks, and SONET.

Lightower has rapidly expanded in the New Jersey and New York City area over the past several years. In addition, Lightower announced the completion of a new network route across the Hudson River that bypasses the now under-construction Tappan Zee Bridge.

For more information on Lightower, visit www.lightower.com.

Lightower’s President and CEO, Rob Shanahan will participate in a panel at the upcoming Jefferies 2012 Global TMT Conference  held May 7-9, 2012 in New York City. Rob will speak on a panel discussion titled ‘Growth in Fiber Networks’ on May 7^th at 9am EST.

Known for its advanced, all-fiber network throughout the Northeast, Lightower has experienced tremendous growth over the past three years as organizations upgrade to Lightower’s fiber-based networking solutions. This panel will be well served by Rob’s expertise in the area of developing fiber networks.

Lightower’s growth over the past three years is expressed through the expansion of its network reach throughout the Northeast with a 72% increase in service locations and a 60% increase in network fiber route miles. Through this growth LIghtower’s key focus continues to be delivering an exceptional and unique customer experience, from solution design, to service deployment, to post-installation management.

The Jefferies 2012 Global TMT conference is an informative four-day event with over 250 presentations from companies around the world, including tracks on fiber optics, video, cloud computing, and mobility.

To view Lightower’s diverse network reach, please visit http://www.lightower.com/network/network-maps/.