Lightpath expands Columbus network to 304 route miles

Lightpath secured a third major network award in the Greater Columbus market, adding 55 route miles to an under-construction build and bringing the company's in-progress network in the region to 304 route miles, a move the release said responded to hyperscale demand for AI-ready connectivity infrastructure.

The release said the cumulative scale of investment reinforced Columbus's role as a deployment market for customers that require high-capacity fiber networks to support production-grade Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data center workloads. It said 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.

The award added 55 route miles of 100% underground, multi-conduit network extending southwest of Columbus toward Cincinnati, and the release said this build attached to a network already under construction to reach the 304-route-mile total.

The release said construction proceeded in phases, with approximately 102 route miles—about one-third of the announced build—scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026 ahead of the original delivery timeline, and with the remaining mileage expected to come online in the first half of 2027. It added that the additional construction strengthened regional connectivity across Central and Southwest Ohio and reinforced a growing fiber corridor to support both metro and intercity data center interconnectivity.

“Securing a third award in Columbus underscores the consistency of demand we're seeing from hyperscale customers as they expand AI infrastructure at scale,” said Chris Morley, CEO of Lightpath. “Our focus remains on executing reliably and building infrastructure that supports long-term, mission-critical workloads.” “Delivering a significant portion of this build ahead of schedule reflects the operational discipline behind our infrastructure strategy,” said Tim Haverkate, EVP of Major Infrastructure at Lightpath.

Lightpath said the Columbus expansion was part of its broader approach to building dense, all-fiber infrastructure across key U.S. markets to support hyperscale, carrier, and enterprise customers with scalable, production-ready connectivity.