Windstream expands network to McAllen Data Center

Windstream has expanded its 100G network to the McAllen Data Center in McAllen, Texas, bringing Internet speed capabilities ranging from 100Mbps to 100Gbps along the Windstream fiber network, which spans approximately 125,000 miles.

Mike Crimmins, vice-president of international sales for Windstream Carrier Solutions, called the move “another step in Windstream’s efforts as a leading provider of dedicated, high bandwidth data transport services,” in a statement for the Little Rock-based company.

“McAllen Data Center is a premier data center and peering location on the U.S.-Mexico border, and allows international customers to interconnect with Windstream for their data transport needs within the domestic United States,” Crimmins explained. “By expanding into McAllen, we are able to significantly broaden connectivity options for carriers in Central and Latin America, offering the reliable, secure and diverse routes required to support their growing domestic traffic needs.”

Data Center Interconnect (DCI) solutions, such as the kind that Windstream is taking part in with the McAllen move, is an area of high growth opportunity for service providers. As network traffic moves increasingly to “the cloud,” data centers are becoming key termination points for this traffic.

Windstream now features direct connectivity into data centers for terminating traffic in more than 500 data center to data center route combinations, and the company plans to add more of what it calls “carrier-neutral centers” to its network throughout 2016.