Tuesday Bytes: Zayo, QTS, Connectbase, Allo Fiber, ECL, PowerCell

A few interesting items from around the US to catch up with:

Zayo will be getting a new CEO in about 7 weeks. The national digital infrastructure network provider has announced a planned CEO transition under which former Verizon executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath will take the reins on September 1, 2026. He will take over from Steve Smith, who succeeded Dan Caruso back in 2020. Zayo’s approach under his tenure was focused on organic buildouts moreso than the M&A upon which the company was originally constructed, although they did acquire Crown Castle’s fiber business recently.

QTS Data Centers has unveiled a new project down in Texas. They will design, build, and operate data centers built upon Lancium’s Clean Campus, which is near Turkey, Texas. That’s near, well, not much, but it’s in northern Texas about an hour each from Amarillo and Lubbock. The project is expected to bring $10B in capital investment to the region, with 7K construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs. Lancium and QTS will be investing in the energy infrastructure needed to support the facilities, including solar power and battery storage.

Connectbase continues to expand its connectivity marketplace. Allo Fiber will be expanding its participation in the company’s Connected World ecosystem. Allo Fiber operates network infrastructure in 50 communities in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, offering both residential and business solutions.

And ECL has tapped PowerCell to help meet the energy needs of its CSC-1 AI data center Campus in Santa Clara, California. They will be using PowerCell’s PS190 fuel cell systems, integrating them into ECL’s FlexGrid microgrid. The value of the deal is SEK 30M, or about $3M give or take, and deliveries should be complete by the end of the year. Plans call for CSC-1 to reach 35MW of AI-optimized capacity.

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