The corridor extends its West Texas network westward to serve hyperscale data centre demand and creates new connectivity options into New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico.
The project builds on the nearly $500m FiberLight has committed to West Texas over the past year. Financial terms and total investment for the new corridor have not been disclosed.
The build will be delivered in phases. The first covers a 150-mile segment running west from Pecos toward McNary, Texas, with completion targeted for late 2027. In parallel, FiberLight has started construction and overbuild work on a 50-mile segment running south from Monahans past Fort Stockton, which will connect into the corridor.
A planned third phase would extend the route into Las Cruces, New Mexico. The company said this would lay the groundwork for potential long-haul expansion toward Phoenix and other western US markets.
Once complete, the corridor will provide continuous high-count fibre and dense duct capacity from Dallas through West Texas toward El Paso. It will operate as an independent route that extends FiberLight’s West Texas fibre ring.
Bill Major, CEO of FiberLight, described the project as “a natural evolution of our West Texas network footprint”. He added that an independent Midland to El Paso route would strengthen resiliency for “hyperscale, enterprise, and carrier partners across Texas, Mexico, and the Southwest”.
FiberLight cited four drivers for the build:
- bandwidth demand from regional and hyperscale data centre operators
- direct high-capacity connectivity into Mexico
- demand for resilient fibre between Dallas, West Texas and El Paso
- long-haul routing from El Paso toward Phoenix
A $500m bet on West Texas
The corridor is the third major West Texas commitment from FiberLight in under a year. In October 2025, the company announced a $150m investment to lay approximately 1,000 new route miles across Texas and overbuild parts of its West Texas network for large-scale data centre demand.
It followed that in February 2026 with a further $350m to build around 1,400 route miles of new infrastructure across the region. That investment included a third diverse route into Abilene, home to the first Stargate campus. It also added 1.2 million fibre miles, taking FiberLight’s Texas footprint to nearly 4.8 million fibre miles.
Fibre becomes the constraint
The expansion comes as fibre availability overtakes power as the biggest constraint on new data centre sites. A survey discussed at Metro Connect Fall in Austin this month found fibre, not power, now tops the list. Panellists said a 200-mile route can take two to three years from inception, with permitting the critical path. That puts FiberLight’s late 2027 target for its first 150-mile phase in context.
Fibre built specifically to connect data centres is also commanding premium valuations. James Henry of Bank Street Group told a panel at the same event that such assets trade at 25 to 35 times EBITDA, as 41 fibre deals were recorded in the US so far in 2026.
The build also lands against an uncertain backdrop for Texas data centre growth. ERCOT is reviewing around 474GW of large-load interconnection requests, and data centre demand could lift the grid’s peak by 125%. Governor Greg Abbott’s audit of up to 300 projects has also paused new interconnection approvals. Andy Lipman of Morgan Lewis expects that freeze to extend into 2027.
Cross-border routes into Mexico will be in focus at Metro Connect USA 2027, which opens on 8 February, with a dedicated panel on building the future of cross-border connectivity. The Data Center Fiber Summit will examine how networks must evolve for the next wave of AI demand. A Design and Construction Summit panel will tackle permitting, the constraint operators in Austin said they most want fixed.
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Metro Connect USA 2027
Metro Connect USA is the largest executive-level digital infrastructure event in the U.S. The only one of its kind, this 25-year-strong gathering is where decision makers come together to make deals happen.
