 Hey everybody welcome welcome welcome. This is itw extra powered by JSA TV the official broadcast of itw 2023 yes guys. We are here live simulcasting. We should say so coming to you on multiple platforms So thank you for tuning in guys, and we are here at the National Harbor near DC I'm Jamie Scott of Kataya of JSA and joining me on this expo floor I'm so excited to welcome mr. Scott Berg's CEO of DF and I welcome Scott. Why thank you very much It's good to see you this morning. Oh, it's great to have you and second time on JSA TV So we're glad to have you back now before we get into some big breaking news that we have Let's just tell our viewers who might not already know a little bit about DF and I sure so dark vibrant infrastructure Shortnamed DF and I we're a core infrastructure developer and then we provide that infrastructure To on a wholesale basis So if you want to pick your carrier for your telecom needs and your bandwidth capacity requirements You can choose whoever you like, but we'll put the infrastructure in place from data center to data center And then in between data center clusters and communities So that all of that core infrastructure is there at a scalable level that that helps folks get to where they need to be Yeah, and I love that keyword guys communities All right, so let's get to it exciting exciting news. I don't want to step on your toes here, but You're adding What is it two not just one two digital realty data center campuses on net go ahead and tell us a little bit more Digital realty has just been a great partner and as they continue to expand their capacity and footprint and additional locations Especially up in the northern virginia area It's just a great way for us to be able to provide additional facilities so that they can reach those destination points and And the drt folks are just fantastic to work with they've been a great partner And we're just excited to be able to expand with them and we do that kind of expansion Both extending markets so that customers of digital realty can reach outside the northern virginia immediate loud and county area to get to the much broader region to other digital realty locations Or if they have facilities that are even outside of that footprint, so and you're doing that with the df and i Express connect doc fiber conduit. Is that right? That's right. Yeah So our express connect just tries to make it the most Route mile efficient so most cost effective and lowest latency Connectivity that we possibly can provide and again all on a wholesale basis So you can scale it as wildly as you'd like and so critical in that data center alley region That is really the heart and soul of the internet if you think about it It really is it's been amazing You know, I've been fortunate to have been in this industry for 30 years But to see what's happened in in just that immediate corridor area the number of data centers the scale of the data centers And it's just enabling such amazing applications that are changing people's lives every day It's true. It's very true and we should talk about Your unique benefits that df and i express connect network eyes unique benefit for a hyperscalers for Carriers of course network operators the folks here at itw Uh data center operators and really just anyone who has wholesale partnerships Like msp servicing specific clients or large enterprise. Yeah, so can you elaborate more? Sure? So, you know, I started my career actually buying the backhaul facilities for wireless carriers principally And boy every time I estimated capacity we estimated wrong and it was always not enough It just seems like people consume more and more than we could ever imagine And so we are building our networks at df and i to be to absolute scale So we've got multiple multiple conduits We've got very high density cables and we're providing them across the key locations with the most route mile efficient architecture we can So lowest latency lowest cost fewest fail points and with that scale that's going to grow with you as your business really takes Often and that's really been the core and crux of what we've been doing since day one and excited to keep on partnering with folks like digital Realty and others well, we we need you clearly better quality of service Reliability scalability you're saying all those keywords that are near and dear to our hearts for sure And you also provide the most direct dark fiber route from ashburn to maryland right here in maryland Tell us about the pathway there from ashburn. Yeah, it was a tricky endeavor one that a lot of folks I think what I might have been initially scared off of because There were a lot of routes that went either to the south or to the north along more conventional right of ways We acquired private right of way on either side of the Potomac so that we could take again that most route mile efficient possibly way we could And had to go under a very very difficult build to get there But now we've cut out about 30 of the total linear footage to get between baltimore back into the ashburn Data center cluster that lower latency fewer things to break Along with the capacity that when we put in we built that route Just provide some real opportunities. I think for folks that have got data centers or locations in both in both spots Yeah, 30% is incredible. That's not just speed guys, but efficiency. Yeah less places to break like you said, which I love it So df and I really so well positioned it seems to service customers Outside of the northern virginia area as well any plans for that or am I just no you're you're you're right on track So it's been a great market. I mean you can't go wrong with like you said This is the heart of the internet really for the world And so we're going to continue to grow organically here But we're really really lucky to be working with some great customers and great partners along the way And so we can replicate this model in other parts of the world I've been with df and I just over a year now before that I had been doing something similar in these other markets and seeing the markets that Are already doing great and have great wholesale fiber and connectivity providers and those that are a little underdeveloped So, uh, we're really excited about a few more. So look forward to a few few announcements coming up soon Well, we're excited about your leadership over at df and I again scott burr guys Thought leader in our industry 30 years bringing uh bringing your expertise to the table Where can our viewers go to learn more? So dark fiber and info.com Or reach out to us on linkedin Thank you scott so much. Thank you for your time and your insight. Thank you viewers for tuning in to ITW extra powered by jsa tv. Thanks. Happy networking