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Zayo announced completion of its 622-mile Umatilla–Prineville–Reno (UPR) fiber route on November 12, 2025. The corridor runs from Umatilla, Oregon, through Prineville, Oregon, to Reno, Nevada. Zayo describes it as an inland alternative to the I-5 corridor for connecting western data centers, AI infrastructure, and cloud networks. That is the operator’s stated purpose; published sources do not establish a route-specific latency improvement or measured customer results.
Where the route runs
The UPR route links three named locations: Umatilla and Prineville in Oregon, and Reno in Nevada. Zayo gives its length as 622 miles; Data Center Dynamics describes the same distance as approximately 1,000 kilometers. Zayo announced the route’s completion on November 12, 2025.
Zayo positions the corridor as an inland path and an alternative to relying on the I-5 corridor. Its announcement says the route integrates with the company’s West Coast long-haul and subsea network systems. The available descriptions do not provide a route map measurement or a like-for-like comparison with other western fiber routes.
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How Zayo says it is built
In its completion announcement, Zayo describes the route as using SMF-28 fiber, multiple conduits, and 13 Zayo-owned intermediate line amplifiers (ILAs). ILAs amplify optical signals along a long-distance fiber path. Zayo says the design is intended to support low latency and high fiber count, but the announcement does not publish optical specifications beyond the fiber type, available capacity, or benchmarked latency.
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These construction details describe the infrastructure Zayo announced; they do not reveal which services are available at each location or the terms customers could obtain. The cited sources do not state route-specific service-level commitments.
Why the corridor may matter to data centers
Data centers and AI facilities need network links to exchange data with users, cloud platforms, and other computing sites. Zayo presents UPR as a new inland connection for western data, compute, and cloud environments, and as a way to add route diversity beyond the I-5 corridor. The company’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Bill Long, put the need for connectivity this way in Zayo’s November 12, 2025 announcement: “Without connectivity, data centers and AI factories are just expensive refrigerators: cold boxes of compute with no way for data to get in or out.” That is Long’s characterization, not an independent technical finding.
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Industry coverage points to power constraints as one factor moving data-center development toward less established locations, increasing the importance of backbone links to those hubs. This is broader industry context, not evidence that UPR has caused new construction, improved regional access, or changed investment. The reviewed sources do not quantify the route’s effects on resilience, latency, regional development, or broadband availability.
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Zayo says the project received partial funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Middle Mile Grant Program. An NTIA performance-report result describes a 622-mile Umatilla-to-Reno project intent with 33 total access points. It also discusses a requested California scope change involving 193 route miles and two ILA huts. Those figures refer to grant reporting and a requested scope change; they should not be read as a verified count of access points on the completed route or as a description of its full final build. The report is available from NTIA.
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What is not established publicly
- Measured speed or latency: Zayo describes a low-latency design goal, but the completion announcement reports no route-specific benchmark.
- Comparative resilience: Zayo frames UPR as an alternative path to I-5, but the reviewed sources do not measure how much redundancy or resilience it adds compared with other routes.
- Capacity and customer access: Public descriptions do not state available fiber capacity, customer counts, specific service terms, or which facilities can buy service over the corridor.
- Cost and local impact: The reviewed sources do not give a construction cost or a realized community-adoption figure.
These limits matter when interpreting claims about what the route can deliver: its announced geography and construction features are documented, while quantified performance and customer outcomes are not.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sources and later company context
Zayo’s completion announcement is the source for the 622-mile length, completion date, construction details, and the company’s stated rationale. Additional coverage is available from Data Center Knowledge and Data Center Dynamics. In an August 20, 2026 announcement, Zayo described a strategic fiber-supply agreement with Corning and a broader plan to add 15,000 route miles by 2030. That company-wide expansion context does not establish a change in UPR’s performance or capabilities. See Zayo’s Corning announcement.
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- Optical digital audio cable: Perfect for equipment with a TOSLINK interface (OPT In / OPT Out or S/PDIF In / S/PDIF Out). TOSLINK connector to TOSLINK connector (F05 connector)
- Versatile: Ideal for transmitting crystal-clear digital audio from your TV, video game console (PS3/PS4/Xbox One), DVD/Blu-ray player, or TV streaming box to a soundbar, amplifier/amp, stereo/Hi-Fi system, D/A converter, and more
- High-End: This metal-free fiber optic audio cable, featuring a fully flexible PVC jacket, is entirely immune to electrical interference. Each cable undergoes multi-stage testing during manufacturing to ensure maximum product quality and durability
- 24K gold-plated connectors: Corrosion resistant gold plating keeps connectors clean. And because these cables are fiber optic, they provide 100 % signal transmission with 0 % loss
- No risk: 36 months manufacturer warranty
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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