Building the Backbone for Hyperscaler Infrastructure

Project Slate is a Southern Company initiative delivering over 330 miles of dark fiber across Alabama and Georgia to support a hyperscaler's connectivity needs between Birmingham and Atlanta. The project demonstrates how utilities can lead digital infrastructure development by integrating business strategy, engineering rigor, and construction excellence.

Its success was driven by a scalable infrastructure standard established at the genesis of Southern Company's fiber program. This included installing additional conduits during initial construction, enabling rapid deployment and minimizing delays. The foresight to build excess capacity positioned the network for future expansion and exemplifies how utilities can build once and serve many.

Engineering efforts focused on route optimization, meet-me point design, and comprehensive testing protocols for 864-count ribbon cable. Characterization testing-including bi-directional OTDR, splice loss, optical return loss, and end-to-end power loss-ensured hyperscaler-grade performance.

Internal and external construction teams completed full fiber installation and splicing across all segments, overcoming supply chain challenges with equipment and termination panels. Panel remediation was completed successfully. In addition to existing regeneration sites in Alabama, new colocation facilities in Griffin and Hamilton are now fully operational and aligned with hyperscaler specifications.

Project Slate sets a benchmark for utility-led fiber deployments supporting digital infrastructure growth.