Big Bend Telephone (BBT), headquartered in Alpine, TX, recently advanced digital communications in West Texas by launching the Permian Basin’s first colocation data center, in collaboration with Mission Critical Facilities International (MCFI). This strategic initiative aims to bolster communications, enhance safety in the oilfields, and bridge the digital divide in the region’s underserved communities.
The facility, powered by MCFI’s GENIUS Modular Data Center (MDC) technology, represents a significant leap towards establishing a robust IT infrastructure within North America’s largest oil and gas producing area. With an initial capacity of 88 racks and 1 megawatt (MW) of delivered power, scalable to meet future demands, the data center is a testament to BBT’s commitment to innovation and community support.
Neville Haynes, Vice President of Data Center Operations at Big Bend Telephone, emphasized the project’s importance, telling Inside Towers, “We’ve been doing market research here for a little over five years and we determined that there was enough demand here and need for a facility like this where businesses could co-locate their critical business infrastructure in a safe, secure environment with guaranteed power and up-time.”
Addressing the broader impact, Haynes further explained to Data Center Dynamics, “This facility will serve as an aggregation point for that data to help get it out of the Permian Basin. Much like we were having trouble a few years ago getting oil out of the Permian, the same is with data.”
BBT’s venture into data center operations marks a significant milestone for the Permian Basin, promising to drive forward the digital capabilities of the region, facilitating growth, and ensuring the resilience of its infrastructure.
