DC BLOX purchasing land to build second cable landing station
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — DC BLOX, which operates a data center and cable landing station near The Market Common, is planning to expand to meet the growing need for digital infrastructure.
Horry County Council passed a third and final reading at its recent meeting to allow the company to purchase land next door to its current facility.
“When that data of course arrives in the United States, it needs someplace to go, right? You [have] got to carry that data terrestrially, said Bill Thomson, the vice president of marketing for DC BLOX said.
The company opened its doors in October 2023 in the Myrtle Beach International Technology and Aerospace Park across from the city’s airport. Its data center and cable landing station currently have five cables, three of them in use by Google and Meta. The hub is connected to countries like Portugal, Spain and Brazil.
Thomson said as soon as the company announced it would open a station in Myrtle Beach in 2022, customers reached out to reserve cables.
“It became very evident that there was enough growth in the region, there was enough more capacity expected from operators like the ones we’ve seen to say, it makes sense to expand,” Thomson said.
Before the Myrtle Beach location opened, Thompson said the only stations in the southeast were in Virginia Beach and Florida. He said DC BLOX plans to buy an additional 21 acres of land for about $2.7 million for the new facility, which will include four more cables and give the company nine total once both facilities are in operation. He said having this facility next door will be convenient for day-to-day operations.
“You can imagine there’s a lot of underground infrastructure that needs to occur as well to bring those cables in from the beach to our facilities,” Thomson said.
Thomson said with just the current three in operation, it already has the largest capacity to move data on the East Coast. He looks forward to what nine can do.
Thomson adds right now, DC BLOX is going through closing and financial planning to purchase the land. He said the growth is a result of hearing from customers about the need to expand.
“All the enterprises, all the businesses, all the consumers who are utilizing these services will be beneficiaries,” Thomson said.
Thomson said it hopes to begin construction in one year and begin operating in two to three years.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.
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