North Alabama is prepared for data centers as proven by the recent announcement that GOOGLE will construct a $600,000,000 data center in Jackson County in the northeastern corner of the region. Attractive incentives provided by the State of Alabama, TVA’s competitive data center rates and the robust telecommunications system in North Alabama were instrumental in the selection of this location.
TVA has a 99.999 percent transmission reliability since 2000 and has a diverse generation mix from hydro, nuclear, fossil and renewable power.
North Alabama has six ready-for-development primary data center sites evaluated by Deloitte Consulting.
North Alabama also has a strong telecommunications infrastructure. Industries and businesses throughout North Alabama have access to all modes of telecommunications, including high-speed fiber connectivity.
AT&T has designated four sites in North Alabama as “Fiber-Ready.” This certification allows AT&T to confidently tell companies that high-speed connectivity is in place. These four industrial parks are:
- Florence/Lauderdale Industrial Park, Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama
- Muscle Shoals Air Park, Muscle Shoals, Colbert County, Alabama
- Rogersville Business Park, Rogersville, Lauderdale County, Alabama
- Morgan Center Business Park, Hartselle, Morgan County, Alabama
Farmer’s Telecommunications Cooperative has GIG (1,000 megabits per second upload and download speed) service in DeKalb County and portions of Jackson County. North Alabama Electric Co-op in partnership with Farmer’s Telecommunications also provides high speed fiber in Jackson and Marshall Counties.
The City of Huntsville has partnered with Google Fiber to provide GIG service to the residents and businesses in Huntsville served by Huntsville Utilities. The City of Guntersville is a GIG city with service provided by Southern Light.
Other providers include Charter Spectrum, Knology, ComCast, WOW Cable, MediaCom, EarthLink and Century Link.