Globalinx is seeking county approval to build a 24,000-square-foot cable landing station along Stephen Decatur Highway.
Property owners are pushing back on a company’s plans to build a cable landing station in West Ocean City, despite assurances from company leadership that the facility is not a data center.
Last October, the City Council entered into a 25-year lease agreement with Globalinx to land transatlantic fiber optic cables at the municipality’s airport along Stephen Decatur Highway.
Now, the company reports it has plans to construct a 24,000-square-foot cable landing station nearby.
“We want to be good stewards of the land, and we are there to offer something, not to take …,” said Greg Twitt, CEO of Globalinx. “We are not a data center.”
Last year, the Town of Ocean City received a proposal from Globalinx to bring a transatlantic cable system – used by Amazon – from the southwest coast of Ireland to a landing site at the municipal airport. In return, Ocean City would receive $800,000 over the course of the 25-year lease, plus another $200,000 per cable for any additional cables that are installed.
“It is simply a vault at the airport where the cable comes through,” Ocean City Public Works Director Hal Adkins said in an interview last week.
However, local leaders and residents are now learning of the company’s plans to install a facility nearby, one that would allow data to pass through to land-based networks. State property records show Globalinx has purchased two parcels on Stephen Decatur Highway – totaling roughly five acres – in an area immediately south of Snug Harbor Road and Bethany United Methodist Church.
why would they ask for more money for more cables of this is just a one off? appears to be a bait and switch. They will do whatever they want and the residents be damned!