It might have been controversial, but the $1 trillion infrastructure package that just became law is going to help at least one Upstate company.

That company is Spartanburg-based AFL Global which manufactures, engineers and installs fiber optic products and associated equipment, including fiber optic cable, conductor accessories, fiber optic connectivity, fusion splicers and test and inspection equipment. Their service portfolio includes partnerships with the foremost communications companies supporting central office, outside plant, wireless and enterprise applications.

AFL Global provides digital infrastructure at a time when digital technology is growing rapidly. And the new infrastructure bill means they’ll be doing a lot more work, especially since part of the bill provides a $73 billion investment in upgrading and modernizing the nation’s power grid.

“The grid is an old system that is antiquated,” says AFL Global CEO Jody Gallagher, “and this new infrastructure bill that was just recently signed by President Biden and the administration will go a long way towards upgrading the grid. And the thing that we do is provide the communications, the optical communications for the ability for service providers to be able to manage their power demands and their utilization for their key customers.”

But that’s not all; there are new markets that will require the kind of infrastructure that AFL Global provides.

“We’re going to see a significant increase in renewables like wind and solar,” Gallagher says. “As that comes onto the grid, that’s a new element that’s going to continue to increase. That all requires data and information and how they manage that. And then you add to that the electric vehicle explosion that’s going to occur over the next several years, so charging stations will continue to populate the communities, those are all driven by upgrades to the energy grid and infrastructure.”

In order to handle both the power grid upgrade and to prepare for the arrival of 5G and increased Wi-Fi demands, AFL Global has had to take an aggressive approach to growth. Since 2002, the company has acquired a series of businesses that helped them become a one-stop for digital infrastructure rather than merely a manager of fiber optic cable. Their current portfolio includes companies like Beam Wireless, Optical Telecom and ITC Service Group, all of which AFL acquired in the past two years.

“As there’s a transition from 4G into 5G, and with cloud computing and data center growth all moving to high speed optics, we expect the growth of all of those areas from a global perspective to be significant over the next 10 years,” Gallagher says. “By adding a set of key customers, we were able to add strategic relationships; they need us in order for them to be successful and vice versa, so you develop partnerships where they rely on you to service their needs, and then it’s up to businesses like ours to then determine what investments we need to make and where to service some of those needs.”

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Subscribe for UBJ's free weekly digest of the Upstate's business news.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.