Digital Communications Infrastructure

Digital infrastructure – the foundation of our future

Global population growth combined with the rapid pace of technological change is defining infrastructure challenges for many of our customers. It is predicted that two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050.

In 30 years our technological landscape may be unrecognizable; autonomous vehicles on the road; virtual reality transforming the way we work and live; artificial intelligence increasing productivity and improving our quality of life; vast amounts of clean, reliable and secure energy supplies to move towards full decarbonization while powering a fully digitized, seamlessly integrated infrastructure landscape.

Over the years we have helped our customers provide wireless & wireline broadband access to underserved areas around the globe; build data centers to support the growth in digital demand; deploy various types of smart infrastructure to enable the technologies of the future that improve our way of life. We are working to deliver a smarter, more connected and sustainable world for future generations to thrive.

How we can help

Digital underpinning

5G technology is now bringing new use cases to the forefront spurring innovation in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and many other areas. Over the years, we have connected over 150 metropolitan areas worldwide through the deployment of mobile and fiber networks.

Holistic thinking is key to maximising our customers’ returns and project longevity – which means integrating enhanced connectivity at the very outset. From installing first of a kind-mobile connectivity on UK transit, digitizing airport control systems, building mission-critical data centers and much more, we have always approached projects with the bigger, long-term picture in mind, which serves our customers' best interests for the future.

Smart distributed infrastructure

Optimizing public services, improving public safety, reducing traffic congestion, decarbonizing transport and energy, are just some of our customers’ goals. Bechtel has partnered with General Motors to build the first ever large-scale electric vehicle fast-charging network in North America.

Reliable in times of crisis

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina Bechtel, our team used automated fleet-tracking to efficiently provide shelter to nearly 100,000 people affected by the natural disaster. This effort was the fastest housing operation in FEMA’s history thanks to innovative scheduling which leveraged connected infrastructure. We also established fully-equipped recovery centers to help 200,000 disaster victims.

In 2001, we were humbled to be among the first to respond to the tragic events on 9/11, deploying essential communications equipment to emergency services and restoring cell services for millions of New Yorkers.

roof of Hamad International Airport

Protecting critical assets

Many of our customers’ infrastructure is mission-critical and is charged with highly sensitive information. On the Dulles Metrorail Extension Project, we coordinated design and construction of the facilities needed to interface with the communications systems and Operations Control Center – which acts as the central brain for rail operations.

At Hamad International Airport, our customer has a fully integrated with a state-of-the art telecom and data communications infrastructure, a sophisticated security system, and an advanced air traffic control and navigation system to support high-efficiency aircraft overview operation. The airport’s command and control complex includes four geographically dispersed facilities that include three data centers.

Global reach and experience

7,000 km of fiber backbone through eight European countries and underseas in one year
Metropolitan fiber loop rings to connect more than 30 cities in the U.S.
Fiber network linking 14 German cities in a record-setting 18 months
1.1 million lines in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines
Designed and upgraded service on more than 33,000 GSM overlays, 17,100 enhanced emergency systems, and 13,270 UMTS upgrades for a major U.S. telecommunications company
Constructed more than 12,000 overlay and new build sites in one year for a U.S. carrier, providing enhanced GSM service
Completed more than 350 small cells, built 177MW of data centers, and delivered more than one million leases, permits and right-of-way applications

Featured collaborations

CityFibre,

CityFibre, has partnered with Bechtel and committed to a Full Fibre build program in the U.K of up to £4bn. This will bring fibre to up to 8M homes by 2025 and create up to 10,000 new network construction jobs across the country.

Listen to James Rogan discuss how we're accelerating digital connectivity and hear from CityFibre about the benefits of partnering with Bechtel
Major U.S. carrier

Our project scope supports the deployment of wireless technology, including 4G & 5G installations. The scope of work spans EPC services across 17,000 cellular sites in seven major metropolitan markets in the United States.
XO Communications

The EPC services scope included building fiber optic backbones and inside plant facilities in multiple cities across the U.S. Bechtel performed work in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Plano, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Atlanta.
Verizon FTTP (Fiber to the premises project)

Bechtel helped extend fiber-optic connectivity from Verizon's central offices to its customers' homes or businesses in the Western and Mid-Atlantic regions for a full-service network. Responsibilities included engineering optimal locations for neighborhood fiber hubs and engineering the fiber routes on aerial or buried paths.
Metromedia fiber network

Bechtel performed feasibility studies, engineering, and construction management. The project included designing and constructing more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of fiber-optic cable and 232 nodes, POPs (points of presence), and data centers.