Multimax to build cable network at Eglin AFB

Multimax, Inc. won a $25 million task order through the Air Force Network Centric Solutions contract to install a strong fiber optic cable system on Santa Rosa Island, an Eglin Air Force Base facility off the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Multimax and its Netcents partner, MTC Technologies, will rebuild and strengthen a 12-mile fiber optic cable network on Santa Rosa Island, home to the Range Information Grid, a weapons research, testing and development facility.

Santa Rosa Island has been repeatedly damaged by hurricanes and storm surges. The plan is to build a hurricane-resistant system capable of withstanding a storm surge of 19 feet or greater.

"Given Santa Rosa Island's proximity to the shoreline, it is essential that this key cable network be properly repaired and reinforced to withstand future damage," said Carleton Jones, Multimax's chief executive officer.

Netco Government Services, a network communications company for federal agencies, purchased Multimax of Herndon, Va., in June 2006. The new entity chose to continue to do business as Multimax.

At the time of the acquisition, Jones said the combined companies "will have revenues over $300 million and more than 1,000 employees serving 50 states."