COEUR d'ALENE - Fatbeam, a Coeur d'Alene company that delivers fiber optic bandwidth, has signed a multi-year agreement to lease out more than 60 miles of a fiber optic network in Yakima.

In this agreement Fatbeam will lease so-called dark fiber, which is fiber infrastructure that is already in place but isn't being used, to Noel Communications Inc., a Yakima, Wash.-based fiber carrier.

"Fatbeam builds high-capacity fiber networks and looks to partners, like Noel Communications, to further enhance connectivity and support economic development in local markets," said Greg Green, president of Fatbeam. "This partnership will expand competitive access to high-quality fiber services for the greater Yakima Valley community."

Fatbeam owns all of its networks.

"The company will build a fiber network for a specific client and often has as high as 80 percent excess capacity on that network, so leasing the excess capacity is a way to increase shareholder value," a spokeswoman for the company said Friday.

"This agreement is an outstanding opportunity to augment our already considerable network infrastructure in Yakima, our hometown," Nick Guy, executive director of Noel Communications, said in a statement. "This expansion allows us to provide our exemplary service to more customers in the greater Yakima area."

Noel Communications will also offer Ethernet data transport and Internet services to business, healthcare, education, telecommunication and government customers.

Fatbeam currently operates fiber networks in more than 15 markets spanning Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming, with additional network in development in Oregon.