Enlightening the “Dark Fiber” Issue
Date Posted: November 2, 2014
Posted In: Ideas, White Papers,
by Owen Graham, Business Development Manager, Arch Fiber Networks
I suspect that many St. Louis building owners don’t know they have options when they sign a contract with a traditional telecommunications carrier. Dark fiber, like its mysterious-sounding name, remains a relatively unknown option for downtown businesses, educational institutions and the many startups moving into the area. But utilizing your company’s own IT resources to light an existing dark fiber network can lead to tremendous benefits. Benefits that building and business owners should be aware of.
Before I talk about some of those benefits, a quick refresher on what exactly a dark fiber network is. Dark fiber is simply fiber optic infrastructure that is not yet in service, or “lit,” by a service carrier or provider. It is essentially a bundle of fiber optic cables, lying dormant until it’s connected sometime in the future. Because fiber optic cables use the light from lasers to transmit information, unused fibers are referred to as “dark.”
I’ve encountered many business owners who eagerly watch headlines, wondering when St. Louis will become “the next gigabit city.” The truth is, the capability is already here. It’s up to enterprising IT networks to tap into it. Apart from blazing fast speeds, here’s why they should.
The Benefits of Dark Fiber
Security: With public access telecomm networks, there are multiple public access points at various terminal and intermediate nodes throughout the network. In contrast, with dark fiber routes, the only two access points sit at either end of the fiber run.
Limiting the number of network access points also reduces the potential for malicious interference with the network. With a traditional carrier, IT departments must take steps to isolate a businesses infrastructure from the others on a shared network. The network requires firewalls and other protective measures to insulate it from potential threats.
Dark fiber networks are point-to-point, rather than open to multiple points of access. Physical-layer security means the opportunities for breaches are reduced to near zero. CIOs can rest-assured that, since their network is totally dedicated to their business, it’s about as secure as it can get.
Reliability: Private Internet users know how a provider’s performance can sometimes fall short of expectations. Business Internet users often experience the same phenomenon. Carriers often engage in the practice of oversubscribing their networks, selling more bandwidth than they’re actually capable of providing. This slows the connection for all the network’s users. At home, maybe you’d call this an inconvenience. At work, it could mean lost revenue, or worse.
Dark fiber customers are the sole users of their network. By managing your network with an in-house IT department, you eliminate dependency on a provider. No more arbitrarily scheduled maintenance, expensive service upgrades or long waits for capacity increases. Rather than being just another customer on the network, you control the network.
Scalability: Dark fiber allows your network to grow with your business. Decisions to scale up network capacity are in your hands and the bandwidth available is virtually limitless. If a carrier even allows bandwidth upgrades, it can be a lengthy process. Requests to increase bandwidth can take up to weeks.
Cost is another issue. Carriers often charge heavily for bandwidth increases. Bandwidth upgrades with some dark fiber providers won’t be reflected in your monthly bill, with equipment being the only cost to you, and a one-time cost at that.
Purchasing your own equipment also means customers aren’t tied to whichever devices their provider decides to deliver. This allows your business to invest as much or as little in equipment as necessary to remain competitive.
Cost: On top of superior performance, dark fiber often delivers significant cost savings as compared to lit services. But installation is something organizations need to investigate before choosing dark fiber. Construction costs required to reach certain locations could possibly negate savings.
Much will depend on the location of existing infrastructure, and knowing where fiber is in the city will help give a better understanding of the undertaking. While laterals and last mile connections are an upfront investment, these are once again one-time costs that bring with them significant promise for return on investment.
Worth Investigating
Whether dark fiber will be the right option for a building or business depends on a number of factors. It simply won’t be the right option under a number of circumstances. But gigabit speeds could already be a reality for many St. Louis businesses, and the benefits listed above make dark fiber connectivity an option worth exploring.
Owen Graham is the Business Development Manager at Arch Fiber Networks.