Dark Fiber Connectivity Services
Dark Fiber Services for High-Capacity Networks
Connect data centers, offices, cloud facilities, and network locations with dedicated dark fiber and scalable optical connectivity.
Check Dark Fiber AvailabilityWhat Is Dark Fiber?
Dark fiber is unused optical fiber that has been installed but is not currently carrying an active optical signal. Instead of purchasing a managed, lit connection from a carrier, an organization can lease dedicated fiber strands and operate its own optical equipment.
Dark fiber can provide organizations with greater control over network capacity, optical equipment, protocols, and future network expansion. It can be particularly attractive for data center interconnects, high-capacity enterprise networks, cloud connectivity, and organizations with significant or rapidly growing bandwidth requirements.
Availability, route distance, existing infrastructure, construction requirements, fiber strand availability, and contract terms all affect whether dark fiber is practical for a particular connection.
Why Consider Dark Fiber?
- Dedicated Fiber — Use dedicated fiber strands rather than sharing a carrier's active optical transport system.
- Scalable Capacity — Deploy optical equipment appropriate for current requirements and upgrade capacity as demand grows.
- Network Control — Select your own transceivers, optics, DWDM equipment, and network architecture.
- High-Capacity Connectivity — Support applications ranging from 10 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s to 400 Gb/s, 800 Gb/s and beyond.
- Data Center Interconnect — Connect data centers and other critical facilities with dedicated optical infrastructure.
- Route Diversity — Where available, evaluate physically diverse routes for greater network resilience.
- Future Expansion — Additional fiber strands can provide a path for future capacity growth when the underlying infrastructure supports it.
- Long-Term Economics — For organizations with substantial and predictable bandwidth requirements, dark fiber may provide attractive economics over a sufficiently long service term.
Dark Fiber Solutions for Different Requirements
Data Center Interconnect
Dedicated fiber between data centers for high-capacity data replication, storage, cloud infrastructure, and other bandwidth-intensive applications.
Enterprise Network Connectivity
Connect corporate facilities, campuses, offices, and critical locations using dedicated optical infrastructure.
AI & High-Performance Computing
Support rapidly increasing traffic between compute, storage, and data center environments where very high capacity is required.
Cloud & Network Connectivity
Build dedicated optical paths between facilities, network hubs, cloud locations, and other strategic connectivity points.
Carrier & Network Infrastructure
Provide optical infrastructure for carriers, network operators, service providers, and other organizations building high-capacity networks.
5G & Wireless Transport
Support high-capacity transport requirements between wireless facilities, aggregation locations, and network infrastructure.
Dark Fiber or Lit Fiber?
Dark fiber is not necessarily the best solution for every network. The right choice depends on bandwidth requirements, distance, technical expertise, desired control, availability, and commercial considerations.
| Consideration | Dark Fiber | Lit Fiber / Wavelength |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber ownership / control | Dedicated strands with greater control | Carrier-managed optical service |
| Optical equipment | Customer typically supplies and manages equipment | Carrier supplies and manages the optical service |
| Capacity upgrades | Can often be upgraded by changing customer optics | Usually requires a service upgrade |
| Technical responsibility | Greater customer responsibility | More responsibility remains with the provider |
| Best suited for | High-capacity, strategic, long-term requirements | Organizations seeking managed optical capacity |
If you're not sure whether dark fiber, wavelength services, or another connectivity solution is appropriate, let us evaluate the alternatives based on your requirements.
We Can Help Evaluate Your Dark Fiber Requirements
- Service Locations — Identify potential fiber options between your specific facilities.
- Fiber Availability — Determine whether suitable fiber infrastructure may be available along the required route.
- Strand Requirements — Consider two, four, eight, or more dedicated fiber strands.
- Bandwidth — Evaluate requirements from 10 Gb/s through 100 Gb/s, 400 Gb/s, 800 Gb/s and beyond.
- Route Diversity — Consider physically diverse fiber routes where network resilience is critical.
- Facility Diversity — Evaluate diverse building entrances and other physical-path requirements.
- Distance — Consider the approximate route distance between locations.
- IRU & Contract Terms — Compare lease terms and potential Indefeasible Right of Use options.
- Deployment Timing — Consider whether the project is immediate, planned, or part of a longer-term network strategy.
- Alternative Solutions — Where dark fiber is unavailable or unnecessary, consider lit fiber, wavelength, Ethernet, or other connectivity options.
How the Dark Fiber Sourcing Process Works
Tell Us What You Need
Provide the locations you need to connect and your basic fiber, capacity, and timing requirements.
We Review the Route
We review the requirements and identify potentially suitable dark fiber and connectivity options.
Compare Options
We help compare availability, capacity, diversity, terms, timing, and alternative connectivity solutions.
Select Your Solution
Choose the option that best fits your technical, operational, and commercial requirements.
Check Dark Fiber Availability
Dark fiber availability depends on the specific route, facilities, existing fiber infrastructure, strand availability, and other technical and commercial requirements.
Tell us what you need to connect once, and we'll help identify suitable dark fiber and alternative connectivity options.
Dark Fiber Availability Request
Tell us what you need to connect. We'll check available dark fiber and, where appropriate, alternative optical connectivity options.
Thank You
Your dark fiber availability request has been submitted. We'll review the route and your requirements and follow up with suitable options.
Explore Related FiberGuide Services
Dark fiber is one option for building high-capacity network connections. FiberGuide also provides information and sourcing assistance for other optical and network connectivity services.