According to the Research and Markets’ recent report for the connected communications industry, the global dark fibre market size is predicted to reach USD 13.45 billion by 2030.
One of the most significant factors responsible for Dark fiber market growth is its status as a sustainable solution for various organisations that are focusing on enhanced communication and network management.
The dark fibre networks are also increasingly popular – and are highly beneficial – for organisations with a high volume of data flow in their operation. The benefits include redacted network latency, scalability, reliability and enhanced security.
Currently, dark fibre is mostly available for businesses only. Superloop – an Australian-based telecommunications and internet service provider with offices stretching to the Asia Pacific – is a provider of dark fibre and we at Pathfinder Technology Group are proud to support their communications infrastructure.
What is dark fibre?
For those new to the term ‘ dark fibre,’ one of the best explanation we’ve come across is provided by Superloop – as one of the most progressive dark fibre network providers – themselves:
Dark fibre, also known as unlit fibre, refers to unused optical fibre that exists in the ground, and is available for rent or to buy from network service providers. Generally speaking, dark fibre is used in fibre-optic communication for private networking, internet access, or internet infrastructure networking.
How does dark fibre work?
As per the definition above, the actual fibre is leased or bought from a network owner or telecommunications provider and is normally set up via:
- point-to-point or point-to-multipoint configurations
- Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), which occurs when many different data signals are transmitted at the same time, through the same optical fibre.
What are the challenges and benefits of dark fibre for businesses?
The two biggest challenges to accessing dark fibre currently are cost and availability as not every city, town, suburb or areas has dark fibre capability, in which case engineers are required to lay the fibre.
If dark fibre is available for your requested route and there is resourcing available to implement a dark fibre enterprise network, the connected communications benefits and capabilities can be unlimited.
Again, the team at Superloop have outlined four key benefits for businesses who they have worked with to provide dark fibre network. You can read the full explainer in this article but the main summaries are:
- Better performance: as mentioned above, Dark Fibre enables the potential for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, enabling greater capacity to be achieved, highly beneficial for businesses with large data requirements like media, manufacturing and banks.
- A more secure network: Because you won’t share the connection with anyone else, you can get peace of mind for a more secure and resilient network.
- Future proof: Dark Fibre’s near limitless capacity means that businesses can future-proof themselves against the need for greater bandwidth, ensuring a future return on initial outlay or investment in installation and deployment.
Want to know more about dark fibre?
Superloop is one of the most-progressive network operators offering access to extensive, powerful and competitively priced Dark Fibre networks in the key metro markets of Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
The Pathfinder Technology Group team is proud to support Superloop’s infrastructure as we provide anytime, anywhere – 24 x 7 x 365 – break fix maintenance across all their WA points of presence.
Get in touch with Superloop for more information on dark fibre or if you’re keen to talk to a Pathfinder team member, contact us!