The State of Fiber: Six Key Trends Defining the Future of Telecom Infrastructure

Originally published in WIRED, October 2014.

Why do I live in a major metro area yet my broadband service is still from the dial-up age? Why is my Internet connection slow and unreliable? Why am I at the mercy of only one or two service providers in my area? Why does my phone bill seem to get more expensive every month, yet my data runs out and my service provider continues to charge me more money? Why does it feel like my service is lagging and hasn't improved in ages?

Chances are, if you're like one of the millions of Americans who are asking themselves questions like these on a daily basis, you haven't received many answers. That's because, no other industry has undergone the transformation that telecommunications has experienced over the past few years, and very few can explain it in terms that can actually be understood.

Advancements in technology, adoption of social media, and historic economic growth through investment in and the development of networks have changed the entire dynamic in the telecommunications sector on a global scale. Today, there is record high demand for local broadband networks. This has been evidenced through numerous reports and studies that show the health of a community (a city, state, or country) and its economy being tied directly to its access to and availability of high-speed and affordable connections to the Internet.

This demand exists as a natural force from the people and businesses in the community itself, but also from the lack of such a network existing to meet the needs. This has caused many communities themselves to attempt to build their own broadband network, but there are two primary impediments to the success of these endeavors. The first is political. The communities have been met with fierce resistance from the local incumbents that are trying to maintain their control of the local area.

The second is a physical network limitation. In order for the local network to be effective and deliver on the promise of higher speeds and lower costs it needs to have direct access to the core of the Internet and not be held hostage by an Internet Access Provider.

To understand the local access issues and limitations it is critically important to first understand the broader issue at a national level. Therefore the first questions should be:

• Where is the core of the Internet?
• Is the Internet a physical thing?
• How does a network get there?
• What is the current state of telecommunications infrastructure in the United States, and how is this impacting the questions above?

To begin to tackle the national question there are six important trends impacting the current landscape that need to be addressed and understood in order to provide accurate information and clarity for proper decision making on the broader scale.

1. Lack of a National, Neutral Dark Fiber Network is Aiding Crisis. There is a major crisis in telecommunication infrastructure in the United States right now as evidenced by the local broadband drought. This is being driven primarily by the two factors mentioned above, the politics around local, independent network infrastructure and the lack of a national, neutral physical network infrastructure for all of the local networks to build in to. A national open-access dark fiber network is necessary to create nationwide improvements in communication service and transparency among carriers. Imagine where the U.S. would be today without the Interstate Highway System and only a series of one-lane roads to get around from coast to coast – serious traffic jams! Doesn’t that sound like most American’s Internet access situation?

2. Design Inefficiency. What does exist today in terms of national fiber is not only carrier-owned (not neutral), but the current design of the infrastructure is also incredibly inefficient for today’s requirements. Built with a “telephone network” design based upon the needs of Americans from generations ago, these legacy networks are primitive and no longer cater to today's ever-changing American telecom consumer. For example, systems have been designed without factoring in the need for handholes for lateral splicing, and without neutral colocation facilities, thus causing a strain on access to fiber and a place for network operators to place their equipment and make improvements in a timely fashion. Without access to fiber and a place to put the equipment, the current fiber being utilized by carriers is useless, and will continue to render our telecom networks extremely inefficient. Think of it this way: it's like trying to compete in a football game with leather helmets and flimsy shoulder pads. This might have been effective decades ago, but as things have evolved, it simply won't cut it in today's game.

3. Fiber Exhaust Has Reached Critical Levels. Right now the United States is experiencing a fiber exhaust problem unlike any other that we've been faced with since the majority of our telecom networks were first implemented decades ago. The volume and count of cables in the United States is at an all-time low, to the point where there are few, and in some markets, none left. With carriers and other telecom providers seeking access to improved fiber like never before, this has created a major strain on the current telecom landscape, and one that absolutely has to be addressed and improved for us to stay at the forefront of efficiency as we head into the future. Imagine you and all of your closest friends are looking for a new house or apartment, however there's only one or two on the market in your entire area. This wouldn't get you very far; leaving you with very few options, virtually no negotiating leverage, and the scales of power would be tipped entirely in the favor of the seller. This is how critical the need for improvements in fiber exhaust has reached today.

4. Carrier Fiber is Not Neutral Fiber. To get to the bottom of the telecom infrastructure inefficiency topic you need to understand the difference between carrier-owned fiber and network-neutral fiber. This is an issue that is driving much of the inefficiency in our current infrastructure. In today's environment many of the networks are carrier-owned fiber, meaning that the fiber in the ground is a carrier's own fiber. As a result, chances are that capacity on these networks is not available for lease to other seekers in desperate need of their own dark fiber (or at least at reasonable terms!). Network-neutral fiber, on the other hand, is fiber that is available for lease to all fiber seekers. It also comes with the benefit of much more reasonable terms as the providers of dark fiber are interested in and supportive of dark fiber leasing. In order to move successfully into the future and provide an environment where everyone can benefit from improvements in telecom infrastructure, more of an emphasis needs to be placed on network-neutral fiber. Think of it this way: if you're looking for a car, would you rather be held hostage to one or two dealerships in your neighborhood, or have the flexibility of shopping around for the best price across multiple brands and manufacturers?

5. Routes Need More Diversity. Many of the current long haul carrier networks in the United States are in the exact same route. As a result there is very little diversity, which is making us more vulnerable to risks of outages and pricing strains. Business continuity, disaster recovery planning and price competition requires new and physically diverse routes to create protection and competition. Moving forward, routes need to be designed with this concept in mind. Traditional-minded design approaches such as single-path routing need to make way for unique and diverse routing designs that will encourage innovation and provide more options for everyone involved. Innovation has been at the core of the greatest technologies of our generation. Can you imagine today's technological environment without social media? Without tablet devices? Without HDTVs? Well that's how you should look at the need for more route diversity in the telecommunications landscape today. If we don't step up and commit to being more innovative and diversifying these routes, the future will continue to look extremely bleak.

6. Generations-Old Fiber on Life Support. In some cases, up to three generations have passed since most of our networks were first installed. Like anything else in life, the old generation can no longer sustain the demands and future needs of today's consumers, as well as the carriers and other providers that are seeking improved fiber network performance and access. The latest generation optical fiber being manufactured by companies such as Corning incorporates many advances that have been developed over the past decade improving performance and throughput as well as reducing latency for all network operators fortunate enough to have access to this fiber out in the field. Imagine you need to develop a report for work or school, however the only tools you have access to are a typewriter from the 1960's and a calculator to run the numbers? This might have cut it decades ago, but simply won't cut it in today's world. It might sound exaggerated, but it's not. This is the exact situation we're faced with right now when it comes to being dependent on some of the generations-old fiber to get the job done.

To say the United States is at a pivotal point in its evolution as a leader in telecommunication and fiber infrastructure would be a major understatement. The need for innovation and change has never before been more critical. The ability to address the issues above will be the difference between whether or not Americans finally receive answers and solutions to the questions they've so desperately been seeking, or whether they'll continue to remain left "in the dark".

Hunter Newby was CEO of Allied Fiber at the time of this publishing.