What is Dark Fiber? Benefits and Uses Explained

What is the difference between Dark Fiber vs Lit Fiber?

Dark Fiber and Lit Fibre offer very different options, so it is important to consider what is most important to your business. Dark fiber refers to a fiber connection that is not currently in use. Lit fiber on the other hand is “live” and provides a high-bandwidth connection. Dark fiber becomes lit fiber when someone adds electronics to it and starts using it.

What are the benefits of Dark Fiber?

Unlimited Bandwidth

The bandwidth that an organization can access with Dark Fiber is more or less unlimited. This results in fast transmission of data and optimal connectivity for the user. You only pay for the fiber optic connection and the equipment, not based on Mbits or Gbits. The latter is the case when you opt for a bandwidth service.

Scalability

Scalability is a further advantage. Because you have full control over the equipment, you can scale up based on your own connectivity needs. So, if you want to assign extra bandwidth to a service or add extra services to the network, you can do so in a very short space of time. You do not need to purchase any additional bandwidth to do this.

Full control

An organization builds its own network and can develop its own network strategy. As an organization, you are not dependent on a third party’s partners in any way. Not only do you retain full control over how you manage and maintain the network, but you also control project costs.

Low Latency

With dark fiber, enterprises can get a straight line from point A to point B, which improves performance and reduces latency. For certain applications, customers need to get data transferred really quickly from one place to another. Examples could be financial and stock trading, research, and streaming data. The best way to accomplish this is to set up your own private network without the additional stops in between.

Improved Redundancy

Many enterprise customers have a primary and secondary Internet circuit for redundancy purposes. This deals directly with their disaster recovery and business continuity (DRBC) plan. In this case, the customer would have a carrier-provided Internet connection and their own dark fiber connection. For example, in the event of a natural or human-caused disaster, customers could lose their carrier Internet and still be up and running on the private, dark fiber network they have in place.

Encryption

Organizations, particularly large retailers, and institutions in the healthcare, hospitality, public and financial sectors, are increasingly required to demonstrate that they are in control and that they handle personal data and other confidential information responsibly. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies to all companies from 25 May 2018, is an important development in this area. Because Dark Fiber has its own light-generation equipment, you have greater control over a connection’s security.

Voiped Telecom

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Voiped Telecom is a European Internet service provider offering businesses dark fiber connectivity in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, and, Ukraine. With some of the highest maximum speeds on the market, Voiped Telecom provides diversity in connection as well as endless configurations according to your company's specification requirements.