The Bottom Line with Dark Fiber Technology
It is certain that plenty of people have heard about dark fiber technology before, but most are not sure what it’s all about. However, don’t fret; it won’t require a Masters degree in engineering to understand it.
Dark fiber is essentially a term for fiber optic cables that are laid underground, but are currently not used. There are actually miles and miles of these unused cables laid out all across the United States.
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Why are they not used? The main reason why it is not utilized is because it is too expensive to make the fibers operational. The price tag can amount to several zeros at the end of a solid number.
In order to fully grasp just how essential dark fiber technology is, it is best to back up a bit and get to know it just a little better.
Optical fiber, or commonly referred to as “fiber optic, actually refers to the technology wherein transmission of data as well as information is being carried inside glass, plastic strands, or fiber as light signals. The term dark fiber is given to the fibers that are unused or unlit, since there are no light signals travelling inside it.
If you compare these fibers to the ordinary copper wire, you will find more advantages with fiber optics; they simply transfer signals much faster and are not subjected to interference. Moreover, transmitting signals again, if problems arise, is not necessary.
As stated, miles and miles of dark fiber can be found across the continent of the United States; all this because companies that laid them out before thought it would be easier to have excess fiber laid out for future use or for lease to other businesses like telephone companies or cable companies.
Nowadays, more and more companies are turning to dark fiber for their business needs since fiber optic technology has become increasingly reliable. However, even though the benefits might be obvious, there are also disadvantages to this.
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One of the primary disadvantages with optical fibers is its price tag. Since it is relatively new, the fiber optic interface and transmitters still have a steep price compared to the common electrical interfaces. A business will find themselves shelling out a huge sum to be able to take advantage of the technology.
Moreover, the lack of an apparent standardization is another big disadvantage. Without standardized procedures, companies are hesitant to accept fiber optic technology.
Moreover, when you use this type of technology, it means securing the right machinery that will work perfectly with it.
However, all these drawbacks are slowly being eliminated. When using fiber optic technology, the bandwidth that you will get will be huge, and the speed is also quite impressive provided that the route is not too winding.
Apart from those mentioned above, the advantages with using dark fiber clearly outweigh the drawbacks. With fiber optic technology, you get to obtain unlimited bandwidth and the capacity to transmit at a faster speed, depending on the route of the fibers.
Even though the price tag is still a bit high right now, this is slowly changing. Overabundance of dark fiber cables are currently helping to curb down the market price and allowing more companies to utilize this technology. Therefore, if your business needs to have a more efficient and reliable communications system, you might want to consider getting dark fiber today.
What is this technology about? Learn more today on dark fiber networks.
