And if you step back and just look at intracontinental cables, Google has fully financed a number of those already; it was one of the first companies to build a fully private submarine line. Historically, cables have been owned by groups of private companies — mostly telecom providers — but saw the start of a massive submarine cable boom, and this time, the buyers are content providers. Consumers will soon need to decide exactly how much faith they want to place in these companies to build out the internet of tomorrow.
We need to decide carefully, too; these are the same companies that are gaining access to a seemingly ever-increasing share of our private lives. If you want to measure the internet in miles, fiber-optic submarine cables are the place to start. These unassuming cables crisscross the ocean floor worldwide, carrying percent of international data over bundles of fiber-optic cable strands the diameter of a garden hose.
All told, there are more than , miles of submarine cables in use today. While past cable builders leveraged cable ownership to sell bandwidth, content providers are building purposefully private cables.
The internet is commonly described as a cloud. Licensed professionals will have to be hired to run the heavy machinery. Planning infrastructure requires experienced engineers to map out where and how networks will be built. Engineers have to take care of poles even in dangerous situations. It can sometimes end up being more trouble than it is worth, resulting in that project being put aside for another.
One of the reasons it is often easier for municipalities to work in partnership with ISPs to build fiber infrastructure is because of the experienced and expensive personnel needed. This is a challenge for any business venture that involves large expensive projects.
Building fiber involves a very large upfront cost. Unfortunately, it takes years for the company to see a return on investment. Unfortunately, not every home is going to subscribe to fiber. The general monthly cost of the provider has to be subtracted from the monthly cost before you can tell what the actual profit will be, and usually, that is above half of the monthly cost.
A municipality building fiber is looking return on investment is going to be much different, because this investment is about community growth and prosperity, not a fiscal profit. The return on investment a municipality looks for is going to depend on what their broadband goals were.
Some common returns on investment are:. Broadband infrastructure is a hot-button issue in government right now. From Washington to your local state house politicians are trying to decide the best way to connect us all. Whatever changes the government makes, now or in the future, have to be carefully considered by anyone building fiber infrastructure.
One way government is helping build better broadband is by providing grant money to ISPs and municipalities. This is great for ISPs because it balances out the high cost of building fiber in rural areas. When an ISP builds new infrastructure in one specific rural area, they can delegate other funds to connect homes they pass along the way.
This way an ISP can connect more homes. The FCC is also providing funds for state government grants that can be granted to rural municipalities looking to build out their broadband infrastructure.
Municipal Broadband is a hot-button issue across the country. For municipalities to qualify for these grants that have to fit certain criteria. Criteria vary from state to state, as does the definition of broadband. To qualify for any government funding though, a community has to have speeds that fall under a broadband definition.
An ISP receiving any government funding has to build to the definition, though some grants have a specific build to definition. Another element of governments increased interest in broadband infrastructure is policy related. There are currently twenty states with laws that prohibit municipalities from building their own broadband network. Many of these state laws were lobbied into action by large telecom corporations. The majority of states do allow municipalities to build and maintain their own broadband though, including 24 states with that have at least one community with their own fiber optic Internet network.
It is possible that, in the future, these state laws will no longer be applicable. Congress has been working on a bill that would overturn these state laws , paving the way for municipalities to build their own fiber infrastructure. When it comes to building fiber, whether it is an ISP or a municipality, building for the future is an important consideration.
It is clear that the Internet of Things is growing and expanding, with new ways to connect our lives every day. The more things we connect the Internet the faster speeds we need to power them. That is why so many ISPs and municipalities are choosing to build future-proof fiber infrastructure now, versus outdated copper that will only need to be replaced in years. More than that though, they have to build for changes in population and economic landscape.
Building for the future often means building more fiber all at once, versus coming back in late to install more. Yes, building fiber optic Internet is expensive, but those large expenses have more to do with the infrastructure than the fiber itself.
The cost of doubling strands of fiber can be a difference of mere cents, whereas the cost of changing infrastructure in the future can be between thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Dark fiber , optical fibers that are part of a fiber cable but are not currently being used, can be a great asset to an ISP or municipality.
Dark fiber can be sold or leased out in the future, helping to speed up the investment return for ISPs or provide extra money to a municipality. Despite the concerns involved, many ISPs have dedicated themselves to fiber optic Internet deployment. Some ISPs have even committed to only building fiber infrastructure going forward, and are actively working to replace existing copper.
OTELCO is one of many ISPs that has decided to embrace the future by using fiber for all new infrastructure projects, while actively working to replace copper wires with optical fibers. Now that you know more about fiber optic Internet you may be more interested in how one company is deploying it.
Back to Top. Aerial fiber: Fiber strung above ground, usually up on utility poles. Asymmetrical Connections: Internet connections with different download and upload speeds. The Backbone of the Internet: A series of networks that connect the Internet across the world.
Binary: A code of ones and zeros that builds everything you see on the Internet. Bits: The individual ones and zeros that make up binary code. As in Kbps , Mbps , and Gbps. Obarrio, Ave. Ricardo Arango Edif. Victoria Plaza, 1er. Aviadores del Chaco No. Del Libertador No. Can you tell us? How did you find ud? Acept the terms of use and Privacy Policy.
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About us. Our network. Go to our network. An amazing team. Rail right-of-way the land that runs parallel to the railroad has historically been a popular location for communications cables—rather than having to negotiate with dozens of property owners to run cable across states, companies could just negotiate with a railroad company for a straight shot for long-distance lines. SPC initially used their right-of-way to build out communications infrastructure for internal communications, later transforming that internal service into Sprint an acronym for Southern Pacific Internal Network and Telephone and later Southern Pacific Telecommunications, rebranded as Qwest in and acquired by CenturyLink in Merger alchemy tends to remain in legal filings and website redirects rather than changes to the environment or to the lives of most consumers.
Because the consequences of actions by these companies that most consumers never hear of tend to come back to consumers. A few examples: Level 3 that telecom that emerged from a mining concern was implicated as the potential weak point through which the NSA was able to spy on communications of Google and Yahoo users. While net neutrality had been a pet concern of policy wonks for a long time before it became the law of the land, incidents that helped bring the policy battle to a head included disputes between last-mile providers, like Comcast and Verizon, over who should bear the infrastructural costs of high-bandwidth traffic from companies like Netflix interestingly, the issue of Netflix traffic also involved Cogent Communications.
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