DARK FIBER MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2024-2031)

Key Developments

• In January 2024, Bandwidth IG announced that the company’s latest dark fiber network expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company will deliver over 310 route miles and more than 2 million fiber miles to one of the largest data center markets in the world.
• In May 2023, Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., a leading global communications infrastructure provider, announced its strategic partnership with Fermaca Networks, a leading provider of long-haul dark fiber infrastructure in Mexico. The partnership will provide the most modern and diverse connectivity between the U.S. and Mexico.
• In May 2023, Dark Fiber and Infrastructure, LLC (DF&I), a leading developer and operator of dark fiber and conduit networks in Northern Virginia and Maryland, announced that Digital Realty, the global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data center solutions, is bringing two additional data center campuses on-net to DF&I’s Express Connect dark fiber network
• In May 2023, AT&T, a provider of telecommunications services, partnered with BlackRock, an American multinational investment company, to form a Joint Venture – Gigapower. Gigapower plans to provide a state-of-the-art fiber network to internet service providers and other businesses in the U.S.

*Definition: Dark fiber refers to unused optical fiber that has been installed but is not 'lit', or in use. In the dark fiber market, telecom providers lease these unused fiber strands to businesses and network operators on an indefeasible right of use basis. The lessee is then responsible for 'lighting' the fiber by installing their own network equipment to transmit signals and make use of the fiber connectivity. They can establish high-speed network connections between buildings, cities or states using the leased dark fiber.