Bob David is the Regional Market Manager, Bridgeport and New Haven, for Fibertech Networks in Stratford, CT. Having the right amount of bandwidth has become as critical a resource to local businesses as clean water or electricity. Exacerbating this demand for broadband services is both the continual deterioration of legacy information technology facilities and the reduced investment in network infrastructure by incumbent providers.
Bridgeport businesses such as schools, healthcare facilities and regionally-focused banks are finding it increasingly beneficial to link their locations, online resources and databases to take advantage of efficiencies. One solution in Bridgeport that continues to gain momentum is leasing strands of dark fiber optic networks.
What Is Dark Fiber?
Dark fiber is optical fiber cabling that’s currently in place but not being used. Think of dark fiber as an extension cord. When attached to a power source, an extension cord is a transport mechanism for electricity. The same holds true for dark fiber. When connected to a business with communications electronics on either side, it becomes the medium that voice, data and Internet traffic is transmitted.
In the past few years, only a handful of network providers have made dark fiber investments in mid-size cities. Fibertech Networks, a regional fiber optic broadband services provider, has built a statewide network throughout Connecticut. It has more than 2,000 miles of fiber connecting major metropolitan areas such as Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk and Stamford, among others cities. It also connects north from Hartford to Springfield, Mass., and Southwest from Stamford into White Plains, N.Y.
Advantages Of Dark Fiber
Dark fiber optic networks businesses numerous advantages. Typically, a dark fiber network will be designed with dual paths of communication or in a ring configuration. In the event of a cut in the fiber or an equipment failure, an instantaneous switch back to another communication signal would occur for maximum redundancy
The inherent advantages of dark fiber offer higher-speed connections linking several business locations, and provide the capacity for virtually unlimited expansion to multiple lines on the same broadband connection.
Many mid-size businesses will face major communications challenges over the coming years:
• Linking online resources and databases to share knowledge among disparate locations.
• Obtaining fast and reliable connectivity to keep server clusters synchronized and ensure effective data mirroring, backup and load balancing.
• Increasing disaster recovery capabilities, placing different hosts in different locations with all critical data mirrored at each site.
• Upgrading facilities such as data centers and server farms.
It’s critical that Bridgeport businesses continue to evaluate and implement new alternatives such as leasing strands of dark fiber that deliver business-critical communications solutions at affordable costs.
Fibertech Networks is well-positioned to meet and exceed your fiber-optic bandwidth needs, providing both dark fiber and optical services to Bridgeport businesses since 2001. If you would like more information on Fibertech or how to put our fiber optic network to work for you, please feel free to contact me at bdavid@fibertech.com.
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