4 ms·

Here's the first paragraph. Makes the context and outfall more apparent: If CenturyLink is allowed to buy Level 3, then California will lose a major source of

Here's the first paragraph. Makes the context and outfall more apparent: If CenturyLink is allowed to buy Level 3, then California will lose a major source of dark fiber. That’s my reading of a settlement agreement between CenturyLink, Level 3 and three of the organisations that challenged the deal at the California Public Utilities Commission. The fourth challenger, the California Emerging Technology Fund, isn’t part of the agreement.

bluejekyll 9y ago
For those unaware, dark fiber refers to fiber in the ground that was overbuilt by the owning company, in this case Level3. What I don't get is why would someone not want to lease this unused capacity? Is it to squash competition and push up consumer costs?
- sergers 9y ago
  Yes. That's CenturyLink's business model.
  - hedora 9y ago
    Maybe the CA legislature (or proposition system) can step in. I doubt the feds will do anything these days, but the state government has repeatedly shown a willingness to fill the gap.
- xadhominemx 9y ago
  That's not what dark fiber is. Dark fiber is dedicated fiber optic strands that are not in use and available to be leased to a customer providing their own optical equipment. Enterprises can outsource management of the capital equipment (wavelengths) or the entire network (e.g. Ethernet). The latter is known is lit services and is much more common than dark fiber.
  - bluejekyll 9y ago
    Unused ~= overbuilt. The leasing part was implied from the parent post.
    - seanp2k2 9y ago
      They could also use it for existing customer traffic, but don't, as a means to control the supply to control the price and win other political objectives.
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      No "unused" does not automatically imply "overbuilt." There are many companies such as Lightower that build a network of "route miles" with the sole intention of leasing fiber. This is not the same thing as selling excess capacity because of a miscalculation. http://www.lightower.com/network-map/ http://www.lightower.com/network-map/
  - corndoge 9y ago
    That's exactly what dark fiber is. The parent merely neglected to mention the leasing part explicitly in the first sentence.
    - xadhominemx 9y ago
      "Overbuild" has a specific definition. It means to lay fiber within another company's footprint, not to build with excess capacity.
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  Speculuation: Backbone data prices have continued to sink, year after year. "Last mile" connectivity prices continue to rise and far outpace the underlying data transmission costs (and particularly, the backbone portion of those costs). If you have spare backbone capacity, but are also in the very lucrative business of providing end-point / last mile connectivity, why would you lease your excess capacity and open yourself up to competition in the lucrative last mile segment? P.S. Take "last mile" figuratively, in the above. I don't know where the line exactly between "local"/lucrative and "long haul"/ever-cheaper.
  - lsjdfkljdfwkwdf 9y ago
    Wavelength/dark fiber is an entirely different business than bandwidth, plenty of reasons why companies don't want to get in residential business.
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    >"If you have spare backbone capacity, but are also in the very lucrative business of providing end-point / last mile connectivity, why would you lease your excess capacity and open yourself up to competition in the lucrative last mile segment?" The actual fiber is a sunk cost. It's possibly you might get a better return on that asset by leasing unused capacity even if it introduces some element of competition.
- bogomipz 9y ago
  >"For those unaware, dark fiber refers to fiber in the ground that was overbuilt by the owning company, in this case Level3." Overbuilding is not the differentiator though. During the original dot com boom of the 90's yes there was a lot of excess capacity due to overbuilding but dark fiber is really any fiber that is currently unlit that is available for lease. Building capacity can be and often is the business model itself. For example you pull fiber through an urban area and then sell IRUs(indefeasible right of use) on a cable pair, usually for a period of 20 years. As a fiber provider I may not have ever intended to light that fiber myself so it was never overbuilt.

bluejekyll 9y ago

For those unaware, dark fiber refers to fiber in the ground that was overbuilt by the owning company, in this case Level3. What I don't get is why would someone not want to lease this unused capacity? Is it to squash competition and push up consumer costs?

sergers 9y ago
Yes. That's CenturyLink's business model.
- hedora 9y ago
  Maybe the CA legislature (or proposition system) can step in. I doubt the feds will do anything these days, but the state government has repeatedly shown a willingness to fill the gap.
xadhominemx 9y ago
That's not what dark fiber is. Dark fiber is dedicated fiber optic strands that are not in use and available to be leased to a customer providing their own optical equipment. Enterprises can outsource management of the capital equipment (wavelengths) or the entire network (e.g. Ethernet). The latter is known is lit services and is much more common than dark fiber.
- bluejekyll 9y ago
  Unused ~= overbuilt. The leasing part was implied from the parent post.
  - seanp2k2 9y ago
    They could also use it for existing customer traffic, but don't, as a means to control the supply to control the price and win other political objectives.
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    No "unused" does not automatically imply "overbuilt." There are many companies such as Lightower that build a network of "route miles" with the sole intention of leasing fiber. This is not the same thing as selling excess capacity because of a miscalculation. http://www.lightower.com/network-map/ http://www.lightower.com/network-map/
- corndoge 9y ago
  That's exactly what dark fiber is. The parent merely neglected to mention the leasing part explicitly in the first sentence.
  - xadhominemx 9y ago
    "Overbuild" has a specific definition. It means to lay fiber within another company's footprint, not to build with excess capacity.
pasbesoin 9y ago
Speculuation: Backbone data prices have continued to sink, year after year. "Last mile" connectivity prices continue to rise and far outpace the underlying data transmission costs (and particularly, the backbone portion of those costs). If you have spare backbone capacity, but are also in the very lucrative business of providing end-point / last mile connectivity, why would you lease your excess capacity and open yourself up to competition in the lucrative last mile segment? P.S. Take "last mile" figuratively, in the above. I don't know where the line exactly between "local"/lucrative and "long haul"/ever-cheaper.
- lsjdfkljdfwkwdf 9y ago
  Wavelength/dark fiber is an entirely different business than bandwidth, plenty of reasons why companies don't want to get in residential business.
- bogomipz 9y ago
  >"If you have spare backbone capacity, but are also in the very lucrative business of providing end-point / last mile connectivity, why would you lease your excess capacity and open yourself up to competition in the lucrative last mile segment?" The actual fiber is a sunk cost. It's possibly you might get a better return on that asset by leasing unused capacity even if it introduces some element of competition.
bogomipz 9y ago
>"For those unaware, dark fiber refers to fiber in the ground that was overbuilt by the owning company, in this case Level3." Overbuilding is not the differentiator though. During the original dot com boom of the 90's yes there was a lot of excess capacity due to overbuilding but dark fiber is really any fiber that is currently unlit that is available for lease. Building capacity can be and often is the business model itself. For example you pull fiber through an urban area and then sell IRUs(indefeasible right of use) on a cable pair, usually for a period of 20 years. As a fiber provider I may not have ever intended to light that fiber myself so it was never overbuilt.