Turns Out There's Plenty Of Investment In Increasing Backbone Capacity

from the well,-look-at-that... dept

Remember just last week when we were told that there wouldn’t be investment in internet backbone because of fears that network neutrality would become legalized, and it wouldn’t make economic sense? Apparently, someone forgot to tell the network operators. A new research report notes that investment in backbone upgrades is exploding, with just about every network operator already working on upgrades or planning to do so in the next year or so. It may be true that there are still business model questions that need to be worked out, but the idea that investments won’t happen due to fears over network neutrality laws seems wrong. Again, if there’s demand for bandwidth, there will be business models that make sense.


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Turns Out There's Plenty Of Investment In Increasing Backbone Capacity”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
8 Comments
Iron Chef says:

Level3 Backbone Analysis

Of course there’s enough bandwidth. Level3, for example, developed an innovative way to put in place new fiber as the need presents itself… L3 layed empty tubes and ‘vacuum’ a new strand of fiber when needed.

It’s a threat to other players in the fiber business, because L3 has a patent on the methodology. They also have plans to double available bandwidth every two years.

Net Neutrality will enable existing (ATT/Verizon) in the fiber business to utilize their infrastructure in the way they want, at the expense of it’s customerbase, and without having to utilize or think about licensing new technology.

Nate says:

Re: Level3 Backbone Analysis

It would be interesting seeing that patent and when it was submitted for. That technique has been used in Central Offices and Data Centers for at least the 20 years that I’ve been affiliated with them. Conduits between floors are not a new thing and that’s all a fiber tube really is. I first used it myself for underground conduits between two adjacent buildings at the suggestion of the cable vendor about 15 years ago.

Iron Chef says:

Level 3

They used to have a video somewhere on their site somewhere, showing a fiber being pulled through a conduit tube while a huge pump on the other end pulled the air out…

> The network was constructed with multiple conduits, Level 3 can deploy new generations of optical fiber and equipment far more quickly and economically than its competitors – a critical capability in an era of rapid technological change.

> In April 2000, the Smithsonian cited Level 3 as a Computerworld Laureate for its historic achievement in creating a new kind of network infrastructure.

http://www.level3.com/wholesale/reach/index.html

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Proofreading

Noramlly I do not quibble errors like that, but in this case it reverses the meaning of the phrase.

No, it’s correct. According to the report, the telcos were so worried that network neutrality would be mandated by law that they wouldn’t invest in network buildout. They were worried that network neutrality would be written into law.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...