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Dark Fibre
Our extensive Dark Fibre network provides complete flexibility with near limitless capacity.
Dark Fibre refers to unused fibre optic cables that businesses can fully control, allowing you to choose your own protocols and manage your own equipment. It offers unlimited capacity and ensures that your data is the only data on the cable, providing a secure and dedicated network ideal for high-capacity needs.
To make setting up a private Dark Fibre network more affordable, we use existing cables from our network and third parties. This approach reduces the need for new construction by connecting existing routes over short distances, ensuring high reliability with careful monitoring.
Why Dark Fibre?
Unlike managed fibre services, Dark Fibre gives maximum control over your network:
Choose from G652 or G655 fibre specifications.
You control the capacity, making it easy to scale based on your business needs.
Select your own routes and decide between dedicated or shared lines, with options for dedicated ducts and sub-ducts. Customise the technology and pathways to fit your needs.
Specified criteria for optical performance characteristics available.
We provide a range of routing options tailored to your business needs. Even if our network isn’t already in place, we have multiple ways to get you connected.
Custom SLAs for service restoration and fault diagnosis.
Looking for a Dark Fibre solution?
Just fill in the form and we'll find the most cost-effective solution tailored to your business needs.
We'll be in touch to guide you through your Dark Fibre options.
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What our customers say













“At Internet Central, we pride ourselves on delivering a personalised customer service and it’s clear that Neos Networks shares the same mission. Our account team at Neos Networks knows our business and anticipates our needs. As a result, we’re able to focus more time and expertise on delivering great services for our customers. It’s been fantastic to see the partnership grow over the last few years and we can’t wait to see what’s next.”
“We see Neos as a key strategic partner who can help our remit around enhancing Oxfordshire’s digital infrastructure foundations now, and well into the future.”
“It is very important for us to be able to offer to our partners high-speed, full fibre with both local access and nationwide fibre coverage. Working with Neos Networks across the UK helps us to deliver on this connectivity ambition.”
“The demands of a 24-hour search and rescue operation means that downtime is never an option. The new network is delivering improvements in performance and enabling new services. Neos Networks has been the perfect partner to ensure that we deliver an efficient, reliable and stable connection to help HM Coastguard save lives and keep the public safe at sea.”
"We began working with Neos Networks in 2015, when they deployed a robust core connectivity platform to help us expand our reach and meet ambitious growth plans. We’ve since taken advantage of the expansion of Neos Networks’ UK network to deliver more critical services to our customers."
"Neos Networks has been our managed network provider for many years, thanks to the partnership our teams are now better equipped to do their jobs and collaborate with their peers, from anywhere in the country."
“With Neos Networks, we have complete control over the technologies that we roll out over the infrastructure, which means that when it comes to furthering the capabilities of our research and education community – the sky really is the limit.”
By tapping into Neos Networks’ expansive network and utilising its underlying infrastructure, we’re enhancing connectivity capabilities across 250 towns and cities in the UK, futureproofing the UK’s digital economy. In doing so, we’re creating the underlying foundations for future smart cities innovations, which will require high capacity, reliable connectivity to bring about the next generation of urban life.
Neos Networks’ excellent standards of customer care and speed of delivery has made them a long-standing, reliable partner. Most recently, we worked with them to deploy two 100Gbps Network-to-Network Interfaces (NNIs) in Manchester and London to better connect our UK network, providing our customers with access to high capacity business Ethernet services across the country.
“Partnering with Neos Networks equips us with the flexibility and scalability to expand rapidly while staying true to our commitment to exceptional service delivery. This collaboration has been vital in helping us bridge the digital divide and bring high-quality broadband to underserved communities.”
“We just love working with Neos Networks. We trust their expertise and experience to deliver, and I can always find my Neos Account Director when we need help. Like us, they’re collaborative and focused on the customer, working with us for the long term.”
“We’re proud to be leading the way in expanding digital connectivity to our rural communities. Working with Neos Networks has enabled us to deliver a cost-effective, high-speed broadband solution that will benefit schools, medical centres and libraries across the region. This project is an important step in ensuring that everyone, regardless of location, can access the digital services they need to thrive.”
“We’re experiencing exponential growth and anticipate that within the next three years, BMC TV will be the leading provider of media networks in the UK. Our partnership with Neos Networks is fundamental to achieving this vision. Their commitment to service excellence and ability to provide rapid, on-net connectivity allows us to scale at pace, ensuring that our customers benefit from seamless, high-quality broadcasting.”
Dark Fibre FAQs
Take a look at our FAQs for Dark Fibre
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What is Dark Fibre?
A Dark Fibre network is essentially unused fibre optic cables with no service or traffic running on it – an unlit Point-to-Point connection. Unlike Ethernet or lit-fibre services, if you purchase the Dark Fibre, you will also need to deploy and manage the equipment needed to light it. You can find out more about what is Dark Fibre here and how it enables businesses to take control of their IT estate.
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Who owns Dark Fibre?
Businesses use Dark Fibre to create their own private optical network rather than leasing fixed bandwidth enabling businesses to control their own network. You’ll have heard of Dark Fibre, but just who owns Dark Fibre and is it something you should invest in?
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How fast is Dark Fibre?
Due to the high costs associated with Dark Fibre it would make the most sense to get the most capacity you can from the fibre. The question most people ask is how fast is Dark Fibre? Dark Fibre is virtually infinite and is simply down to what technology the business chooses to use.
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Dark Fibre vs Lit Fibre
There is a lot of conversation about fibre – but what exactly is the difference between Dark Fibre and Lit Fibre, and which one is right for you? There are several pros and cons for choosing either Dark Fibre vs Lit Fibre.
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Dark Fibre vs MPLS
To start with, what is MPLS? Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a type of connectivity that is well known for ensuring reliable connectivity for real-time applications and Quality of Service (QoS) to keep critical business information flowing. High-availability MPLS offers support for services such as VoIP, virtual desktops, video conferencing and cloud applications and guarantees no loss of quality.
MPLS can offer robust and reliable connectivity, yet Dark Fibre offers a level of network future-proofing that other means of connectivity can’t. We discuss the pros and cons of both Dark Fibre vs MPLS here.
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Dark Fibre vs Ethernet
Dark Fibre is as it sounds and refers to fibre that is unlit and unmanaged but owned or leased wholly by the business purchasing it whereas, Ethernet for business is where the bandwidth required is leased from a connectivity provider who manages the network. Here we address the differences between Dark Fibre vs Ethernet.
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Dark Fibre vs Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
Dark Fibre is, simply, an unlit glass fibre strand with no equipment attached to it. This gives businesses the option of using any protocol of their choice and their own equipment, whilst safe in the knowledge that only their traffic travels across that fibre strand. In this section we discuss Dark Fibre vs DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) and the benefits each can bring to your business.