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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:
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What our customers say
Neos Networks is combining its fibre network with Physical Infrastructure Access to create an end-to-end Dark Fibre network, enhancing efficiency at 190 public sector sites, including schools and NHS locations around Aberdeen. Their clear strategy has reduced total construction by 80%.
Denise Wright, ICT Senior Project Leader, Aberdeenshire Council
To ensure our growing connectivity needs were met without any fear of downtime, we turned to Neos Networks to deliver ultra-reliable connectivity.
Rowan Kinch, CEO, Custodian Data Centres
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.
James C. Smith, Director of Partner Management, Three UK
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.
Jeremy Sharp, Head of Strategic Technologies, Jisc
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.
David Tomalin, Group Chief Technology Officer at CityFibre
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.