With the high demand for always-on Internet services and fiber networks only continuing to increase as businesses and residential areas demand reliable capacity for their networks, companies like Allied Fiber (News - Alert) are working hard to build and operate its own network to meet those requirements.

You may be familiar with Allied Fiber for sponsoring the Dark Fiber Community (DFC), which was formed in response to the rising demands for dark fiber products and services and seeks to connect key vendors with buyers that are planning to build and deploy optical transport networks. The DFC serves as an educational platform to share news and maintain discussions for thought leaders looking for new ways to overcome broadband access and fiber optic obstacles.

However, aside from creating the DFC for companies in the fiber optical industry, what really drives Allied Fiber is the unique opportunity it is in the process of developing in the U.S. through its own network-neutral fiber optic cable system. When complete, the system will connect sub-sea landing points, cell, towers, data centers, carrier hotels, collocation huts, enterprise buildings, schools and governments with next generation long-haul and short-haul dark fiber.

Jason Cohen, President and COO of Allied Fiber, recently sat down with TMC executive editor, Paula Bernier (News - Alert) to discuss the development of the network and the company’s goals to getting its network-neutral system up and running by the end of this year.  

According to Cohen, Allied Fiber’s network is the first long haul network that will be built in over 10 years, and it is unique in that it will provide not only long haul cables but short haul fiber as well.

Long haul cables allows customers to access the fiber at endpoints and collocation (collo) facilities that will be built every 60 miles along the route, while short haul fibers are designed specifically to be accessed anywhere along the route.

The real benefit of Allied Fiber’s network is that it is network neutral. In the past, old networks were built by carriers specifically for their own use and collos were typically limited to just the carrier. Allied Fiber’s neutral network will instead offer fiber to anyone that wants to buy it as well as reserve space in the collocation facilities.

Allied Fiber’s decision to build and operate its own network was built on the demand to open up long haul fiber to companies that couldn’t previously access that fiber on their own. Cohen refers to such companies as anyone who drives enough capacity that they could light their own fiber and take advantage of neutral collos such as financial institutions, banks, government establishments and search engine and social media companies.

Cohen also mentioned that the implementation plan for the dark fiber network has been divided into phases around the country. The first phase, which is currently underway, includes a route that will span Chicago to New York and on to Ashburn, Virginia and is expected to be finished by the end of 2012. Phase 2 of the network will stretch from the end of Phase 1 in Ashburn Virginia to Atlanta and then to Miami.

For more information on Allied Fiber and its Dark Fiber Network watch the interview with Jason Cohen above and visit the Dark Fiber Community, exclusively on TMCnet.