Since 2018, Netly has been working with fiber provider Corning to develop a network infrastructure capable of delivering terabyte speeds.
Open access fiber infrastructure provider Netly Fiber is looking beyond the future of speed and aims to meet the needs of the next decade and beyond with the launch of its first TB-class network in Solana Beach, Calif. This is true for consumers and businesses alike. The company was founded in 2017 and is led by CEO Jack Demers. While its decision to enable TB speeds may seem like overkill today, its goal is to create an asset that will last a long time.
It has been working with fiber provider Corning since 2018 to develop a network infrastructure capable of delivering terabyte speeds. The two parties have done this by designing an architecture that pushes dedicated fiber bundles to every home, business, municipal building and wireless site in town. This approach eliminates the need for taps and other active components in the network that can reduce speed. While it is slightly more expensive than a traditional PON fiber network, it is not significant.
As an open access fiber provider, Netly offers only terrestrial fiber assets, allowing ISPs operating on its network to choose their own fiber and speed capabilities. Ting Internet, for example, is its primary tenant in Solana Beach and currently offers 1 Gbps speeds. But they can flip the switch tomorrow and offer 10 gig, and as optics improve and costs drop, terrestrial assets will handle terabit speeds so they can continue to improve, innovate and upgrade over time.
Solana Beach is the first of many cities where Netly hopes to provide TB-class infrastructure. The project built in neighboring Encinitas, California, is about 30 to 40 percent complete, and it plans to announce projects in two other cities later this year. Ultimately, Demers said, the goal is to "build two or three cities at a time" and up to 10 per year.
It is using Corning's SMF-28 Ultra 200-micron bend-insensitive single-mode fiber in Solana Beach, and plans to use the same fiber in the other cities it builds.
In a statement, Darin Howe, Corning's application solutions manager, called Netly's system "the new gold standard for the industry. He continued, "By densifying dedicated fiber throughout the process, Netly's system provides maximum flexibility for the future."
While Demers did not specify where Netly plans to go after Encinitas, he noted that it is targeting second-tier cities that can support its business model.
