Build or Buy Middle-Mile Networks? Diverse Solutions

The most important decision when designing and building a statewide middle-mile fiber-based network is whether to build a brand new long-distance fiber-optic cable route in areas where none exist, or use strands within an already installed cable via a pre-paid, discounted long-term lease called an IRU. In California for example, its great diversity of population centers, geographic and topographic terrains, weather conditions, and natural hazards greatly influences the presence, or absence, of fiber-based middle-mile infrastructure. Often, rural, rugged areas will lack middle-mile infrastructure, while urban areas possess ample amounts of such. Thus, should one build or buy their broadband, middle-mile solution? Building middle-mile connections is preferential in rural or remote areas due to the areas' lack of fiber or any internet service infrastructure, broadly speaking. Though it is intensive in terms of funding, labor, and time. Buying middle-mile connections is preferential in dense urban areas, where there is an abundance of fiber or broadband-related infrastructure already in place, which supports the "dig once" policy of minimizing construction costs and disruption to the local area. Overall, creating a fiber-based middle-mile network requires careful and customized decision-making, where the ideal decision in one area may differ radically from another. Thus, smart partnerships and and utilization of resources can provide ample, equitable, and future-facing broadband capacities for any community's needs.