Dark fiber providers
Compare 51 dark fiber and wavelength providers on five continents. Uniti runs about 240,000 fiber route miles, Zayo 224,000 after buying Crown Castle Fiber, and EXA 180,000+ route km across Europe. Lumen reaches 2,200+ on-net data centers. Every figure links its dated source.
| American Dark Fiber | North America | Dark fiber | Metro | —No network route-mile total published; the leadership team built nearly 3,000 route miles at FTI.1 | — | —Data-center-to-data-center dark fiber across its California networks.2 | 2026-11-11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqua Comms | Global | Dark fiber + wavelength | Long haul | —AEC-3 subsea cable: 5,928 km, part of the Amitié system.1 | — | —Backhaul PoPs include Equinix NY5/NY9, NYI-QTD1, Digital Realty JFK13/DUB2, Equinix DB3/LD6/LD8 and Telehouse West.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Arcadian Infracom | North America | Dark fiber | Long haul | —Six long-haul routes in development, adding 3,500+ route miles.1 | — | —Routes built to reach major data-center hubs and subsea landings.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Arelion | Europe | Dark fiber + wavelength | Long haul | —80,000 km of Arelion’s own fiber across Europe, North America and Asia (network page, November 2026).3 | — | —Equipment housed in third-party colocation facilities, data centers and telehouses, plus amplifier sites.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| AT&T Wholesale | North America | Wavelength | Metro + long haul | —400G wavelengths in more than 40 U.S. metros (June 2026 service footprint).1 | — | —400G service ties into more than 130 carrier hotels nationwide.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Bandwidth Infrastructure Group (BIG Fiber) | North America | Dark fiber | Metro | 3101310+ route miles in the San Francisco Bay Area alone; the Atlanta and Portland networks come on top.1 | — | 65165+ Bay Area data centers on-net.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Bluebird Fiber | North America | Dark fiber | Metro | 36,000136,000+ route miles after the Everstream purchase, Kansas to Ohio and north to the Canadian border; 450+ PoPs in 12 states.1 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| BSO | Asia-Pacific | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro | — | — | —Named Tokyo metro data-center endpoints.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Cirion Technologies | Latin America | Dark fiber | Metro | — | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| CityFibre | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro | — | — | —Metro dark fibre supports site-to-data-center aggregation and onward transport.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Cogent Communications | North America | Wavelength | Metro + long haul | 94,700294,700+ intercity route miles plus 34,400+ metro route miles on the Q3 2026 network map.2 | — | 1,00011,000+ carrier-neutral data centers on the wavelength network.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Colt | Europe | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | — | — | 1,10011,100+ connected data centers and 31,000+ enterprise buildings across 32 countries on the dark fibre network.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Conterra Networks | North America | Dark fiber + wavelength | — | 13,000113,000 route miles on the carrier network map, with planned and leased routes marked separately.1 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Crosslake Fibre | Global | Dark fiber | Long haul | —Toronto–Buffalo: 131 km including 59 km under Lake Ontario; Slough–Paris CrossChannel route: about 550 km.1 | — | —CrossChannel names Equinix LD4, Interxion PAR3 and Equinix PA7 endpoints.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| DFA / Dark Fibre Africa | Africa | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —14,000 km dark fibre network across South Africa.1 | — | —Long-haul routes to Teraco Isando, River Horse Valley and Great Westerford.3 | 2026-11-11 |
| DQE Communications | North America | Dark fiber | — | 5,00015,000+ route miles across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.1 | — | 24224 data centers on the DQE network.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| euNetworks | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | — | 6001600+ data centers linked by the dark fibre offer; product-page count.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Eurofiber | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —77,500 km of optical fiber network over 29,500 km of unique trench.1 | — | 3001300+ connected data centers across the group network.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| EXA Infrastructure | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | 180,0001180,000+ route km of fiber and duct, owned and operated, terrestrial and subsea.1 | —Private data-center interconnect and campus/metro duct builds offered.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Fatbeam | North America | Dark fiber | — | 1,25231,252 route miles across 13 metro markets (June 2023 filing); 150,000+ fiber miles on the current site.2 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| FiberLight | North America | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | 20,000120,000+ fiber route miles and 3 million+ fiber miles.1 | — | 2801280 serviceable data centers, 300,000 pre-qualified buildings and 1,900+ towers.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| FirstLight | North America | Dark fiber | — | —Northeast and mid-Atlantic network; FirstLight’s pages publish differing mileage totals.1 | — | —Data-center interconnection offered for hyperscaler networks.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| GasLINE | Europe | Dark fiber | Long haul | —65,000+ km optical fiber network, much of it in gas-pipeline corridors, with 5,000 km more planned through 2029.1 | — | —Connects telehouses, PoPs and data centers in 200+ cities.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| GlobalConnect Carrier | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —100,000+ km of dark fiber infrastructure serving 50+ cities.2 | — | —Metro access network reaches major Nordic data-center hubs.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Hunter Communications | North America | Dark fiber | — | — | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Lightpath | North America | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | 12,600112,600+ route miles of owned fiber across 11 metro markets.1 | — | 1941194+ on-net data centers on the dark fiber product page.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Lightstorm | Asia-Pacific | Wavelength | — | —30,000+ km fiber network across India.1 | — | 70170+ data centers anchor the India network.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Liquid Intelligent Technologies | Africa | Dark fiber | — | —110,000 km fiber network across Africa (October 2024).1 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Lumen | North America | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | 25,000125,000+ route miles of low-loss next-generation intercity fiber; 163,000 on-net buildings and 530+ sites with up to 400G on the same product page.1 | — | 2,20012,200+ on-net third-party data centers on the dark fiber product page.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| MOX Networks | North America | Dark fiber | Long haul | — | — | —Named access includes Equinix in Ashburn and Seattle, Westin Seattle and EdgeConneX Seattle.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Neos Networks | Europe | Dark fiber | — | — | — | 90290+ UK data centers on the Neos network.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Open Fiber | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Relined Fiber Network | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —51,000+ network km including preferred suppliers; 13,500+ km in the Netherlands.1 | — | 1101More than 110 carrier-neutral data centers connected in the Netherlands, with redundant connections reported.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| RETN | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | — | —Warsaw metro expansion describes independent routes to data centers.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Segra | North America | Dark fiber | — | 44,000244,000 fiber route miles across 24 states (April 2025), including the former UPN network.2 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Sipartech | Europe | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Sparkle | Global | Dark fiber + wavelength | Long haul | —600,000+ km of fiber owned and managed, including submarine cable interests (March 2025).2 | — | —City2City long-haul capacity between major cloud data centers; no DC count stated.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| SummitIG | North America | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —1,200+ miles of fiber across Northern Virginia and other data-center metros; Phoenix coming soon.1 | — | —Dedicated data-center networks in Northern Virginia and other named U.S. metros.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Superloop | Asia-Pacific | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | — | — | —DC service handoff is at the Superloop demarcation; customer manages the cross-connect.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Tampnet Carrier | Europe | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | — | — | —30+ connected data centers.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Tata Communications | Asia-Pacific | Wavelength | Metro + long haul | — | — | —PhonePe deployment links three data centers on 100G DWDM.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Telstra InfraCo | Asia-Pacific | Dark fiber | Metro | — | — | —Data Centre–Premise and exchange/POI connections offered; no DC count stated.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Telxius | Global | Wavelength | Long haul | —100,000+ km of submarine cables and terrestrial backhaul.1 | — | —26 landing stations and data centers on the network.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| UFINET | Latin America | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | —150,000+ km of fiber network across Latin America.1 | — | —Colocation and access into the Latin American data-center ecosystem are offered.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Uniti Wholesale | North America | Dark fiber | Metro + long haul | 240,0001About 240,000 fiber route miles across 47 states for the combined Uniti group (Q3 2026 10-Q), including the Kinetic consumer network.1 | — | —May 2026 wholesale expansion added dark fiber and colocation sites; no group on-net data-center count published.2 | 2026-11-11 |
| Verizon Partner Solutions | Global | Wavelength | — | — | — | —Data-center, cloud-site, private-site and cable-landing endpoints; no on-net DC count stated.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Vocus | Asia-Pacific | Dark fiber | Metro | — | — | —Data-center handoff at the carrier demarcation frame; customers arrange onward connectivity.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| WANRack | North America | Dark fiber | — | — | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| WIOCC | Africa | Wavelength | Long haul | —115,000+ km terrestrial and 200,000+ km subsea infrastructure.1 | — | —Services connect client sites, carrier PoPs, DCs, exchanges and cable landings; OADC access included.1 | 2026-11-11 |
| Zayo | North America | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | 224,0003224,000 North American route miles and 32 million fiber miles (August 2026), including the acquired Crown Castle fiber.3 | — | — | 2026-11-11 |
| Ziply Fiber Wholesale | North America | Dark fiber + wavelength | Metro + long haul | — | — | 70170+ on-net data centers across the wholesale footprint.1 | 2026-11-11 |
Filter by offer to split unlit strands from managed waves. Scope notes under each figure say what it measures and when. Open a provider for markets, fiber specs, IRU terms and its AI deals.
Start with the route you need
All shortlistsNorth American fiber network providers
Compare North American dark fiber and wavelength providers by metro coverage, intercity routes, dated network footprint and data-center access evidence.
European fiber network providers
Compare European dark fibre and optical transport providers by country, metro and backbone reach, network measurement scope and data-center access notes.
Asia-Pacific fiber network providers
Find Asia-Pacific dark fibre and wavelength providers for Australian metro pairs, Indian data-center backbones and selected Asian optical network routes.
Latin American fiber network providers
Compare Latin American dark fiber, metro deployments and international optical transport, with source-linked coverage and original network scope notes.
African fiber and optical providers
Compare African open-access dark fibre and wholesale optical providers by documented service geography, fiber-network scope, terms and data-center access.
AI and hyperscaler fiber projects
AI and hyperscaler fiber deals from Zayo, Lumen, Uniti, Lightpath, BSO and Telxius: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Meta, AWS and Google, with dates and build status.
Read the footprint before the figure
MethodologyRoute miles measure the path; fiber miles count every strand along it. Zayo’s 224,000 route miles carry 32 million fiber miles. Each figure sits beside a scope note that names the network, market and date it covers, so you compare like with like.
Every record links to operator product pages, network documents, announcements or filings, with an access date. Download the source mappings to audit each field. Send sourced corrections to hello@darkfiberlist.com.
Questions before you light the fiber
What do dark fiber providers supply?
They supply unlit optical strands between agreed endpoints. You install and operate the transmission equipment; the provider maintains the underlying fiber under the contract. Route length, optical loss, handoffs and restoration terms determine what you can build.
How do route miles differ from fiber miles?
Route miles describe the geographic path of a network. Fiber miles count individual strands along that path. A cable with many strands has far more fiber miles than route miles. Zayo, for example, reports 224,000 route miles and 32 million fiber miles.
What does on-net mean for a data center?
On-net means the provider’s fiber already enters the building, so a dark fiber order needs spare strands and a cross-connect rather than new construction. Serviceable and near-net sites need a lateral build first, which adds cost and weeks to delivery.
What is the difference between metro and long-haul dark fiber?
Metro fiber connects facilities within a city or local market. Long-haul fiber connects markets and often requires amplification or regeneration sites. A provider with both offers can join an intercity backbone to local data-center entrances.
What should I send when requesting a dark fiber quote?
Send the endpoint addresses and facilities, required fiber pairs, target ready-for-service date, contract preference and diversity requirements. Ask for street-level routes, shared-risk details, fiber specifications, loss budgets, handoff tests and maintenance terms.
How does an IRU differ from a lease?
An indefeasible right of use grants specified usage rights for an agreed term. A lease rents the defined strands under its own payment and service terms. Upfront charges, recurring maintenance, underlying rights and restoration obligations belong in the commercial comparison.
Request dark fiber quotes
Send your endpoint addresses, fiber-pair requirement and target service date. Include the providers you want to contact and the physical diversity your design requires.
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