Today’s aggressive digital business landscape measures success in both tangible, quantitative metrics and highly dynamic, qualitative characteristics. Not only is the operability of today’s applications defined by nanoseconds, but an entire organization’s footprint, customer service and user relationships are built on reliability and trust. Networks are undoubtedly the workhorses that carry obsessively tracked, highly sought-after technical, operational and reputational results on their back. Subsequently, connectivity has become the gatekeeper, not only of how business applications and platforms react to evolving needs, but also of how brands are seen through the eyes of consumers.
Positive sentiment depends on how fast online services respond, how accessible customer resources are, how private information is kept within the business ecosystem — the list goes on. To cater to these business-critical needs, networks have been on a trajectory of densification, expansion and advancement, introducing new strategies and tools to cater to the very lowest-latency requirements and always-on services. After all, it wasn’t long ago that the government dispersed $42 billion in network investment across the country to support the universality of high-speed broadband (a goal that the White House wants to achieve by 2030). In 2024, the momentum of this growth is only accelerating.
Of course, the pursuit of equitable connectivity access is a trend that runs so deep in our country that it can hardly be called a trend. Still, with that as our backdrop, many fiber providers and their customers are today focusing not on that quantitative growth, but on qualitative advancement and the technologies that are defining and delivering new value. Today, that advancement will be defined by a few leading trends that will shape the network landscape (and how businesses engage with it, procure it and operate within it) for a continually evolving era of digital business. Here’s what to look for this year and in years to come.
#1: Dark Fiber Everywhere
The uptake of dark fiber-based services is not necessarily a new story, but its roots in our current connectivity landscape will undoubtedly continue, becoming a foremost catalyst of network growth in 2024 and beyond. In 2022, the global dark fiber network market size accounted for $5.49 billion — and that total is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% into 2030. Why dark fiber? In essence, it’s where businesses are finding their nanoseconds. Dark fiber, with its added control, unlimited bandwidth, predictable costs and speed-of-light performance is a key enabler of new applications across AI, ML, IoT and beyond because it delivers everything these use cases require. Data can go from a data center to a business location and back (and from a data center to a customer endpoint and back) in the blink of an eye, making game-changing technologies a reality by avoiding the experience killers: Latency, jitter and the like. These days, hyperscalers and large organizations are pushing forward with more data centers, more edge nodes, more points of presence and more sweeping technological goals — that fabric of potential will be connected by dark fiber. In years past, many talked about the journey to the edge. Despite the shift in conversation to be more application-focused as opposed to geographically-focused, the needs remain the same — and the best way to get data to the very edges of the map (or from users’ devices both near and far) is with dark fiber’s rich network foundations.
#2: When Ease and Predictability Matter, The Managed Service is King
To further understand why dark fiber will be a key trend in 2024 and beyond, we have to go back to the core value-adds it delivers: Predictable costs and ease of use. Yes, even on the level of hyperscalers, simplicity and predictability are crucial. When thinking about hyperscalers’ seemingly endless resources and massive, rapidly advancing footprints, it can be easy to forget that they too depend on solid foundations. After all, no business can thrive when it’s built on sand. Dark fiber networking represents a substantial win on the stability front. As growth trajectories for the big organizations and hyperscalers maintain their aggressive paces, this stability in costs and operational simplicity will become the bedrock of business success.
Furthermore, it’s this drive toward ease that will also see the commoditization of connectivity give way to the primacy of the managed service. The realm of managed services is the new area of focus for network providers and large organizations in the coming years, because it’s here that speed and agility will be built. To gain efficiencies, even hyperscalers and large enterprises are capitalizing on outsourced support from network experts — so this is where we’ll likely see a lot of providers heading in the near future.
Now, the days of customers knocking on your door for simple transport services are largely in the past. Instead, success will be defined not only by the technical, quantitative network specs in place, but the qualitative level of individualized, supportive service and synergies created by network providers and large enterprises. Nothing will set providers apart in this new era better than their performance in the managed service realm.
#3: Carrier-to-Carrier Coopetition is the New Standard
The commonly used adage in business for the effect we’re now seeing in the connectivity landscape is “a rising tide lifts all boats.” When everyone needs ubiquitous coverage, keeping network builds private and siloed only makes business costs higher for everyone. Convergence and coopetition are defining the new network landscape, and in 2024 and beyond, we can expect to see large carriers sharing their coverage and intelligence. Whether driven by necessity (as pressure was rampant within a squeezed supply chain) or a “the ends justify the means” philosophy, this is our new reality.
This carrier-to-carrier cooperation makes the connectivity market more consumable, and to ease this type of interconnection, business protocols are going even more digital. Yes, if you can imagine it, in our digital world we are still somehow finding ways to become even more digitalized. APIs are easing this process, ensuring supply chain systems can speak directly to one another and carriers can quickly buy and sell through a marketplace not only of physical assets, but of business intelligence.
Furthermore, connectivity clearinghouses are the new ‘it’ item in the contemporary supply chain. These intermediaries help large providers facilitate transactions, and they help smaller providers more easily compete in the new network game too. It’s a win for everyone — especially the hyperscalers and other customers, who get more immediate access to the bandwidth, speed and reach they require through the help of these emerging systems. On top of that, this new era of coopetition facilitated dynamic, intelligent pricing — a line item that everyone is after.
In this way, the future of balancing between physical assets or hard metrics and enigmatic interpersonal relationships or service quality becomes clear. Going forward, mastering the interplay of these two sides of the network coin will define the new map of connectivity, and shape how hyperscalers and the rest build their own futures.
