Use Case: Positioning Dark Fiber vs. Wavelengths — Helping Customers Choose the Right Path to Performance

by Meghan Radelet, Director of Commercial & Carrier Marketing

As a Fidium partner, your customers rely on you to guide them toward connectivity solutions that align with their goals, whether that’s scaling capacity, improving control, or managing costs. Two of the most powerful options in Fidium’s portfolio are Dark Fiber and Wavelength Services.

Both deliver high-capacity, low-latency connectivity across Fidium’s robust fiber network, but they differ in who manages the network, how costs are structured, and what kind of customer benefits most. Understanding these distinctions helps partners position the right solution with confidence—and close deals faster.

========================================================================= Understanding the Two Products

Dark Fiber: Full Control, Maximum Flexibility

What it is:
A dedicated, unlit pair of optical fibers that customers “light” and manage using their own optical equipment.

When it makes sense:
Best for customers that need total network control and have the capital and expertise to manage infrastructure directly.

Customer Benefits:

• Control: Customers design, operate, and secure their own network environment.
• Scalability: Add bandwidth without renegotiating service terms or recurring upgrade fees.
• Security: Physically isolated connections—no shared paths or network exposure.
• Performance: Ultra-low latency and dedicated end-to-end paths.

ROI Snapshot (Financing & Costs):

• High initial CapEx, low ongoing OpEx: Customers purchase or lease the fiber and invest in optical gear upfront but avoid recurring bandwidth fees.
• Long-term cost efficiency: After initial buildout, cost per Gbps decreases significantly over time.
• Financing options: IRUs (Indefeasible Rights of Use) or long-term leases spread costs over 10–20 years, providing budget predictability.
• Ideal for customers planning sustained, high-volume data transport across fixed routes.

Partner Opportunity:

• Multi-year IRU and lease deals = strong, predictable revenue.
• Creates opportunities to upsell monitoring, redundancy, or management solutions.
• Attracts high-value, long-term enterprise customers.

Wavelengths: High Capacity, Fully Managed

What it is:
A managed optical transport service that provides high-speed, point-to-point connectivity (1G, 10G, 100G+) across Fidium’s backbone.

When it makes sense:
Ideal for customers seeking large bandwidth, reliability, and simplicity, with predictable monthly costs and no need to purchase or manage optical hardware. Best for customers who need a dedicated path but prefer someone else to handle the complexity, equipment, and operations behind the scenes.

Customer Benefits:

• Fast Deployment: Quick provisioning and turn-up times.
• Predictable Opex Model: Fixed monthly charges make budgeting simple.
• Managed Reliability: 24/7 NOC monitoring, redundancy, and SLA-backed uptime.
• Scalable: Upgrade capacity as needs grow.

ROI Snapshot (Financing & Costs):

• Low upfront cost: No investment in optical gear or fiber buildout.
• Operating expense model: Easy for budgeting and cash flow management.
• Faster ROI realization: Services can be turned up quickly, often within 30–45 days, accelerating time to value.
• Ideal for customers with dynamic bandwidth needs or limited technical resources.

Partner Opportunity:

• Shorter sales cycles and faster activations = quicker commissions.
• Excellent fit for customers expanding regionally or connecting new sites.
• Pairs easily with internet, SD-WAN, and cloud connectivity offerings.

==============================================================

Quick Reference: Dark Fiber vs. Wavelengths

==================================================================

Example Case Study: Financial Firm Chooses the Right Management Model

Customer Profile

A mid-sized financial services company with multiple regional offices and a central data hub supporting real-time trading, analytics, and regulatory reporting. The organization operates in a highly secure, compliance-driven environment where uptime and data integrity are mission-critical.

Challenge

The firm needed ultra-secure, low-latency connectivity between its trading hub and data center to support real-time data exchange and meet regulatory requirements.
 Their IT leadership faced a key decision:

• Should they self-manage the network for complete control?
• Or outsource management to ensure reliability and focus internal resources on core systems?

Budget predictability and deployment speed were also top priorities, as they were opening two new branch offices within 90 days.

Partner Discussion

The partner presented two clear options tailored to the customer’s needs:

• Dark Fiber: Offered full network control and scalability but required a $400K+ CapEx investment for optical gear, in-house resources for 24/7 monitoring, and additional time for configuration and testing—placing added strain on the firm’s lean IT team.
• Wavelengths: Delivered the same low-latency, high-capacity performance over Fidium’s fully managed infrastructure, with no upfront equipment costs and a predictable monthly Opex model. The service included proactive network monitoring, SLA-backed uptime, and compliance with strict financial data regulations.

After evaluating both paths, the customer determined their priority wasn’t owning the infrastructure, but achieving secure, reliable performance without adding operational complexity or staffing demands.

Outcome

The customer selected a 3x 10G Wavelength Service , connecting their primary data center and regional offices in under 45 days.
 

Key results included:

• $275K in upfront CapEx savings by avoiding optical hardware purchases
• 99.999% uptime in the first year with proactive network monitoring
• 20% reduction in IT operating costs by eliminating around-the-clock network management

Takeaway

By focusing the conversation on who manages the network, the partner quickly aligned the solution with the customer’s operational goals and staffing realities. The decision to choose Wavelengths allowed the firm to maintain security, compliance, and performance—without overextending internal resources.

For partners, this deal reinforced a key advantage: the fastest path to revenue often starts by helping customers decide how much control they truly need—and how much management they want to handle themselves.

Partner Impact:
The partner closed a six-figure, multi-site deal within two months, earning ongoing recurring revenue and establishing themselves as a strategic network advisor to the customer’s executive team. The partner is now expanding the engagement to include additional Fidium services across new branch locations.

====================================================================

How Partners Win

By positioning the right solution for each customer, you help them achieve their business goals while strengthening your value as a trusted advisor.

• Accelerate Sales: Use customer size, budget preference, and technical capacity as quick qualifiers.
• Increase Deal Value: Bundle services (DIA, transport, data center connectivity) for larger opportunities.
• Drive Loyalty: Customers who invest in network infrastructure stay longer and spend more.
• Enhance Expertise: Your ability to translate technical options into business outcomes sets you apart.

Partner Takeaway

Whether it’s the control and long-term savings of Dark Fiber or the simplicity and predictable cost of Wavelengths, your expertise helps customers make smart, future-ready decisions.

Next Step:
Use Fidium’s Network Finder Tool to identify on-net and near-net opportunities—then match the right product to every customer conversation.