Long Haul

Connecting Point A to Point B with long haul installation of conduit, whether that's 10 miles or 10,000.

Connecting Central Offices and Data Centers

Long haul installation connects one central office, or data center, to another. Whether that’s 10 miles or thousands of miles, using a conduit system means you only have to Dig Once.

Just like in the transportation industry, long haul means Point A to Point B. From Seattle to Salt Lake, Atlanta to Knoxville, or New York to Chicago, a fiber optic network transports large amounts of data between destinations.

More Options for Traffic Flow

Long haul networks tend to use railway right-of-ways and act like a freeway system of high bandwidth traffic connecting the country. Creating alternate pathways and redundancy loops gives more options for diverting traffic during an outages, repairs, or upgrades.

Greater Data Capacity

Fiber optic lines can be connected underground or along existing telephone poles, aerially. Unlike metal cables, fiber optic cables are made from glass which is not susceptible to electromagnetic interference. They are less expensive, weigh less, and are easier to maintain than standard cable lines. Flowing over long distances without degradation, fiber optic cables use light instead of electricity to transmit data. The frequencies are higher; therefore, the data capacity is greater.

Generate Revenue

Empty conduits in the ground, which could be revenue-generating by leasing or renting, allow the potential for expansion when it is necessary. If fiber is direct buried alone, it will still be a leap forward in streamlining and investing in broadband infrastructure. However, when an upgrade is needed, it means more digging.

The Expense of Digging

The U.S. DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office estimates the average cost of deploying fiber-optic cable is about $27,000 per mile. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 90 percent of the cost is when the work requires significant excavation of the roadway. By laying the conduit and/or fiber at the time of road construction, it eliminates duplicate construction costs. No one can predict the demand for data in the next 10 to 20 years, but we know our lives are going to be even more connected.

The Ease of Air Jetting

The use of HDPE conduit provides the flexibility of upgrading (adding additional fiber or replacing outdated cables) without the cost of digging. Fiber can be placed by air jetting it into the HDPE conduit or innerducts quickly and easily without the expense and disruption of construction using horizontal directional drilling, trenching, or saw cutting.

When using air jetting techniques to install fiber, the fiber utilizes the ‘viscous drag’ forces from high-speed air and are typically installed 3,000-6,000 feet in a single shot. By comparison, traditional pull tape installation allows for typical distances of 2,000 feet or less.

Long Haul Map U.S.

University of Wisconsin Computer Science Professor Paul Barford and a team of researchers published the first publicly available map of the US's long-haul fiber-optic cable network in 2016. It took the team nearly four years to put together by sifting through public records and data from internet and cable providers. (Map used with permission from Paul Barford, University of Wisconsin)