Fiber refers to optical glass fiber strands installed in groups of 12 or more, in a single cable, either underground or aerial, without electronics or lasers attached. "Lit fiber" means voice, video and data can be transmitted over a fiber optic network by passing light through the cables. When fiber is unused, it is described as "dark fiber".
Why does the City lease dark fiber infrastructure?
In 2000 the City replaced expensive copper phone lines in electric substations with a more cost-efficient and reliable fiber communications network. While constructing its underground fiber optic plant at key locations, SVP overbuilt the fiber pathways to allow SVP to act as a wholesale provider and lease dark fiber infrastructure to large business and campus-based customers.
What is SVP Fiber Connect?
SVP Fiber Connect is a business service program managed by City of Santa Clara doing business as Silicon Valley Power (SVP). SVP Fiber Connect supports a vast network of dark fiber infrastructure of over 151 cable miles. Businesses can lease dark fiber from SVP Fiber Connect to design their own high-speed internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) including voice, fax and voice message, and video services. SVP Fiber Connect customers include data centers, fiber providers, schools, and other various businesses.
How do I lease dark fiber from SVP Fiber Connect?
To lease dark fiber from SVP Fiber Connect, you must sign a Dark Fiber Lease Agreement with the City. To learn more, please view our step by step guide.
What services are offered with a Dark Fiber Lease Agreement?
Once a customer signs a Dark Fiber Lease Agreement with the City, SVP Fiber Connect provides engineering services and helps design your fiber infrastructure network from start to finish. SVP Fiber Connect performs construction services, including but not limited to the placement of handholes, manholes, conduits, relay racks, termination panels, and fiber optic cable, and splicing and testing services. SVP Fiber Connect also takes care of all permits and permissions required to place these items in the public right-of-way or on private property, and pending permit reviews, can complete most requests within 2-3 weeks.
Does SVP Fiber Connect have dark fiber routes outside the City?
While SVP Fiber Connect mainly serves carriers, businesses, and data centers within Santa Clara, CA, we also provide dark fiber routes into Sunnyvale, CA and northern San Jose, CA, to accommodate customers who have relocated but want to stay on-net to Santa Clara data centers.
Does SVP Fiber Connect offer residential services?
At this time, the City does do not offer dark fiber leasing services to residential customers.
There are a lot of data storage centers in the City – does SVP Fiber Connect go into all of them?
With Santa Clara’s central location combined with reliable, low-cost energy, the City has become a destination for data centers and colocations which use power and fiber 24/7. To date, there are 52 active data centers in Santa Clara, and SVP Fiber Connects into 47 of them either via a single or dual entry, creating a vital information highway for fiber carriers and data centers.
