The last mile may get the spotlight, but here’s why the middle mile is critical to future-ready fiber broadband networks
Barry Walton
Published: July 25, 2024
A few weeks ago, while on a deployment in rural America, I found myself standing in front of a small library and on the telephone pole in front of it there was a sign on it that read: Best Wi-Fi Speed From This Pole to the Right. It made me think of how connectivity in that area had been severely limited – as in so many other rural regions.
Now we were bringing fiber to the area – and as we were leaving this location, one of the homeowners we connected asked if he could tell his neighbors that fiber service was finally available. Seeing this man’s excitement over his new fiber broadband connection made me think: This is why I do what I do. I thought of how far we’ve come and how far we need to go, considering that only about half of the homes in the United States have access to fiber connectivity.
Today, Corning Optical Communications continues to work with fellow industry leaders and partners to provide rural America with broadband connectivity. The “last mile” has been a priority – however, I believe there is more to be done, especially as it pertains to what we call the “middle mile" of connectivity. This middle mile is a crucial part in America’s broadband infrastructure and plays a significant role in connecting the unconnected – and I see it moving more into the spotlight in the years ahead.
To understand why the middle mile is important, think of a highway. Fiber cables are like highways that connect one city to another. In a middle mile network, they act as a connection between local last mile broadband providers and the long-haul fiber optic network providers that cross the country. Here’s the challenge: Often in rural areas of America, the middle mile may not be in place, or the existing technology may be inadequate to support higher broadband speeds.
While there might be local service providers willing and able to extend services to homes and businesses, these efforts could go nowhere when inadequate middle mile infrastructure acts as a bottleneck to completing the connection beyond their community.
It’s important to remember that today’s middle mile infrastructure is more than a simple connector between the last mile and long-haul. It also paves the way to growth. Think back to the highway analogy: Providers can prepare for future growth by creating access points along their fiber optic network that function like off-ramps on a highway that in the future can connect to cell towers or to new fiber-enabled communities.
Ultimately, without a robust fiber optic middle mile infrastructure in place, last-mile providers will struggle to deliver broadband speeds to meet today's needs and future needs.
At Corning, as the inventors of low-loss optical fiber, we have been active in the efforts to expand broadband access in America since day one. Corning’s innovations and advancements speak for themselves as our fiber optic cables have been specifically designed for long distance transmissions and are being used to bridge the digital divide in America, especially as it pertains to the middle mile.
In rural America, the impacts of an extensive fiber optic network that spans both the middle and last mile can truly change the way these communities grow. For example, in recent years we have often heard of how small towns’ populations are dwindling as younger people move to bigger cities after graduating in search of higher-paying jobs. However, this can often be a tough decision to make for some of these young folks as some would instead prefer to stay close to home. The good news is that as we work together to improve our fiber optic infrastructure, we might see many of these individuals take higher paying jobs and work remotely from their hometowns which in turn would support the local economy.
Corning recognizes the challenges faced by last mile and middle mile providers and because of this, we work closely with providers to develop products specifically designed to meet their needs. For example, while Corning has developed cables uniquely designed to withstand placement on poles where the distance between pole to pole is a great distance, we’re hearing from more customers who want armored cables for underground deployment. Providers can bore these armored cables into the ground without the prior need to dig trenches and the armoring allows for the cables to be located when an 811 “call before you dig” request is made.
Understanding our customers’ needs fuels our innovation and allows us to develop solutions to overcome the many challenges of connecting rural America -- and enable future-forward applications like AI, smart highways, new advances in telehealth, and more.
Fiber is changing the way we apply technology and grow as a society. We’re working hard to connect the unconnected, because where fiber goes, prosperity follows -- fostering economic development, creating educational opportunities, providing access to healthcare, and improving the overall quality of life in rural America and across the world. And the middle mile is at the center of it all.
To hear more from Barry, check out his July 29 panel discussion at the Fiber Connect conference in Nashville: Out in the Middle: The Urban Suburban Rural Middle Mile.
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