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XKL Brings New Life To Dark Fiber: Page 5 of 6

A complicating factor is that XKL doesn't provide the fiber needed to string its systems together. Bosack may be right that there's plenty of unused fiber in the ground, but gaining access to it can require dealing with brokers, such as AboveNet, or the telcos themselves. Some businesses and other organizations--the University of Washington among them--have rights to dark fiber or their own in-ground networks, but many don't.

Providing fiber access, says Michaels, is something that XKL has considered as part of its future road map. For now, the company can supply contacts and leads to several fiber brokers, such as Broadband Asset Strategies, though it has no formal arrangement with any specific provider. "We haven't seen the need yet" for offering fiber access as part of XKL's service, says Michaels.

If XKL succeeds, it will certainly make some noise: The founder of Cisco, which essentially created and continues to dominate the enterprise networking market, coming back with another game-changing technology for business networks. It's a goal that motivates Bosack.

"Look, Verizon and AT&T and the other big carriers are not going to change," he says, donning his shades for the drive back across Lake Washington. "The optics industry is like the telegraph in the early days of FM radio. It's time for a change."

Contintue to the sidebar:
Where Options Are Few, XKL Finds A Niche