Dark fibre

A fibre optic cable is made from ultra‑thin strands of glass or plastic called fibres. Each fibre has a core that carries light, surrounded by cladding to keep the light contained, and protective coatings. Single‑mode fibre cores are typically 8–10 microns wide, while multimode cores measure 50–62.5 microns, all within an outer cladding of about 125 microns. This is roughly the thickness of a human hair. 

Dark fibre refers to installed but unused optical fibre cables that carry no light signal or data. Organisations can lease these dormant fibres and activate (“light”) them with their own equipment, gaining full control over bandwidth, security, scalability, and performance.

We own and operate an extensive national backhaul fibre network. We are continuing to invest in our network to support customer needs and to maintain our position as Ireland's leading backhaul dark fibre service provider. We also own and operate one of the most extensive dark fibre networks in Dublin. Our Dublin MAN provides network interconnection with all key data centres and with all available local, national and global carriers.

Our network specification is of the highest quality. As a result, high performance and low latency come as standard. The fibre and joints used in our network are best-in-class. This results in a high performing and low latency network. We also utilise best-in-class joints to minimise optical losses and any operational disruption during routine maintenance. Our network utilises Corning fibre optic cable, the industry leader and preferred cable for network performance to support high-bandwidth applications.

Network security:

Across the Aurora Telecom network, we have strict access and aupervision controls as well as ONMS monitoring in place. In addition, certain fibre backhaul segments are adjacent to the gas mains pipeline operated by Gas Networks Ireland. As such the Aurora Telecom network is more physically diverse, deeper and more secure than other network infrastructures. Certain segments of the network also benefit from the standards applied to safeguarding high pressure gas pipelines. Such measures include monitoring, regular aerial and foot patrols to ensure no outages through third party interference, and further protection with the ‘dial before you dig’ facility. As a result, Aurora Telecom’s network has an unbeaten record in the industry for the highest levels of network uptime and operational availability.

Network monitoring:

Aurora Telecom use a range of fibre and Co-lo monitoring tools to ensure we are alerted to any network issues. Optical network monitoring system (ONMS) is in place to alert on a fibre issue and provide exact issue localisation. Building management systems (BMS) are in place for our co-locations to inform on a wide array of parameters from fire controls, to air conditioning, power and temperature monitoring.

Quality and resilience are at the core of our network proposition. Our carrier grade network is tested and engineered to meet or exceed "five nines“ high availability standards (99.999%). We provide very fast fault recovery through redundancy, and our Dublin MAN is constructed in ring topologies to ensure industry-leading network redundancy.

Our network's specification, innovative construction methodologies and maintenance procedures are best-in-class, resulting in a highly reliable and secure network service. We use in-house engineers and long-term civil and fibre contract partners for network construction and maintenance. In-house certified Fibre Characterisation Engineers with extensive qualifications and experience, ensure robust network testing and monitoring. 

A dedicated fibre package ensures unlimited bandwidth and a network that is designed, built, operated and maintained to meet each customer's needs. We work with each organisation to develop and deliver the best solution for their business's requirements.

Our network provides the perfect foundation on which to build scalable, dark fibre based solutions. We ensure the highest possible levels of scaling speed, responsiveness and flexibility, enabling your business to grow network capacity as its bandwidth needs increase.

We have a best-in-class service level agreement (SLA).  We have a single point of contact for customer service and offer customers industry-leading support levels. We have fully documented our end-to-end processes which are subject to frequent audit and review.

Our customers are some of the largest companies in telecoms, online and social media, content, retail, financial and other industry sectors in addition to the government sector. We are a trusted service provider to Irish and global enterprises in these and many other sectors.

In addition Aurora Telecom is a division of a secure and financially stable multi-utility business, Gas Networks Ireland, who in 2025 supplied over 40% of Ireland's electricity needs. 

Our dark fibre product enables customers to construct all connectivity, communications and business services specific to their needs. We offer highly competitive pricing and our dedicated dark fibre solutions provide a lower cost of ownership than standard telecom products. We can offer a range of commercial options including standard lease and long-term Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) agreements.