Some hyperscalers block fiber off-ramps, keeping rural America disconnected

Hyperscalers are prohibiting fiber off-ramps to towns and cities as they build their networks to data centers, according to a telecommunications attorney who spoke at Mountain Connect. The choice to bypass the off-ramps is intentional. Some hyperscalers are putting clauses in their contracts with fiber builders to prohibit off-ramps to towns and cities on the fiber route. “They control it. They've invested in it. They don't want anybody else to use it,” said Casey Lide, partner with the Washington, DC law firm Keller & Heckman. Hyperscalers are not only putting clauses in their contracts, prohibiting anyone else from tapping that conduit for fiber spurs, but they’re also prohibiting their contractors from installing shadow conduit that could be used to serve communities, said Lide.