Today’s Internet users have a wealth of options regarding delivery technology. From cable to DSL to satellite, traditional forms of Internet infrastructure have been connecting homes and businesses to the World Wide Web for decades.
In recent years, users have increasingly gravitated toward a much faster and more reliable delivery system: Fiber Internet. But how, exactly, does Fiber stack up against traditional Internet technologies in terms of its long-term expense and ecological impact?
Read on to learn more about the considerable financial and environmental costs of traditional Internet infrastructure and the significant savings and green benefits that Fiber Internet can provide.
Understanding Internet Delivery Technologies
To examine the financial and environmental pros and cons of traditional vs. Fiber Internet, we must first understand the basic science behind these various delivery systems.
Traditional Internet (Cable/DSL/Satellite)
Both cable and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Internet transmit data on electrical signals that travel through wires composed of a conductive metal (typically copper). Cable Internet uses the same coaxial cable network that has delivered cable television signals for more than 75 years.
DSL operates according to similar scientific principles but sends data over copper telephone lines rather than coaxial cable. While satellite Internet uses electric signals and wires to power on-site equipment, data comes into user homes/businesses on radio waves, which are part of the naturally occurring electromagnetic spectrum.
Fiber Internet
A revolutionary technology, Fiber Internet relies on light signals rather than electrical or electromagnetic signals. This light travels through glass fibers within Fiber-optic cables, which have attached encoded data.
Because it literally moves at the speed of light, this data reaches your home/business nearly instantaneously, providing much faster upload/download speeds and lower latency levels than traditional Internet delivery forms. Perhaps most significantly, Fiber Internet systems avoid the inevitable slowdowns and loss of service that commonly plague traditional Internet systems during peak hours of use. As it becomes available in more and more communities, Fiber Internet is emerging as the clear choice in terms of both quality and reliability.
Long-Term Financial Costs Comparison
Many industry and nonprofit studies have confirmed the ultimate financial advantages of Fiber Internet adoption for the average home or business.
For example, the Rural Broadband Association has examined a recent peer-reviewed study by the Center on Rural Innovation to determine that Fiber broadband has a “significant economic impact in communities that are better connected and have access to additional services that allow users to effectively leverage that connection, while comparable underserved communities experience economic stagnation.”
In fact, Fiber Internet can save households and organizations money for many different reasons.
Installation and Infrastructure
Because it requires more specialized equipment and potential infrastructure upgrades, Fiber Internet generally comes with a higher upfront installation price tag. However, it has a proven ability to deliver cost-saving advantages over the long term. Its low total cost of ownership (TCO) is tied to its increased efficiency and relatively low maintenance requirements.
The materials used in Fiber Internet systems are quite durable and have reliably long lifespans. Furthermore, Fiber Internet is incredibly scalable.
While it is quite expensive to upgrade traditional Internet systems to meet your evolving personal or business needs, Fiber Internet has the bandwidth and flexibility to support users at all stages of their development. If cable, DSL, and satellite networks become obsolete, Fiber will still be ready to take users far into the future.
Monthly Costs to Consumers
A recent article by the news outlet CNET confirms that Fiber Internet tends to come with slightly higher monthly bills compared to cable and other traditional forms of Internet. However, the high levels of speed and reliability associated with Fiber Internet still make Fiber Internet a wise choice in terms of overall value provided and return on investment (ROI).
Factors contributing to the poor ROI for traditional Internet service include hidden fees that are rarely included in your stated monthly fee rate. These hidden fees might include equipment rental, activation costs, or overage charges.
Traditional Internet providers can also rob users of value by implementing bandwidth caps and throttling practices (deliberately reducing Internet speeds). Furthermore, monthly Fiber Internet costs have been decreasing steadily, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Repair, Reliability, and Downtime
Fiber Internet’s high durability, relative reliability, and limited maintenance/repair requirements can save users substantial amounts of money over time.
Made of protected glass strands rather than copper wires, Fiber-optic cables are far less susceptible to damage from inclement weather, deterioration over time, or degradation due to signal interference.
When outages occur, this downtime can cause serious financial problems for users, particularly for online businesses and remote workers.
We’ve had our customers tell us that since switching to Fiber, they’ve experienced far fewer outages—even during heavy storms.
Futureproofing and ROI
Highly scalable, Fiber Internet can easily accommodate increased bandwidth without requiring extensive infrastructure upgrades.
This makes Fiber a “future-proof” Internet choice, allowing users to inexpensively adapt to technological changes, market conditions, and evolving personal/professional needs. In short, Fiber Internet is poised to remain cost-efficient while delivering exceptional ROI for decades.
“With the introduction of our multi-gig symmetrical Internet service, we are ensuring our customers’ are empowered with some of the fastest Internet available that will not only meet the high-speed demands of today but ensures their needs will continue to be met for years to come.” – Ross Benner, Vice President of Technology and Network Operations
Environmental Impact of Traditional Internet
Beyond cost concerns, traditional Internet networks have significant environmental implications. In fact, the environmental costs of cable, DSL, and satellite Internet are varied and significant.
Energy Consumption
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the average American household uses approximately 10,500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. For users of traditional Internet infrastructure, connectivity contributes significantly to this consumption.
Both coaxial cables and telephone lines require electrical current to transmit signals and power connected equipment.
These systems require power-hungry data centers (which require extensive air conditioning to cool) and amplifiers (which are needed every 100 meters to 2 kilometers to boost the transmission of signals). The maintenance of copper wire also requires significant energy consumption.
Materials and Waste
While the highest-quality, weather-resistant coaxial cables can last for up to 15 years, most will only function effectively for 5 to 10 years without suffering significant signal loss. This lifespan is significantly shorter than the average lifespan for Fiber-optic cable.
Sourcing and processing glass for Fiber-optic cable is also more environmentally responsible than sourcing and processing copper for coaxial cables and telephone wires. Copper mining tends to pollute the air and water.
Among other airborne pollutants, it releases sulfur dioxide (SO2), contributing to acid rain. The acids commonly used in copper mining can leach lead, uranium, and other heavy metals into both surface water and groundwater. The smelting process of melting copper ore emits more SO2, further contributing to air pollution.
Emissions and Footprint
Traditional Internet infrastructure creates large carbon footprints in many ways, from mining and processing raw materials to greater operational electricity consumption to the relatively short lifespan of cables and equipment.
Providers can offset their carbon dioxide (CO2) production by properly maintaining cable, DSL, and satellite infrastructure, but transporting and supporting technicians in the field leads to increased CO2 emissions and exacerbates environmental concerns.
Environmental Benefits of Fiber Internet
The improved speed and reliability of Fiber Internet leads to ecological benefits as well as financial savings. But this is only the beginning when it comes to the environmental efficiencies of Fiber Internet.
Energy Efficiency
Unlike coaxial cable and telephone lines, Fiber-optic cables need no electricity to operate. The equipment needed to operate Fiber Internet systems is also quite energy efficient. This is particularly true for Passive Optical Networks (PONs), which use unpowered splitters and other passive components to distribute a single optical signal to numerous end-users.
Fiberoptic cables transmit data as light, which encounters far less resistance than the electrical signals that travel through copper wire. This eliminates the need for signal boosters, data center cooling, and other functional elements that consume large amounts of energy.
For all these reasons and more, Fiber Internet infrastructure requires far less power than traditional Internet infrastructure. In fact, a recent scientific study by Europacable determined that Fiber optic networks consume up to 54% less energy per gigabit of data transmitted than traditional copper-based networks.
Sustainable Materials
Beyond the negative ecological impacts of its mining and processing, copper is a non-renewable resource that can be difficult to source. But Fiber-optic cables are made from silica (quartz sand), which is one of the most easily accessible natural minerals on the planet.
In addition to its abundance and energy efficiency, Fiber-optic technology is incredibly durable. As the sustainability authority Greenly puts it, “the longer a piece of infrastructure lasts, the fewer resources are needed to replace it. While copper cables degrade rapidly and require frequent replacement, Fiber-optic cables have a typical lifespan of 25 years or more.
Lower Carbon Emissions
Fiber-optic cable networks and associated devices require far less power, and providers need far fewer truck rolls to complete the necessary maintenance and repairs on these networks and devices. Drawing upon research from many sources, the University of Santa Barbara Institute for Energy Efficiency has determined that Fiber Internet infrastructure results in significantly lower carbon emissions than traditional Internet infrastructure.
Fiber Internet infrastructure results in significantly lower carbon emissions. The Institute goes beyond direct operational efficiencies to cite factors such as remote employment. “There are likely more savings in CO2 emissions from Fiber because when it’s deployed in neighborhoods, it means more people can work from home, reducing the amount of energy used to commute to work.”
The Institute also draws upon research by the European Commission, which found that copper systems emit 2.7 tons of CO2 per year, while Fiber systems operating at the same level emit just 1.7 tons of CO2 per year.
Support for Remote Work and Digital Solutions
The ecological advantages of remote work are just the beginning of the environmental benefits of fast and reliable Internet connectivity. No form of Internet delivery is faster or more reliable than Fiber. From the e-learning platforms of major universities to the virtual meeting spaces of websites such as Zoom, Fiber Internet is optimized to support countless digital solutions that can benefit the environment while making life more convenient for those who use them.
Societal and Economic Ripple Effects
Authorities that range from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to the State of Washington have touted the importance of digital equity and the delivery of fast and reliable Internet connectivity to historically underserved communities.
Fiber Internet is uniquely positioned to bring quality Internet service to rural areas that formerly lacked it. In the urban setting, it has proven instrumental in the creation of smart cities and the adoption of green infrastructure.
The highly durable infrastructure of Fiber Internet also safeguards communities from societal disruptions and economic harm. This durability is particularly important in communities that are susceptible to catastrophic natural disasters.
Final Thoughts
At Clearwave Fiber, we’ve seen firsthand how transformative Fiber Internet can be—not just in terms of speed and reliability, but in its potential to reduce our environmental footprint. From rural communities to urban hubs, our teams are on the ground every day helping customers make the switch to a cleaner, more sustainable Internet solution.
With lower energy consumption, fewer carbon emissions, and longer-lasting infrastructure, Fiber is not only a smart investment—it’s a greener one.
Ready to make the switch to a more sustainable Internet? Learn more about Clearwave Fiber and how we’re helping build a greener tomorrow.
