According to foreign media reports, in recent years, Facebook has invested more in data center construction than ever before. Recently, Facebook is still investing in some new fiber infrastructure, including land and cable, in order to increase bandwidth and redundancy to ensure that there is enough network capacity to drive the needs between its huge data centers. The traffic, in addition to the backup line can also circumvent some network interruptions caused by line problems.

The massive construction of fiber infrastructure has also brought a new potential source of revenue for Facebook – selling network bandwidth. Facebook recently said it will build two long-haul fiber-optic lines between data centers in Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina, and sell some excess bandwidth. To this end, Facebook set up a new subsidiary, Middle Mile Infrastructure, to sell this part of the bandwidth. Facebook said in its blog that the subsidiary will act as a telecom operator “when necessary”, although it does not intend to sell Internet access directly to consumers.

This move may drive the pace of Internet connectivity in rural and urban areas along the new route. Local area network providers can purchase capacity on Facebook fiber, establish a local network connected to it, and sell Internet access to local homes and businesses.

Facebook plans to build about 275 miles of fiber, and West Virginia government officials expect the route to be the basis for the state’s expansion of broadband access. The state is one of the countries with the lowest broadband coverage in the United States, with only 75.2%, and the slowest average network speed (29.9Mbps). “Today’s announcement of partnership with Facebook is an important step in ensuring that our country has the critical infrastructure to support broadband deployment, and I know this will help many people in our state, especially those in rural areas where there is no broadband service.” West Virginia, USA State Senator Shelley Moore Capito said.

If the program can be as Facebook expects, Internet access providers will start buying bandwidth from Facebook so that more users will connect to the Internet. These new users will be able to send photos and watch streaming movies through one of the world’s fastest and most advanced networks.

In addition, the sale of unused bandwidth on fiber-optic lines not only provides partial revenue, but also increases broadband penetration in rural areas of the United States and gains some positive publicity, but this is not the only benefit that Facebook has gained. More people can access the Internet, meaning There will be more potential Facebook users, and more users will mean that Facebook will get more revenue.