2026 Submarine Networks World Conference: Ciena On The Managed Optical Fiber Network Business Model
At the 2026 Submarine Networks World in Singapore Ciena pitched the MOFN business model, the managed optical fiber network. This is a network dedicated to a single customer like a hyperscaler, large enterprise, government, and the like. It involves dedicated fibre pairs and equipment. Very often the customer buys the equipment and ships it to the network operator. It is quite common in Africa where network operators provide such services to the American Tech Giants. But carriers have often found that hyperscaler forecasts of capacity needs are often wildly off. The result is poor MOFN economics and low rates of return.