The SDIA often refers to fiber networks as connectivity, the prerequisite of a digital economy. Without fiber networks, there is no digital economy (they are the roads) and we therefore see them as a public good. Through ownership of fiber networks a company could essentially control the internet or create their own, with severe anti-competitive implications.

Technically speaking, fiber networks use fiber optic cables to transmit data as pulses of light over long distances. There are different types of fiber networks including: fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), and fiber-to-the-node (FTTN).