ILA Evo: Meta’s journey to reimagine fiber optic in-line amplifier sites

Over the past year, Meta has been on a journey to reimagine fiber optic in-line amplifier (ILA) sites. An important piece of network infrastructure, ILAs  serve to amplify optical signals and are often placed in remote locations between data centers. If one ILA fails, an entire intercity route fails, and if one ILA cannot grow, the entire fiber route is constrained. Meta is excited to introduce new ideas and concepts to help modernize the ILAs for tomorrow.

Fiber optic cable networks have seen exponential growth in both size and capacity since GTE launched the first fiber optic network in 1977 . U.S. network operators would install 20,039 mi (32,250 km) of intercity fiber routes by 1985. This would quadruple to 83,618 mi (134,570 km) by 1989 and double again to 159,779 mi (257,149 km) by 1998 , with MCI, Sprint, USTelecom, and WilTel being the major players in those early days.

As fiber was rolled out along roads, railways, and pipelines, real estate to house optical signal repeaters was developed in parallel. What later became known ILA sites were spaced 18 to 25 miles (30 to 40 km) apart. With rapid improvements in both optical fiber purity and composition, plus advancements in optronics, spacing soon doubled into the 50 to 60 mile (80 to 100 km) range where it has largely remained until today.

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