In some regions of the country, the numbers are larger still, with some major cities in the Midwest being served by as many as twenty long-haul firms. The competing long-haul firms have laid huge amounts of fiber over the past few years.
Not only do numerous firms compete, but each firm also has the incentive to put in place more fiber than it might need in the immediate future. As I mentioned before, the optical fiber itself is long-lasting, and the quality of new fiber has tended to increase only slowly over time.