InfraCo Wants Trump to Build $125 Billion Dark Fiber Network

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2026 — A nonprofit group is proposing a second federally funded broadband deployment to protect American national security.

InfraCo, a 501(c)4 nonprofit, will meet with the Department of Transportation next week to propose the $125 billion President Donald J. Trump Digital Security and Information Superhighway Act, which will build a national closed-loop fiber optic system theoretically less vulnerable to foreign adversaries.

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“TDS-ISA [President Donald J. Trump Digital Security and Information Superhighway Act] is a very big idea with multiple stakeholders working in close collaboration to implement on an accelerated, 5-Year timetable,” said Vince Aragona in an interview with the Daily Caller. Aragona is the founder of InfraCo’s parent company, Neo Network Development LLC.

Aragona outlined a number of potential concerns, including fears that China could target critical internet infrastructure while remaining safe themselves. China has had its own domestic backup network since 2017, and it now connects 80 cities with more than 6,200 miles of secure fiber, according to a 2025 report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“We’ve known for 25 years, the Chinese have told us that if they ever went to war with us, they’re going to shut down our communications and electric systems,” former State Department Chief Financial Officer and Neo Network Board Chairman Bradford Higgins told the Daily Caller. “So, it’s not like an ‘if’ … that’s how someone would attack America.”

The project would operate as a public-private partnership using a combination of taxpayer money and private equity investment. Higgins suggested that the companies using the network could pay rent, preventing the need for higher taxes or recurring subsidies.

Joel Thayer , President of the Digital Progress Institute, said it was a good “first step” but cautioned that a new network alone would not fix national cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

“Putting government traffic on its own dedicated fiber does reduce some risks, but most breaches don’t come through the cable in the ground,” Thayer said. “Nowadays, they come through people, passwords, and the systems on either end, so a new network only gets you so far.”