Dark Fiber Optics sound a little odd but the truth is they are merely fiber optic cables that are not currently being used. A cable such as this being leased might also be referred to as dark because it is not permanent use by the owner of the lines.

There are thousands of miles of these optics, and though it is common to build them to allow for system failure the available number of dark lines far outstrips what would normally be required for even redundancy. Instead thousands upon thousands of miles of cable were built in the 1990s by telecommunication providers who believed the current tel-com boom would continue.

However the development of new technology that increased a line’s capacity created less of a need for new lines, not more. Some tel-com companies went under and even those that did not lost millions of dollars. However, that building boom left many tens of thousands of dark optics laying unused.

Although prior to the market glut of dark optics these lines were very seldom leased and rarely sold, afterwards leasing lines became common. In recent times however, investors in these lines have begun to appear. Dark fiber optics draw many who believe they see a future in all this unused communication capability.

Even leasing lines barely tapped the number of fiber optic lines laying unused. However, there has been a very noticeable move on the part of educational coops, entertainment providers and others to buy up as much of this line as they can find. Well known universities and data providers have started to buy masses of lines.

Speculation was further stirred by a very well known search engine posting an employment ad for someone skilled in dark fiber negotiation. Since projects like this amount to not millions, but billions of dollars the interest was high. Many enterprises with a logical interest in communication may well be moving toward buying these unused lines, and a few with sometimes not as obvious an interest as well.

The glut of dark fiber optics has not yet dwindled significantly but with so many miles of cable being purchased at once by large companies, it may well be. Many companies with plans for their future are entering arena and beginning to buy their own lines. So many well known companies have entered the arena and are engaged in buying up these lines that they may well become the next internet boom.