Issue # 16: Dark Fiber and Untapped Resource

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Broad Opportunities

There's a ubiquitous potential force that runs beneath the ground throughout the United States.

It's called a Dark Fiber Cable. No, it's not something out of Star Trek.

Fiber-optic communication has been around—invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880 for the Photophone. Photophones didn't work when it was cloudy so, uptake by the mass market was a failure.

In the early 2000s companies began building massive fiber-optic infrastructure. Companies added extra fiber, to forecast for future growth, called 'dark fiber'.

Dark Fiber was not being used and this provided an opportunity for companies to lease out these lines. In the past years costs have gone down.

There are 35 million miles of fiber in place in the United States and, 90% of this is dark.

Amazon delivers videos on demand. There is a need for high volume data uses that continue to grow. Many parts of the United States don't have reliable connections and dark fiber is something that could be harnassed.

Use case: clients can lease unused dark fiber optic cable to create their own privately-owned optical fiber network. This eliminates the need to lease band-with. I suggest creating a list of use cases while doing MARKET RESEARCH.

That said, the dark fiber network is isolated from the main network. It can be controlled by the client rather than a network provider.

A network like this can be configured in different ways. High levels of performance, highly secure, and superfast speeds are some of the benefits. On the B2B side, you could focus on offering fast-growing businesses or ones that have high-speed connection requirements.

This puts organizations in control because they can customize network performance and increase bandwidth according to needs without depending on the network provider. Start with market research. It's good practice to look at other companies and their offerings. Here's an example over at WindStream Enterprises. Or become a channel partner. After you build a customer base you can niche down and focus on areas where you have the most traction.

Let's assume that your client needed to connect one of their buildings to a new data center that is miles away.

You can find a local carrier that can provide the physical infrastructure (dark fiber) and negotiate a good price. Pitch the business case to the client and offer the opportunity. Begin by selling unused capacity to other companies.

Smart Toilets for COVID Testing— Emerging Viruses

We are now entering the endemic phase of COVID. Like Influenza, the virus will live with us. Vaccines and boosters will be the norm. I would like an early warning nuclear test, that tests toilet water for signs of COVID.

How would it help? If people to responsibility for themselves and their families by masking up, staying out of public places, getting the vaccine we would better able to manage the virus.

An alert would be sent to the phone numbers attached to the residence immediately. Toilet water turns red if you have COVID. A doctor out of Stanford Medical Center has developed a smart toilet that detects a range of diseases.

This could be extended to viruses like Omicron or other emerging threats.