Problem: There are many fiber optic cables that are not being used even though they exist. (Read more about this in this 2010, but still extremely relevant, NYT Article).
Solution: Before diving into the solution, it’s important to know what Dark Fiber is. According to Wikipedia:
A dark fibre or unlit fibre is an unused optical fibre, available for use in fibre-optic communication. Dark fibre originally referred to the potential network capacity of telecommunication infrastructure. Dark fibre may be leased from a network service provider.
Companies like Google have already built a private network of fiber so that users can get their video and search data even faster for consumers and to beat out competition. This company would focus on leasing existing dark fiber to businesses that cannot afford to do what Google did and build their own fiber-optic networks. Instead, the company would establish partnerships with telecommunications companies to lease unused fiber to people who need it. This double-sided market place would both increase fiber’s demand, and decrease wasted infrastructure thus generating more revenue for telecommunications companies.
Monetization: Money made from leasing fiber.
Contributed by: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas