The fiber optic cable laid by the bankrupt companies remained in place and was later used.

Judge as of 2025-10-06. The claim is that fiber optic cable laid by telecom companies that went bankrupt after the dot-com bust stayed in place and was later used. True: historical or industry sources show that substantial fiber laid by the bankrupt late-1990s and early-2000s carriers (for example Global Crossing, WorldCom, 360networks) stayed in the ground, was bought or reactivated, and later carried traffic (for example 'dark fiber' that was later lit). Mostly true: this holds broadly, but only some of the cable was later used, or the detail is slightly overstated. Mostly false: the cable remained, but there is little evidence that much of it was ever used, or the claim generalises from a few cases. False: evidence shows the cable was largely removed or abandoned and never used.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 [PDF] Boom, Bubble, Bust: The Fiber Optic Mania - History of the Internet Optics & Photonics News (The Optical Society), article by Jeff Hecht · October 2016

   “In late 2002, consulting firm TeleGeography estimated only 10 percent of the long-haul fibers installed in Europe and North America carried any signals, and that only 10 percent of the wavelengths in those fibers were lit.”

2. E2 Dark Fiber—an Archaeology of the Dot-Com Bubble Technostatecraft (Substack) · 28 August 2025

   “When the illusion finally collapsed, thousands of miles of fiber remained “dark,” unused. Global Crossing declared bankruptcy in 2002, leaving behind $12.4 billion in debt and thousands of miles of dark fiber.”

3. E3 Adding It Up: The Asset Stays, the Owner Changes Cape Fear Advisors (Substack) · 13 October 2026

   “Global Crossing went into bankruptcy carrying about $11 billion of debt and preferred stock, and came out in December 2003 with ST Telemedia holding 61.5 percent for $250 million.”

4. E4 Adding It Up: The Asset Stays, the Owner Changes Cape Fear Advisors (Substack) · 13 October 2026

   “The fiber laid for the dot-com boom still carries traffic, for owners who bought it after the companies that laid it failed, and the railroads’ track did the same a century before.”

E1 and E2 show that after the bust a great deal of long-haul fiber sat unused: about 10 percent carried signals in late 2002, and Global Crossing's 2002 bankruptcy left thousands of miles of dark fiber. E3 shows Global Crossing came out of bankruptcy in December 2003 with ST Telemedia holding 61.5 percent. E4 says the dot-com fiber still carries traffic for owners who bought it after the original companies failed. Together these support the claim, but the main support for later use is one investment-adviser essay (E3/E4) that doesn't say how much of the fiber was eventually lit, so the verdict is mostly true rather than true.