Fiber-optic boom and bust (1996-2001)
Telecom companies like Global Crossing and Level 3 borrowed billions to lay fiber optic cable worldwide, betting on explosive internet traffic growth. At the peak, companies laid more fiber than the world could use for decades.
Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy in January 2002 with $12.4 billion in debt. Level 3 survived but was deeply wounded.
The overbuild left a glut of 'dark fiber' that took years to fill, but the infrastructure eventually became the backbone of the modern internet.
Nebius and other neoclouds are making a similar bet: borrow heavily now to build AI infrastructure, hoping demand catches up. The fiber bust shows the risk, and that the infrastructure can still be valuable long-term.
