Randolph Stark had a wiring dilemma. A year ago, he was looking for an inexpensive way to connect two buildings in New York City with a fiber-optic link. A dim memory clicked in?something about underground conduit tubes.A bit of legwork and research at the New York Public Library, the post office and the Smithsonian confirmed that in the late 1890s, New York City was one of five U.S. cities that built pneumatic tube systems to help carry parcels of mail around town. Sifting through documents in the National Archives turned up the blueprints for New York City’s 27-mile system. Six months later, the 26-year-old Stark had patented the idea of installing fiber-optic cable in these 8-inch-diameter, cast-iron subterranean pipes. He estimates that what cost $4 million to build 100 years ago would now run close to $40 million, which makes his idea to use the already existing infrastructure fiscally attractive.Until 1953, the pipes were leased by the post office from the private New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Co. “The city still has a few questions about who owns them and is clarifying their legal status,”Stark says. Progress has been understandably delayed by the terrorist attacks last September.Nevertheless, Stark’s company, Neutron Media, has been consulting with potential telecom partners on projects to lay the fiber-optic cabling in New York City. Stark also plans to take his idea to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis (the other “tubed” cities in the United States) and then overseas. “Pneumatic tube systems are everywhere?in Paris, around Europe and in South America,” Stark says. Related content News Nvidia accelerates enterprise adoption of generative AI Nvidia’s AI Foundations as-a-service offering aims to help enterprises build and run AI models that generate text, graphics, and even proteins. By Peter Sayer Mar 21, 2023 5 mins Cloud Management Infrastructure Management Artificial Intelligence BrandPost The Era of Multi-Cloud Services Has Arrived How to unlock the benefits of multi-cloud environments By Adelino Simao Mar 21, 2023 4 mins VMware BrandPost Why CISOs Are Looking to Lateral Security to Mitigate Ransomware How to fight ransomeware attacks with lateral security By Adelino Simao Mar 21, 2023 4 mins VMware BrandPost 4 Factors That Influence Modern App Success in a Multi-Cloud Environment Enable your developers to do what they do best: code By Adelino Simao Mar 21, 2023 5 mins VMware Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe