A discharge lamp bulb includes a light transmissive envelope and at least one conductive fiber disposed on a wall of the envelope, where the fiber has a thickness of less than 100 microns. The lamp may be either electrodeless or may include internal electrodes. Suitable materials for the fiber(s) include but are not limited to carbon, silicon carbide, aluminum, tantalum, molybdenum, platinum, and tungsten. Silicon carbide whiskers and platinum coated silicon carbide fibers may also be used. The fiber(s) may be aligned with the electrical field, at least during starting. The lamp preferably further includes a protective material covering the fiber(s). For example the protective material may be a sol gel deposited silica coating. Noble gases inside the bulb at pressures in excess of 300 Torr can be reliably ignited at applied electric field strengths of less than 4×105 V/m. Over 2000 Torr xenon, krypton, and argon respectively achieve breakdown with an applied field of less than 3×105 V/m.