Re: FCCs RFC for the Definition of Broadband

[Chris Adams <cmadams () hiwaay net>]

Once upon a time, Peter Beckman <beckman () angryox com> said:
>  And where does that fiber go to?  Home runs from a central point in the
>  development, so any provider can hook up to any house at the street?
>  Deregulation means those lines should be accessible to any company for a
>  fee.  How do you give House A Verizon and House B Cox, especially if Cox
>  doesn't support fiber?

I have two cable TV providers available at my house.  They each have
their own cable plant in my neighborhood; there are two runs in each
easment, two sets of pylons for access (although they mostly alternate
yards, so they aren't digging at the same place when burying new wires).
If you switch from one to the other, the new one runs a new wire from
their nearest tap and sends somebody else around in a few weeks to
"bury" (under maybe 2" of dirt) the wire.

On my block, the cable lines are at the back edge of the yard, running
between the houses (down the middle of the block), while the phone
company wires run along the easment at the front edge of the yard with
the utility (power/water/sewer) lines.  Not sure why it was done that
way, except maybe to keep the cable guys from digging up important stuff
on a regular basis (since people switch cable a lot).

However, I've seen pictures of the old power lines in New York City and
such, when there were a dozen or more power companies.  I sure wouldn't
want to see anything like that again.

IMHO, we'd be better off with a public utility that manages nothing but
the cable plant, running one set of wires (a few copper pairs, a coax or
two, and a couple of fiber pairs) to each house, and then selling equal
access to all takers (ILEC, CLEC, cable TV, direct to ISPs, etc.).  The
utility would be banned from selling any kind of service themselves, and
would be a non-profit; they'd charge everybody the same fees for access
to the same type of cable and they'd maintain the plant and colo
facilities.

-- 
Chris Adams <cmadams () hiwaay net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.