So as kind of a broad reply to a lot of the "well, the cable could break" - yes. Yes it could. I'm not saying don't have some other way of transmitting data...

So as kind of a broad reply to a lot of the "well, the cable could break" - yes. Yes it could. I'm not saying don't have some other way of transmitting data...just rather than worrying about "how do we relay connectivity between senors using a wireless protocol", and/or "How do we connect sensors that aren't in cell coverage areas to the broader internet", fiber can be used to connect sensors in relays. Put a cellular chip every 10 miles, say, and then connect those, with sensors, with fiber. So basically cell chip -> sensor -> sensor -> ... -> cell chip -> repeat. Any single split of one of those 10 mile stretches, and you have lost nothing (as communication can still go the other way, that is, the sensor north of the split can still send data north, the sensor south of the split can still send data south, say). And you know where the split happened. "Workers will just cut the fiber" - err, really? I assume installing oil pipelines, given the mechanical complexity of it, involves more than just sticking it together and welding it shut (and removing it involves more than just slicing it open and dropping a new one in its place). An extra step or two to ensure the fiber line is properly hooked up hardly seems any more complex than what they're already doing.