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I went to school at the University of Colorado Boulder. Something this article doesn't mention is that the city already has over 100 miles of fiber laid that is

I went to school at the University of Colorado Boulder. Something this article doesn't mention is that the city already has over 100 miles of fiber laid that isn't currently being lit up: http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Boulder-Colo-To-Light-Up-Fiber-Optic-Network.html http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Boulder-Colo-To-Light-Up-.... There were several groups of students looking to build companies to utilize this existing infrastructure, as well as business interests outside the city, but it just never went anywhere. I hope that it will see use soon, I was very envious of my friends that would commute in from nearby Longmont that could use their awesome municipal ISP.

psalminen 8y ago
This is exactly what I was thinking about while reading the article. Funny they didn't mention it.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
Cshelton 8y ago
Obligatory Sko' Buffs!
49bc 8y ago
This is the case in many, many major cities. When discussing this type of rollout, it’s almost always talking about last-mile, which is the most expensive to rollout and maintain.
AlphaSite 8y ago
100 miles of fiver isn’t really that much is it? Maybe in absolute terms but when you have runs to each house that’s probably less than a couple hundred homes
- 15155 8y ago
  Boulder isn't very large.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- edaemon 8y ago
  It would depend on where it's laid. If it's 100 miles of residential streets that's not that useful, but if it's 100 miles of major thoroughfares that means it's much easier to build it out across the city.
amorphid 8y ago
In Australia, fiber-to-the-home vs. fiber-to-the-node has been a fairly political issue about which I knew very little, so I looked it up. [1] After reading about parent comment and the miles of unused fiber, I wondered what the difference between fiber near my home vs fiber in my home would be, and found some good info. [2] [1l http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nbn-promises-past-and-present/7506714 http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nb... [2] https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-care/ https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-car...
- gnopgnip 8y ago
  There is new tech like g.fast that enables gigabit speeds over copper wire like an existing phone line for short distances.
  - amorphid 8y ago
    I wonder what speeds would be achievable over the ancient copper wire in my building.
    - philjohn 8y ago
      Depends. If it's 50+ years old it'll be fine, sure, some of the joints might not be, but that's not awful to fix. Then Copper prices went up massively for a while and thinner guage twister pair went in at best, and Aluminium was used at worst.
  - AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
    "First released in October 2013, and updated several times since, the DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications support capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS
- philjohn 8y ago
  The problem is that FTTP/H has a much larger up front cost because of having to clear out potentially blocked ducts if underground, and the labour intensive work that needs to be done at the property.
rmshea 8y ago
I'd love to learn more about this. Do you have any more info? Email is ryan [@] shea . cool

psalminen 8y ago

This is exactly what I was thinking about while reading the article. Funny they didn't mention it.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

Cshelton 8y ago

Obligatory Sko' Buffs!

49bc 8y ago

This is the case in many, many major cities. When discussing this type of rollout, it’s almost always talking about last-mile, which is the most expensive to rollout and maintain.

AlphaSite 8y ago

100 miles of fiver isn’t really that much is it? Maybe in absolute terms but when you have runs to each house that’s probably less than a couple hundred homes

15155 8y ago
Boulder isn't very large.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
edaemon 8y ago
It would depend on where it's laid. If it's 100 miles of residential streets that's not that useful, but if it's 100 miles of major thoroughfares that means it's much easier to build it out across the city.

amorphid 8y ago

In Australia, fiber-to-the-home vs. fiber-to-the-node has been a fairly political issue about which I knew very little, so I looked it up. [1] After reading about parent comment and the miles of unused fiber, I wondered what the difference between fiber near my home vs fiber in my home would be, and found some good info. [2] [1l http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nbn-promises-past-and-present/7506714 http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/federal-election-nb... [2] https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-care/ https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-difference-fttc-fttp-car...

gnopgnip 8y ago
There is new tech like g.fast that enables gigabit speeds over copper wire like an existing phone line for short distances.
- amorphid 8y ago
  I wonder what speeds would be achievable over the ancient copper wire in my building.
  - philjohn 8y ago
    Depends. If it's 50+ years old it'll be fine, sure, some of the joints might not be, but that's not awful to fix. Then Copper prices went up massively for a while and thinner guage twister pair went in at best, and Aluminium was used at worst.
- AboutTheWhisles 8y ago
  "First released in October 2013, and updated several times since, the DOCSIS 3.1 suite of specifications support capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS
philjohn 8y ago
The problem is that FTTP/H has a much larger up front cost because of having to clear out potentially blocked ducts if underground, and the labour intensive work that needs to be done at the property.

rmshea 8y ago

I'd love to learn more about this. Do you have any more info? Email is ryan [@] shea . cool