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Why can’t they trial this in US ? There are literally thousands of cities without fiber and locked into crappy cable connections.
by ycombonator 6y ago
Why can’t they trial this in US ? There are literally thousands of cities without fiber and locked into crappy cable connections.
- dillonmckay 6y agoMy guess is because in the US, the municipality usually does not own the power-line or pole, and in the instances the municipality does own its electrical lines and poles, it has probably already deployed fiber. Also, having the fiber mounted lower on the pole means one can repair one or the other in isolation. The FB method seems like it could be dangerous for repairs, but I would like to see it applied in real life, too. So, legal and liability issues.
- jauer 6y agoPower lines are increasingly buried (even MV) in cities, so it's not a good use case for this tech. Poor connectivity in the US is a political problem, not a technical one. Google Fiber tried to solve this by getting cities to make permitting not terrible with mixed results.
- topspin 6y ago> Poor connectivity in the US is a political problem, not a technical one. Correct. Lawmakers in your state have to take steps to clear the way for broadband. Otherwise lawsuits fly when rent seekers gouge whomever has right-of-way when data services try to come through. Also, utilities have to be forced to get off the dime. If they're required to offer non-discriminatory access to poles and trenches, for instance, then they either seek to operate the broadband service themselves or come to terms with someone who can. Otherwise they behave like it's 1975 forever and squat on their power lines.