7 ms·

As a complete outsider, I would think of this as follows. The current status quo is a Comcast/CenturyLink duopoly. Let's imagine I wanted to start a local ISP

by nzmsv 5y ago

As a complete outsider, I would think of this as follows. The current status quo is a Comcast/CenturyLink duopoly. Let's imagine I wanted to start a local ISP. What would kill my company the fastest? The thing that would pop up as #1 for me is access to poles to run fiber. If this killed Google Fiber it can definitely kill a smaller upstart. There are gatekeepers who limit this access and they work for the county, in the permit office. The incumbents have a relationship with these people, and if they don't you better believe that their folks will start building one as soon as your project is announced. All your local contractors currently supporting Comcast are also not on your side. It is in these people's best interest to see your project die. To make things worse, they don't have to work very hard to make it happen. All they have to do is sit on a permit application long enough to cast doubt on the project. Whereas the broadband manager has a huge hill to climb in comparison: they would have to build a relationship with all the people blocking their progress or figure out how to sidestep them. So the person you are looking for should have high-caliber government sales skills. Good luck finding someone like that who also has a masters degree in CS and will work for 140k. This person can make millions in commissions in enterprise IT sales and they know it.

neonbones 5y ago
I was surprised (and mostly shocked) by the ISP oligopoly in the US. When I heard that it killed Google Fiber and even such a money giant as Google can't properly fight it, I finally understood how bad it is. It there any perspectives of game-changing in that field? And what can be done to change it? I'm genuinely curious about it.
- db48x 5y ago
  It’s pretty much got to be regulatory changes. The regulations we have currently are what makes it legal to exclude competitors.
  - fraserphysics 5y ago
    Broadband is a natural monopoly. Most natural monopolies are either owned by the government or regulated. At the national level government in the US has failed with respect to broadband. I hope we can address that failure locally by building a government owned broadband utility.
- mschuster91 5y ago
  > When I heard that it killed Google Fiber and even such a money giant as Google can't properly fight it, I finally understood how bad it is. The thing is, Google refused to pay bribes. Had they spent to the tune of a couple million in "campaign donations", the opposition would have collapsed.
fraserphysics 5y ago
Los Alamos County owns the electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities. So they own the poles and have rights of way. I think we are in a better position in that regard than most communities. However, you may be correct that the pay scale is not adequate.
- walrus01 5y ago
  If the county owns the poles and last mile electrical grid you should be looking at some of the fiber networks run by county sized PUDs in eastern WA as an example. Go visit some.
- nzmsv 5y ago
  You could also just relax your requirements. You need a great convincer. You need a technical person. There is no strict requirement they have to be the same person though. What you have here is two jobs mashed into one job req.
  - fraserphysics 5y ago
    My reflex is to approach a problem/issue from a technical perspective. However, you are correct, we need political and managerial perspectives. I am not in charge, I am only a citizen advocate, but I will advocate for something like what you suggest.
- mike_d 5y ago
  Even if you strung fiber to every home, you still need to get the internet to your area. I looked at some major carriers maps, and it looks like you are going to need to trench at least 25-30 miles of fiber along 502 and 84 to reach the Zayo fiber running along 25 south of Santa Fe. THe Nuclear Security Administration is in the process of laying a second fiber path to the lab up there, and while you have zero chance of piggy backing on a DoE fiber line the planning documents might be helpful in figuring out what is viable and what isn't. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2020/04/f74/final-ea-2122-second-fiber-optic-circuit-route-LANL-2020-05.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2020/04/f74/final... (Feel free to email me if you need further help, it is in my profile)

by nzmsv 5y ago

neonbones 5y ago

I was surprised (and mostly shocked) by the ISP oligopoly in the US. When I heard that it killed Google Fiber and even such a money giant as Google can't properly fight it, I finally understood how bad it is. It there any perspectives of game-changing in that field? And what can be done to change it? I'm genuinely curious about it.

db48x 5y ago
It’s pretty much got to be regulatory changes. The regulations we have currently are what makes it legal to exclude competitors.
- fraserphysics 5y ago
  Broadband is a natural monopoly. Most natural monopolies are either owned by the government or regulated. At the national level government in the US has failed with respect to broadband. I hope we can address that failure locally by building a government owned broadband utility.
mschuster91 5y ago
> When I heard that it killed Google Fiber and even such a money giant as Google can't properly fight it, I finally understood how bad it is. The thing is, Google refused to pay bribes. Had they spent to the tune of a couple million in "campaign donations", the opposition would have collapsed.

fraserphysics 5y ago

Los Alamos County owns the electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities. So they own the poles and have rights of way. I think we are in a better position in that regard than most communities. However, you may be correct that the pay scale is not adequate.

walrus01 5y ago
If the county owns the poles and last mile electrical grid you should be looking at some of the fiber networks run by county sized PUDs in eastern WA as an example. Go visit some.
nzmsv 5y ago
You could also just relax your requirements. You need a great convincer. You need a technical person. There is no strict requirement they have to be the same person though. What you have here is two jobs mashed into one job req.
- fraserphysics 5y ago
  My reflex is to approach a problem/issue from a technical perspective. However, you are correct, we need political and managerial perspectives. I am not in charge, I am only a citizen advocate, but I will advocate for something like what you suggest.
mike_d 5y ago
Even if you strung fiber to every home, you still need to get the internet to your area. I looked at some major carriers maps, and it looks like you are going to need to trench at least 25-30 miles of fiber along 502 and 84 to reach the Zayo fiber running along 25 south of Santa Fe. THe Nuclear Security Administration is in the process of laying a second fiber path to the lab up there, and while you have zero chance of piggy backing on a DoE fiber line the planning documents might be helpful in figuring out what is viable and what isn't. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2020/04/f74/final-ea-2122-second-fiber-optic-circuit-route-LANL-2020-05.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2020/04/f74/final... (Feel free to email me if you need further help, it is in my profile)