This is why the municipalities--in the United States--that have city-operated utilities should be doing this. In Seattle, for example, Seattle City Light is th

This is why the municipalities--in the United States--that have city-operated utilities should be doing this. In Seattle, for example, Seattle City Light is the legal owner or half-owner (with the local telco) of every utility pole in the city, along with ground easements for electrical service. Since Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities (the water and sewer provider) are two departments of the same city, they share the same easements and access rights. Tearing up a street to rebuild the street, reconstruct a sewer, or bury electrical wires is all done by the same entity, so adding in fiber conduits is easy as long as there is the budget. Sadly, that last sentence is the kicker. "As long as there is the budget." There's no line-item in the city budget for building a municipal data network that covers the last mile (Seattle has a rather sizable not-quite-last-mile fiber network).