Starting a Local Fibre Co-Op? 46
swordsaintzero wonders: "I have seen several articles mentioning local co-ops implementing fiber. I am moving to a smaller town to take a position as a Solaris Administrator for a large university. After calling around, I found out the fastest bandwidth package available is half the speed of my previous package. For all of you Slashdot readers, who have worked on getting fibre implemented for your town through a co-op, what was involved in presenting it to the city government? What would be the best way to get the ball rolling on getting fiber for home use implemented?"
Move to a bigger city... (Score:3, Funny)
So to answer one of your questions: What would be the best way to get the ball rolling on getting fiber for home use implemented? My answer would be: "Move to a big city".
I'm just a comedian though. Hopefully someone insightful will post a more insightful answer.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:1)
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:1)
Oh yeah, and how wonderful that can be. After the fall of the Berlin wall the Telekom went nuts to rip out the old copper wires in the eastern part of Berlin to replace them with fiber. (Probably not to the homes but only to the curb.) Right now there's lots of places where you can't get ADSL since that won't work over fiber. Tough luck for those people.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2, Insightful)
So if you want FTTP right now, move to a suburb that's already been finished.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's kinda weird to see a set-top box with a fiber line running to it.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
NTL/Telewest both have fibre just to the green cabs, it's coax from there.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:3, Interesting)
The infrastructure of these cities has been gradually implemented over the past 100+ years, and redoing it all from scratch would quite literally be impossible.
That's why verizon has been wiring suburban communities for fiber. Even though the rural areas of my (very small) town don't seem to have been wired, all of the residential neighborhoods have been wired, and as of last week, turned on. I
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2, Funny)
So festering crack houses only cost $20,000 in Terrace Bay?
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
Why the hell 5/15? It seems that the fiber itself will do gigabit as easy as it will do 10mps, and even if they couldn't offer 1000mps internet connections, telling you "it's 5mps to the internet, 1000mps to your neighbors" would kick ass.
Is it ethernet, or are they doing some dumbass ATM/DSL over fiber crap?
Are they offering static IPs?
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:3, Informative)
2) The max speed with current technology IIRC is quite high, although I think equipment to transmit at these speeds would be prohibitively expensive. Last time I checked, Verizon was using some sort of technology to allow multiple houses to run off of one strand by sending multiple wavelengths of light down a si
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
But we'll never reach the point where they aren't infinitely more pleasant places to live than suburban hellholes.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
Clearly you've never been to New York City and the Jersey/NYS/Connecticut suburbs. The contrast is stark.
I can definitely attest that the majority of suburban communities are far more pleasant than the cities they support.
Sure, there are urban areas I wouldn't mind living in, but they're usually either super-expensive or spread-out enough to be almost considered suburban.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:2)
I've lived in both for years each, but I agree with your conclusion. The contrast is stark, and the alienating misery of the suburbs is even harder to fathom for having experienced it at length firsthand.
Re:Move to a bigger city... (Score:3, Interesting)
Could you provide a link to the articles you read? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:4, Informative)
Another out-of-the-box answer to the question suggests itself, since the poster missed the other 50% of their former bandwidth: Get 2 lines and aggregrate.
Anyhow, if you want to share fiber to defray installation costs, just start talking to your neighbors about it. If you can get contiguous propery owners to collaborate, no right-of-way is needed, and it becomes much more practical. It's also a good way to get to know your neighbors. Probably, wireless point-to-point links will be a lot cheaper, however. Then suddenly you're a wireless ISP. Lots of folks are doing it.
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:3, Informative)
Depending on your state laws, no right of way may be needed at all. Lots of states are so pro-development that they'll bend over backwards to help you take the land you need. Most will happily fine anyone who cuts your lines as well. I'm looking at 150' power lines in my back yard that got built despite rejecting the power companies offer, and despite any condemnation procedures. As a property owner, there's technically
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:4, Insightful)
Speed is Good? (Score:1)
Remember those fast 56k modems back in the not-so-long-ago day?
I remember 2k!
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:2)
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:2)
Digging up peoples yards, laying pipe, installing equipment would all be time consuming to begin with but getting everyone in on it would be a chore in and of itself.
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:2)
If a few close neighbors did want to do such a
Neighborhood Fiber (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Neighborhood Fiber (Score:2)
I'm sure there's somewhere in your area where you can rent a Ditch Witch or something similar. There's a lot to be said for having the right tool for the job.
You must not read Linux Journal (Score:2)
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:2)
http://www.bendigotelco.com.au/ [bendigotelco.com.au]
http://www.communitytelco.com.au/ [communitytelco.com.au]
http://www.itel.gil.com.au/ [gil.com.au]
News article: http://www.abc.net.au/southwestvic/stories/s129818 6.htm [abc.net.au]
If wires are all too much, then wireless can be done too...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_community_ne twork#Australia_.26_Oceania [wikipedia.org]
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:1)
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:1)
Re:Could you provide a link to the articles you re (Score:1)
Sweden... (Score:1)
Look to history. (Score:3, Interesting)
I get my power from a co-op. Back in the 1930s the farmers in my area realized that they would not be served by any utility because there was no profit in them. So they got together and started a co-op and wired the county. We are now one of the fastest growing utilities in the nation (Minneapolis is growing right into our territory).
There are likely to be some old laws on the book in your state that you can fudge to help you. Have a lawyer look them up. You will need a lawyer before you get very far, so best is if you can find one to be a partner now, and hire him.
Fiber, Speeds, Verizon vs Private (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Fiber, Speeds, Verizon vs Private (Score:1)
Re:Fiber, Speeds, Verizon vs Private (Score:2)
Maybe I'm missing something (Score:2)
Maybe I'm missing something, but the optics aren't going to get you any additional speed to the internet if the fastest connection you can find to uplink it is still slow.
Reminds me of my old school that touted FIBER TO THE DESKTOP!!! - doesn't make much sense when all you have is a T1 and 10k nodes on a single subnet. [fairfield.edu]
Some tips (Score:2)