conduit – Page 3 – Steve Blum's Blog

Regional economy depends on infrastructure, particularly fiber and conduit

20 November 2015 by Steve Blum
ccbc, conduit, infrastructure, mbep

More broadband equals more work and fewer cars on the road.

“The most important infrastructure for the future is fast, reliable internet connectivity”, said Bud Colligan, co-chair of the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) as he opened a day long conference on the state of the region’s economy. He said that incumbent telephone and cable companies have a big role to play in that, but “it is in our public interest to have a level playing field with robust competition”.… More

Fiber network planned to run alongside California high speed rail

5 November 2015 by Steve Blum
conduit, dark fiber, high speed rail

At least the fiber will be fast.

California’s high speed rail project is supposed to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles (well, maybe Burbank) with 200 mile an hour trains in 2029. The entire system, which is planned to extend 800 miles and include Sacramento and San Diego, would be completed some time after that. The first operational segment – location still undecided – is slated to start running in 2022. That’s assuming it’s actually built and the current schedule holds.… More

California edges closer to full pole and conduit access for ISPs

8 May 2015 by Steve Blum
conduit, cpuc, google, pole attachment, public policy

In two separate, unanimous decisions yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission narrowed the privilege gap between pure Internet service providers and traditional telephone and cable companies, at least concerning access to utility poles, conduits and other facilities and right of ways.

In one decision, the CPUC handed Google Fiber a victory by ruling that a company that has a state franchise to deliver television service over any kind of cable or wire (but not wirelessly) is a “cable television corporation” under California law and can ask for equal access to utility poles…

A state-franchised that transmits television programs by cable to subscribers for a fee is a “cable television corporation” as defined by [California’s public utility laws].

… More

If you're wondering how much it costs to use existing poles and conduit, it's public information

20 July 2014 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, conduit, cpuc, PGE, pole attachment, poles

The most difficult and costly part of any wireline broadband infrastructure project is getting cable from point A to point B. There are two primary ways of doing it: stringing it on poles or running through buried conduit. Since the chances of getting permission to build a new pole route in California is only slightly better than the odds of getting approval to drill for oil in San Francisco Bay, your only independent alternative is to start digging, at the rate of $30 to $60 a foot or more.… More