"KØHB" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jack Twilley" wrote


The idea of buried fiber along every two-lane road in the
country may
be a fantasy, but laying cable along every Interstate is
certainly
doable with the resources available. Of course, who will run
this
true "information superhighway" is the next debate...


Ten-twelve years ago I was up in northern Minnesota deer hunting.
Got up to my stand way back down a township road, 5 miles from
the nearest dwelling, at zero-dark-thirty and waited for Bambi's
dad to show up with the sunrise. Just in time for morning colors
(0800) I start hearing this awful racket off in the distance,
like a farmer might be buring drainage tiles or something, except
this part of Minnesota hasn't seen an agricultural plow since the
depression. Finally got curious (and cold) enough to go
investigate. Here, out in the middle of absolute nowhere, is a
contract crew burying a 144-fiber cable big as your wrist, and
another spare alonside of it. Every half-mile they put in an
above-ground service loop, and the next day another crew came
behind and plonked down a splice-and-access pedestal at each loop
waiting for the subscribers to show up. The pedestals are still
there, some kinda shot up, but no customers on the horizon. I
bet the local Podunk Power Cooperative is getting ready to roll
out BPL in the same manner!

73, de Hans, K0HB

Hello, Hans

My gut feeling is that if someone is out in the boonies and they *really*
want high speed internet, they could go for satellite and have a decent
system. Yes, $50.00 per month is not as cheap as you can get cable or DSL
(at least in some areas), but it is doable and I doubt too many ISPs are
going to try high speed service where, even if they could subscribe
everyone, the average population density is 10 per square mile or less

I suspect that BPL will go the same route; they'll try, perhaps, but it will
be in the cities and suburbs where they can make money (and they will have
competition *and* cause a lot of qrm). The low population density areas
will *still* not be served (except by satellite or, perhaps, dial-up).

As for president, I *still* like Ike!!!

73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA



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