Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Alamos?

Re:Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Ala... by southerntofu on Friday September 17, 2021 @06:23AM (#28563521)

I'm sure you're aware of that, but just in case other people are reading: getting uplinks to well-connected places is the easy part. You just need a little money (think 1-3k€/km) and a few authorizations to use public utilities or cross private land here and there. Laying the local loop is the hardest, most expensive part of the project because there's a lot more cable to lay, and you usually have to gather a lot more authorizations from different people/orgs.

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Re:Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Ala... by mike_d on Saturday September 18, 2021 @02:09AM (#28574099)

The average here in the US is $15,000 for 24 strand and $27,000 for burial per mile. However the area in question is full of historical areas and protected land that limits the fiber run to the most indirect path possible following a highway.

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Re:Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Ala... by southerntofu on Monday September 20, 2021 @05:41AM (#28591892)

Wow, that's a lot of money. I must admit i don't know about commercial fiber deployment so these numbers blow my mind. But from what i saw for the costs in big french cities (where there are established underground networks to pass cables) and french countryside (where you just use a tractor to dig "for free" on the border of a peasant's field) that sounds very expensive.

To my knowledge, all french highways and major railways are also already populated with fiber so you can just rent some point-to-point transit there from established operators without having to lay your own.

Good luck with this project keep us updated

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Re:Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Ala... by dc786 on Friday September 17, 2021 @11:08PM (#28573282)

Factor in Indian Country. Not that simple.

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Re:Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Ala... by southerntofu on Monday September 20, 2021 @05:37AM (#28591875)

Do you mean indigenous sovereign nation territories? Or Indian country as in India one of the most populated countries on Earth?

I assume the former because the conversation was about USA in the first place. It is my understanding that US industry and law enforcement has exactly 0 respect for peace treaties with indigenous nations and their territorial sovereignty, especially when it comes to extracting natural resources.

However, it's good if local communities care for respecting other people's lands. If your fiber needs to cross private property or indigenous reservations, i'd recommend having an honest discussion with their residents. Maybe some would actually like to have good connection as a public service (as the Rhizomatica project has been building mobile phone and internet infrastructure for some communities in another part of the world) but would be hostile to private for-profits ignoring their needs.

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