Re:Broadband Monopolies Push Bill That Would Crush Your Abil...
by rayiner on Friday August 18, 2023 @01:15PM
(#37178848)
> Why is running fiber somehow more expensive than dsl, cable, or power cables?
Because we’re running fiber in the 21st century while DSL, cable, and power have mostly already been in the ground for decades. The cost of building any kind of infrastructure has increased exponentially over the decades. We literally could not build today a lot of the infrastructure we already have in the ground—e.g. the New York subway.
> Chattanooga's EPB runs fiber to every home that has power.
EPB got a $110 million grant from the ARRA ($1,000 per fiber subscriber), and also leverages economies of scale because the fiber network is used both for the electric grid and the fiber service.
I think that’s actually a great way to deploy fiber, but it doesn’t tell you anything about the economics of a fiber provider that isn’t the electric utility.
Because we’re running fiber in the 21st century while DSL, cable, and power have mostly already been in the ground for decades. The cost of building any kind of infrastructure has increased exponentially over the decades. We literally could not build today a lot of the infrastructure we already have in the ground—e.g. the New York subway.
> Chattanooga's EPB runs fiber to every home that has power.
EPB got a $110 million grant from the ARRA ($1,000 per fiber subscriber), and also leverages economies of scale because the fiber network is used both for the electric grid and the fiber service.
I think that’s actually a great way to deploy fiber, but it doesn’t tell you anything about the economics of a fiber provider that isn’t the electric utility.