Test Selling "Last Mile" Fiber to Homeowners Under Way in Canada

Ars Technica is covering an interesting pilot program taking place in Ottawa, CA. 400 homes are being outfitted with fiber optic cables; however, the "last mile" of fiber is going to be sold outright to the homeowners rather than providing internet at a monthly fee. "In the future, it could become commonplace for homes to come with 'tails.' These customer-owned, fiber-optic connections would link them to a network peering point. Without the expense of rolling out last mile infrastructure to every home, many more ISPs could afford to serve a given neighborhood by running wiring to the peering point, leading to more competition and lower prices. Perhaps best of all, the growth of customer-owned fiber could make debates over 'open access' and network neutrality moot, as robust telecom competition should prevent the worst of the monopolistic behavior exhibited by telco and cable incumbents."

Comments

Re:I would be willing to do this

[h4rr4r]

You use a ditchwitch to cut a trench, not a backhoe. It only needs to be a few inches wide. Right tool for the right job.

Re:I would be willing to do this

[mrycar]

I own a backhoe, not a ditchwitch, otherwise would use it.

Re:Road works

[Deadplant]

Here in Ottawa we have the vast majority of our cables on poles.

Can't just tap it

[statemachine]

A fiber isn't something you can just tap into without negative results. You'll need to cut it then add a splitter.

Assuming it went perfectly, you've just
1) Killed the network for everyone using that fiber for the time it was cut
2) degraded the signal(light) for everyone
3) ponied up for several (10's of?) thousands of dollars in equipment because that signal won't likely be usable by low-end short-haul consumer equipment.

Now imagine all your neighbors doing that.

You'll need some type of remote terminal for your neighborhood.

Even in the old days of vampire taps on coax there were limits.

Re:What happens when something goes wrong?

[4iedBandit]

I know this is Slashdot, but if you had bothered to read the article you would have discovered that the cable would be managed and maintained by a management company. So the cost of maintenance would be shared among the community. Just like existing home owners associations today.

I currently pay a monthly fee to my association and it covers lawn care, water, sewer, snow removal and garbage removal. This would just tack on "fiber internet connection" to that list.

Re:$2700 is a lot of money, sorry folks.

[Anonymous Coward]

It will cost you close to a grand just to dig the trench.

When I needed my main water line replaced (about 10 years ago), the cost breakdown was:

$400 for the plumbing and the labor
$400 to pay for a ditchwitch for a day
$400 for the guy operating the ditchwitch

The Low Population Density Means A Long Wait!

[Easy2RememberNick]

The population of Canada is pretty low (about 35 million), spread out across the second largest country in the world and frozen solid for at least two or three months in the warmest areas, it's a big deal if this was offered.

  Some places near me have just got cable access last year because they were so isolated the cable company wasn't going to put up miles of cable for one house.

  I would pay up front for fiber if that meant I would get it sooner...it'll probably still end up being throttled to death somehow!

Re:The Low Population Density Means A Long Wait!

[stevo3232]

True, but a very large amount of the Canadian population is concentrated in the Quebec-Windsor corridor and aside from that, within a few major cities. Servicing all of Canada with broadband will take forever, but getting 2/3 to 3/4 with very high speed access shouldn't take very long at all.

Re:I would be willing to do this

[The FNP]

The ditch that the ditchwitch would witch if the ditchwitch did witch ditch.

I'm waiting for my +2 Offtopic.

--The FNP

Re:I would be willing to do this

[mpoulton]

You use a ditchwitch to cut a trench, not a backhoe. It only needs to be a few inches wide. Right tool for the right job.

Usually not. Most communications trenches are 18 to 24 inches wide. Why? Because the cable is pulled in 3" or 4" conduits, which must be laid on a bed of compacted gravel (called "shading"), covered with more shade, and then backfilled. This requires working space in the trench. Usually multiple conduits are laid too, and telecom is often co-trenched with other utilities below it. A narrow bucket on a backhoe is the tool of choice. I have never seen a ditchwitch used to install pipe for telecom. Ditchwitches are the tool of choice for small irrigation pipe, small buried electrical feeders, and other really light duty applications. Yes, IAACC (commercial contractor).

Re:I would be willing to do this

[mpoulton]

Can a ditchwitch fill the trench back in too ?

Automatically. You can either run it to cut a narrow trench and deposit the dirt off to the side, or you can run it to automatically cut the trench, lay in pipe or wire from a spool, and drop the dirt back on top. It then requires only a little watering and compaction and you are done. Fast and easy.