Putting The Fiber Glut In Historical Perspective 95
securitas writes: "This editorial over at the New York Times makes a good case for the optical network buildout being an essential infrastructure project like the railroads, telegraph lines and interstate highways were of previous generations. These projects stimulated new inventions and applications and helped build a great nation. So if you lost a ton on JDS Uniphase, Ciena, Corning, Nortel and the rest, rest easy that you have helped build the future and inspire innovation."
Re:High speed homes (Score:2, Interesting)
Voyager Point is a new suburb of Sydney (and not a great distance out compared to some suburbs), with hundreds of new homes full of young couples, where each home is worth a bare minimum of AU$400k. The perfect market! Yet not an inch of fibre in sight! Oh, and adsl isn't available either, anywhere in the suburb. More satelite dishes than any suburb I've seen is oz.
Perhaps they (the telcos) seem to have given up on new fibre broadband.
Re:Fiber Glut (Score:3, Interesting)
Two things
Me neither. I fact I can't wait to trade up my crappy IDSL back in for something more like 256Mbits/sec like I use to have.
A small issue of profits... (Score:3, Interesting)
Which, come to think of it, sounds pretty much like the situation in the data communications business right at the moment. The only difference being that since investors are a lot faster to pull the trigger on businesses that they perceive as having poor future returns, the telecomm companies will probably never get the chance to establish themselves that the railroads had 1860-1920.
So what happens when all the money pulls out, and all the telecomm providers (except the RBOCs) collapse?
sPh
Indeed, an interesting parallel... (Score:4, Interesting)
When you have to operate a business (running trains) over a vast territory, you have to have reliable, foolproof and positive communication to synchronize the operations of all those trains.
Proper communications were essential to avoid those dreaded "cornfield meets" (head-on collisions).
Railroad signalling also has been a cutting-edge environment too; signal interlocking plants (where complex railroad junctions are controlled) have been from the start crude mechanical computers, where conflicting train routes are avoided by mechanical (then electric and now computerized - but with extremely wierd and exotic kinds of technologies) computers, all to boost safety.
Actually, 100 years ago, railroads were the high-tech industry, and it is striking to see the parallels between the railroads 100 years ago, and the computer/internet scene today...
Re:Fiber Glut (Score:2, Interesting)
Where I live, north Florida, my best connect speed is 26K pots. No DSL, No ISDN, No Cable, No 56K. About 10 miles from my place is a Level-3 light-regen facility. They have 12 1.25" ID ducts in the ground (3 or 4 of which I believe have fiber in them). Rumor has it, there is cage space available over there (I have not verified this yet). Hmmm 10 miles away... hmmm 802.11b... hmmm I wonder if they would sell me a DS-1 and be partial to hosting a short tower... hmmm.
Cosmic Ray
"another one, not like the other one"
Cities Make More Sense Now (Score:1, Interesting)
When the railroad was invented, cities sprouted up along rail lines. These are the cities that got big. Previously you had to be on a major water way to get big.
When the car was invented, personal transportation was possible. This allowed the creation of the suburbs. Which ruined the city.
Now that data connectivity is critical, a city makes sense again. Big cities will spring up around fat bandwidth. They'll need connectivity out to other cities, which is where the glut is. Then they'll need fat connectivity within the city.
Detroit was one of the hardest hit cities by urban sprawl and the automobile. Now Detroit is evolving again by putting in 100Mbps-to-the-home connectivity within its downtown area. People are flocking to lofts, apartments, and condos in the downtown.