On 07/23/2014 07:58 AM, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote: > On Wed, 23 Jul 2014, Scott Helms wrote: > >> for a more open approach. The people involved in the bond arrangements >> almost invariably see having the city the layer 3 provider as more >> reliable >> path to getting repaid than an open system. > > Another model is the one described for instance in > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXYaAd5ubok . This has worked > successfully in Sweden as well, people getting together and putting in > ducts or fiber themselves. > > In the countryside, people (at least in Sweden) people are used to > cooperating in maintenance of roads and other things, one neighbor has a > backhoe, second one has a snowplow attachment and everybody helps out. > It's a lot easier to accept digging on your property when it's your > neighborhood people getting together in doing something, instead of > $BIGTELCO that has screwed you before and will screw you again, wanting > to do the same thing. Also, after putting it in, you own the > infrastructure, so it might actually be a good investment and raise your > property value. >
In the US, in midwest rural areas at least, you see do quite a few cooperatives in the realm of things like power distribution. It isn't quite the same as neighbors getting together to build a network, but it has some of the same elements. I live outside of the city and I am a member of a rural electric cooperative. Compared to when I was in the city on the local regulated monopoly grid, my rates are lower, the number of outages are fewer and the overall quality of service is better. I don't know if that is necessarily a common experience, but it is mine. It seems to me that in rural areas a cooperative framework could be ideal for networks as well. Now, it is tempting to suggest that the electric cooperative should take on the project. After all they have a network of electric poles, it doesn't seem that it would be that hard to hang fiber on them. However, I fear that it would be enough outside of the management's wheelhouse that it could end badly. Would probably need a completely separate management team to do it right. Steve -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Saner <ssa...@hubris.net> Voice: 316-858-3000 Director of Network Operations Fax: 316-858-3001 Hubris Communications http://www.hubris.net
