New Fiber Lines Question

[BN1]

Curious about the economics of new fiber lines that have been getting put in all over town over the last couple of years.

Is there 1 company that pays to lay all of the lines and then multiple groups can use them or resell access? Or are these lines just for one service like Google Fiber?

[Brad]

I thought it was 4 different companies putting them in. Google, Centurylink(Qwest, lumen or Quantium whatever else they are calling it this week), Cox, and Allo.

Centurylink attached to the pole in our back yard
Google buried in our front yard.
Cox is working in our neighborhood but I think they are still a few block away.
Haven't seen Allo in our area yet, but heard people are happy with them.

Not sure the economics on their end, but its been great on our end. Competition is awesome!

[Padre]

Our neighborhood got a bunch of flyers stuck in our yards, from a company called Ubiquity. It said they were going to be doing construction in the area, to bring us faster internet. This is another one that would be buried, apparently in the city right of way

I don’t know if they’re related to Google. When I looked them up, it said they were a company out of Austin, that’s starting to add coverage in other cities. Apparently, Benson is part of their first phase in Omaha.

Anyone know more? We had never heard of them before the flyers appeared a few days ago.

[skinzfan23]

Bellevue, specifically, had Fastwyre added about 2 years ago and I think google is up next.

[Busguy2010]

I don't remember which company it was, but one of em came in my neighborhood like a good 5 or 6 years ago and did all sorts of work, including putting in turnbuckles near the power poles and invading my back yard, unannounced, digging all kinds of utility access boxes. But presumably, they never completed all the work they did.

[djc311]

I find it extremely funny that each one of them has to install brand new fiber and cannot share bandwidth or lines that are already buried.

Wish 10 companies would come in and try to lay new power lines so there were competition/options there. Although that's probably not even an option, I imagine sewer/water would be even more difficult.

If they could up the speeds on wireless (which I assume would be unlikely to match that of fiber/wire), then they wouldn't need to be installing all of these.

I guess if they're willing to invest millions to bury these lines it shows you how profitable it must be for them.

[Louie]

I find it extremely funny that each one of them has to install brand new fiber and cannot share bandwidth or lines that are already buried.

Wish 10 companies would come in and try to lay new power lines so there were competition/options there. Although that's probably not even an option, I imagine sewer/water would be even more difficult.

If they could up the speeds on wireless (which I assume would be unlikely to match that of fiber/wire), then they wouldn't need to be installing all of these.

I guess if they're willing to invest millions to bury these lines it shows you how profitable it must be for them.

I hate it. Constantly having to cut up yards for it.

[PWL73316]

If they could up the speeds on wireless (which I assume would be unlikely to match that of fiber/wire), then they wouldn't need to be installing all of these.

You can go cellular wireless only with a hotspot, but it can be pretty pricey. There is a niche industry of modifying phones to work as hotspots but not get caught by the low-cost carriers.

The other option is Starlink and a new generation of Starlink competitors for satellite-based internet. These are relatively expensive subscriptions but Starlink is unlimited data.

Drawbacks for both are lower bandwidth (Starlink's max is 500 Mbps, half of a gig of fiber, and that's on an expensive business plan), lower speed (have to get the signal to the cell tower or the satellite, and back), and data loss through interference or line of sight issues.

[skinzfan23]

Fastwyre in Bellevue had a ton of complaints. They tore up yards and took all of my good sod and threw a huge pile of clay soil with rocks in it back in its place. Then the threw a few pieces of grass seed down. I actually felt bad for the contractors bc they were all sunburnt and looked really tired.

[Brad]

Fastwyre in Bellevue had a ton of complaints. They tore up yards and took all of my good sod and threw a huge pile of clay soil with rocks in it back in its place. Then the threw a few pieces of grass seed down. I actually felt bad for the contractors bc they were all sunburnt and looked really tired.

Sounds like the private contractor MUD had replace the water lines in my neighborhood.... My lawn was so smooth and here it is 6 years later, its still settling and lumpy as heck. I have added bags and bags of topsoil trying to get the bumps out but I think its still settling. MUD Was good to work with at first, because I'm sure they had an open punch list with the contractor, but now they don't want to do anything. So this fall I will bring in more dirt and try to get the lawn back to where it was.

Not sure why the contractor was so dumb. If you are in an established neighborhood, dig a hole, set the dirt right next to the hole, and when you are done, put the same dirt back in the hole it came from and properly compact it. Instead these guys spent half the summer moving piles of dirt around from one yard to another, it just made no sense.

[nebugeater]

Fastwyre in Bellevue had a ton of complaints. They tore up yards and took all of my good sod and threw a huge pile of clay soil with rocks in it back in its place. Then the threw a few pieces of grass seed down. I actually felt bad for the contractors bc they were all sunburnt and looked really tired.

Sounds like the private contractor MUD had replace the water lines in my neighborhood.... My lawn was so smooth and here it is 6 years later, its still settling and lumpy as heck. I have added bags and bags of topsoil trying to get the bumps out but I think its still settling. MUD Was good to work with at first, because I'm sure they had an open punch list with the contractor, but now they don't want to do anything. So this fall I will bring in more dirt and try to get the lawn back to where it was.

Not sure why the contractor was so dumb. If you are in an established neighborhood, dig a hole, set the dirt right next to the hole, and when you are done, put the same dirt back in the hole it came from and properly compact it. Instead these guys spent half the summer moving piles of dirt around from one yard to another, it just made no sense.

They didn't want to kill your grass and damage your yard by piling dirt on it

[Brad]

Fastwyre in Bellevue had a ton of complaints. They tore up yards and took all of my good sod and threw a huge pile of clay soil with rocks in it back in its place. Then the threw a few pieces of grass seed down. I actually felt bad for the contractors bc they were all sunburnt and looked really tired.

Sounds like the private contractor MUD had replace the water lines in my neighborhood.... My lawn was so smooth and here it is 6 years later, its still settling and lumpy as heck. I have added bags and bags of topsoil trying to get the bumps out but I think its still settling. MUD Was good to work with at first, because I'm sure they had an open punch list with the contractor, but now they don't want to do anything. So this fall I will bring in more dirt and try to get the lawn back to where it was.

Not sure why the contractor was so dumb. If you are in an established neighborhood, dig a hole, set the dirt right next to the hole, and when you are done, put the same dirt back in the hole it came from and properly compact it. Instead these guys spent half the summer moving piles of dirt around from one yard to another, it just made no sense.

They didn't want to kill your grass and damage your yard by piling dirt on it

Oh they did. They there would be piles in the lawn long enough to kill the grass before the moved them.