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[ NNSquad ] Don Marti on rights of way and net neutrality


http://zgp.org/~dmarti/freedom/property-rights/

"It's not just about the big bad government trying to regulate the fiber owner's private property, it's about whether or not the fiber owner can obtain rights of way under one usage model, then convert them to another."

 [ I watched the U-verse deployment here from ground-breaking to
   fiber pulling, to VRAD installations.  Whole thing seemed to take
   a couple of years.  I've got lots of stories -- and lots of
   photos.  Apparently AT&T finally got a handle on the exploding
   VRADs -- caused by bad li-ion batteries.  But one thing AT&T never
   seems to mention about VRADs is how *incredibly* noisy they can
   be.  When their fans are running full blast, it's a roar that can
   be heard from across a street.  Pity the poor folks with VRADs
   planted right in front of their houses.

   AT&T has to place VRADs in close proximity to existing b-boxes or
   other terminal junctions -- they need to be as close as possible
   to subscriber premises.  In some cases, depending on logistics,
   VRADs may actually be across the street from terminals, requiring
   digging up streets to lay the interconnects (that's the situation
   with the VRAD that serves my locale -- it's on the other side
   of a very wide street -- in fact it's the farthest I've ever
   seen a VRAD from a terminal.  This is the same terminal that
   got sheered off a couple of years ago by a swerving driver:
   ( http://www.vortex.com/exbbox.jpg ) -- with *significant* impact
   on my operations.

   These existing terminals and associated copper loops (in this
   area, at least) were virtually all originally installed many
   decades ago -- typically pre-divestiture in the good 'ol Ma Bell
   Monopoly days.  AT&T has now successfully leveraged that monopoly
   benefit to the placement of this much more obtrusive equipment,
   operating in an unregulated sphere.

   -- Lauren Weinstein
      NNSquad Moderator ]