[ale] Comcast Caps Data at 250G/Month

Mike Harrison meuon at geeklabs.com
Sun Sep 7 02:47:25 EDT 2008


> So who, besides Commiecast, can utilize the coax wires that we
> allow the company to run through our public rights of way??

Not sure about Atlanta but in places I do know:

They own the coax.. It's theirs. They pay per pole fees
to the owners of the pole (Look for metal tag w/number for owner and 
inventory number) and pay either a "tax" for the right of way usage
based on usage, and probably a large franchise fee to the city,
also for right of way maintenance, usage, etc.

You may also petition to do the same. I have run a few miles of private 
fiber cable (with messenger) on poles and buried along right of ways.
Even done it for schools, although they usually don't have to pay
if it's just a few poles between buildings nearby. BS/AT&T has a fit
(or at least used to) if it was more than a couple of poles. They like
charging for dark fiber as much as lit fiber.

And as I am sure you are about to buy an OC3 or two, pay ARIN for
some BGP routable addresses, and run and maintain fiber to your whole 
neighborhood, I wanted to include these tips:

Those vertical boring machines are cool, and expensive to 
rent, a cable plow attached to an old Bronco's class III hitch
is way kewl too and cheaper. Sometimes you can get a permit for 
fixing a sewer line (so you can use a trencher) easier than getting a 
permit for burying cable. Notify one-call anyway.. take pictures of
where things are buried and give them to the building owners.

My point is, you are picking on "Commiecast" as a "monopoly,"
when in reality, you can take them on personally anytime.

Heck, in Chattanooga, the very city that charges them the franchise fee
and the Utility (EPB.net) that charges them for shared pole access
is now also competing with them (and AT&T and other CLECS) for the very 
same services. - Should a city compete with private business
amd use tax dollars to fund that competition?











More information about the Ale mailing list