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When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

gizmodo.com

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Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#81

Post by stephenr »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #70
WorldMaker wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It fails basic civil engineering on so many levels. Imagine doing that in a city with an active frost line well below 2". How many pothole-related outages would you expect to obviously experience if you were to try such an experiment? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_line

Is cold weather bad for fiber? I'm confused by this post. It fails basic civil engineering on so many levels. This is classic HN armchair engineering. I'm sure Google didn't put any thought into their physical rollout.

> I'm sure Google didn't put any thought into their physical rollout.

From the article:

> “If anyone understood road technology or tire technology, [they] would know it’s going to be a problem,” said Jim Hayes, president of the Fiber Optics Association and a decades-long veteran of the industry.

> “They bid out the work to replace the sealant with asphalt,” Simrall said. But before the work started, Google Fiber saw customers lose service when the process of repaving roads damaged fiber lines. “So they shifted their attention to addressing that,” she said.

Apparently, they did not in fact put any thought into it, besides "how can we cut costs".

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#82

Post by SilverBirch »

This is always quite an interesting dynamic in local government. It's the nature of the US that there's always going to be some mid sized city run by idiots and big corporations can just shop around to see who they can take advantage of. If you strip away the brand name this is just a city agreeing to install an incredibly sub-standard local utility. But it's cheaper! Yes, because it's bad! All the other people digging deep trenches aren't idiots, they're building out the infrastructure to a spec where it will actually be maintainable.

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#83

Post by google234123 »

anigbrowl wrote: post #41
ProllyInfamous wrote: post #31

I had Google Fiber installed in my crapbox Barton Hills duplex (Austin, Texas)... I want to say 2015? It was cool, a then-neat-gimmick that I had to wait years for installation. I now have Chattanooga's public utility fiber, provided by the local electricity provider (EPBfiber, part of the electric fiber board) to EVERY SINGLE ADDRESS SERVICED BY THE POWER COMPANY. The latter scenario is SO MUCH BETTER that the state…

the state of Tennessee effectively has banned [still cat-and-mouse] other cities from implementing Chattanooga's beloved solution It's bleakly hilarious that politicians of a certain stripe fall over themselves to pass laws against policies that deliver value to the public.

Can I make a health insurance company that only insures healthy people?

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#84

Post by kayyyy »

jeremyw wrote: post #40
js2 wrote: post #3

Summary: Google tried to "nano"-trench Louisville, KY using 2" deep trenches (by comparison micro-trenching is typically 6" deep) then use epoxy to cover the trench. The epoxy didn't stand up to tires. Google tried to replace the epoxy with asphalt but that damaged the fiber. Google determined at that point that nano-trenching wouldn't work and didn't want to spend additional money to remedy the situation, so they ab…

If you run home servers and like having complete control, I recommend staying away from AT&T Fiber. They play lots of network games (port remapping/takeover, routing issues, no limits but limits!). Google Fiber, on the other hand, has been clean and clear.

That's quite a shame, our area recently got AT&T fiber and I was excited to move off Comcast with the maximum of 35mbps up I get.

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#85

Post by ivolimmen »

ramenbytes wrote: post #78
ivolimmen wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dug up your yard??? I am getting fiber in 2 months and they are going under my garden by injecting it with high pressure so that it "lands" in my service hatch under my house. Appointment after that someone will enter my house and connect it...

To clarify, do you mean that they just shove the fiber down an underground electrical conduit hard enough for it to make it to your house?

Yes. We have special equipment for this. Under high pressure they shoot the cable through the ground so my garden remains untouched.

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#86

Post by happymellon »

sgt101 wrote: post #75
happymellon wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We sort of do this in the UK. British Telecom own Open Reach who provide infrastructure for the country. There is cable, for a second option in cities, and there are some regional fibre networks that provide a second infrastructure option, but for the most part Open Reach is the only option. I had massive issues with my line, I had engineers come out and we were able to test the cables and show that there was a fault…

Openreach offer 2 SLA's to ISP's, a cheap one and one that gets service. Sky, Voda and BT buy the better SLA. I have worked in these organisations and I can tell you Openreach really doesn't give a flyin f about BT Retail/EE above and beyond the customer relationship that they have with Sky or Voda. They do care less about the smaller ISP's because they spend much less with them and don't have the bosses phone number…

> both Sky and BT invested a lot of money in being able to resolve copper faults so have a good capability to both identify what's needed and get appropriate action from Openreach, I don't think anyone else does.

Bullshit.

I had Zen, and we had identified exactly what the issue was quite quickly.

> the Openreach infrastructure really is separately managed. BT Consumer is just another ISP now.

Then split it off. BT cannot be trusted to be impartial, regardless of how many "former BT employees" tell us otherwise.

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#87

Post by theblazehen »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #66
bruce511 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not in the US, but in my country the fibre-provider and the ISP are unrelated companies. There are multiple fibre companies (typically an area is served by one or another of them although my area has two) and of course a couple dozen ISPs that do the ISP part. This model works -really- well. ISPs compete on price, and service. Fibre folks do the physical stuff. Fibre companies are incentivised to get rolled out i…

What country? It would helpful to know so we can dig into the details. I can assure you they don't separate themselves (soft+hard) out of the goodness of their hearts. Telco loves a monopoly where they can get it. I am sure it was wise regulations -- which the US lacks on this matter. Also, national broadband projects in NZ + AU + SE have been fairly successful. Basically, the gov't pays to build the network, then le…

I'm from South Africa, and we have the same kind of separation here

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#88

Post by aurelien »

And so the man who does not make works is brain lost his place?

“It is such a shame to think that we wouldn’t be having any of this conversation if they would have dug their little holes two inches deeper,” Coan said.

Alphabet the Clown compagny!

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#89

Post by deelly »

google234123 wrote: post #83
anigbrowl wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the state of Tennessee effectively has banned [still cat-and-mouse] other cities from implementing Chattanooga's beloved solution It's bleakly hilarious that politicians of a certain stripe fall over themselves to pass laws against policies that deliver value to the public.

Can I make a health insurance company that only insures healthy people?

Can you make a health company that insures not only healthy people is a real question.

Re: When Google Fiber abandons your city as a failed experiment (2019)

#90

Post by daanluttik »

ivolimmen wrote: post #55

Why would you not put the cable under the ground? I understand that this is more cost effective.. in the SHORT RUN. Currently (I am Dutch) Odido (former T-Mobile) is planning to ship fiber in my town (23.000 people) where it will take 2 to 3 month before it is at my door. Every cable goes under the ground. I even know that in the Netherlands the ones that dig cables have an app that tells them what they can find unde…

Wait, there are still places here in the Netherlands without gigabit fiber... Or are you just very brand-loyal to tmobile?
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