[87893] in Cypherpunks
Re: Internet Via Electric Lines?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Cynthia Brown)
Wed Oct 8 18:02:38 1997
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 17:30:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: Cynthia Brown <cynthb@sonetis.com>
To: Cypherpunks@algebra.com
In-Reply-To: <199710081601.JAA15326@toad.com>
Reply-To: Cynthia Brown <cynthb@sonetis.com>
On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Peter Trei wrote:
> It looks like we're seeing different parts of the problem. You're
> worried about the long-haul backbone. I'm trying to see ways to
> get a 10Gbps fibre into my living room.
>
> The backbone cost is a tiny fraction of the cost of getting fiber
> into every house in the country.
>
> Building a few optical fibers into a cable as it is being
> manufactured is cheap and easy, as is using fiber-equipped
> cable if you are installing new lines, or replacing old ones
> for other reasons (installation costs are usually far higher
> than the cost of the line itself). It's hooking up all the
> fibers into a meaningful network that gets expensive,
> which was my point.
Practically speaking, using the cable TV infrastructure looks much more
promising than the power grid. Pros:
- already available in many major urban centres = less retrofit
- theoretical 30Mbps transmission rate (not fibre, but still pretty good)
Cons:
- lack of standardisation / compatibility for the modems themselves
(bleeding edge technology, surprise surprise)
- little choice for your ISP
- you may have to buy cable service along with the Internet connectivity
Cynthia
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Cynthia H. Brown, P.Eng.
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