Draft Horses Used To Lay Fiber-Optic Cable

mysqlrocks writes "In Vermont, FairPoint Communications has enlisted draft horses to help lay fiber-optic cable in remote locations. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has pledged to bring broadband to every last mile by 2013, including many remote areas that have been neglected in the past. Private companies have been unwilling to invest in the expensive infrastructure needed to reach these areas. However, Vermont's congressional delegation helped to secure $410 million in federal money earmarked for broadband development and Vermont has partnered with private companies, like FairPoint, to bring high-speed Internet access to all Vermonters. From the article: 'The difficulty of getting cable to "every last mile," is where Fred, the cable-carrying draft horse, comes in. "Hopefully it pays off," says Hastings. "We could maybe get a four-wheeler in here," he continues, gesturing to the cleared swath of boggy, fern-studded terrain that he's working in today. But definitely not a truck, and Fred's impact is nearly invisible. Residents rarely complain about a draft horse tromping through their yards.'"

Depressing.

[Anonymous Coward]

I find this article depressing. Not because of the draft horses. It's just that it's pretty much a given that these lines paid for by public money will subsequently be given to some monopolistic telecom which, when confronted with concepts like net neutrality will come back with indignant replies about how the lines are their property and they can do what they like with them. The world sucks.

A proper role for government

[Bob the Super Hamste]

I am sure that there will be those that will say this is a waste of government resources but I would disagree. One of the things that government should do is build out public infrastructure to areas that the private sector won't serve or wouldn't be feasible without the government doing it. Here is hoping that the current providers there don't file lawsuits preventing the state from laying fiber like they do to proposed municipal ISPs.

My back of the envelope calcuations

[istartedi]

My back of the envelope calculations tell me that situations like this are why you keep old ideas around. If you don't know what an envelope is, or how it could be used to perform calculations, there may come a time when that causes problems.