[LINK] How far the fibre?

[David Boxall]

Richard Chirgwin wrote:
> <snip>I don't know whether what passes you is fibre serving exchanges, 
> or fibre serving long-haul trunk routes. If it's the long-haul between 
> Sydney and Brisbane, then it stops at exchanges in major centres for 
> add-drop, not at every possible place along the way. All the 
> long-hauls pass through towns, but not all the towns get drop-off 
> points (and this is not just a Telstra quirk, take a look at any 
> national-scale fibre map).
<snip>

Neither.

The fibre runs to a nearby pit and stops.  Fibre was laid alongside 
copper, but only the copper is in use - the fibre's dark and not 
connected to anything, as far as I can tell.  My place is on the way to 
nowhere.

Those who were in a position to see told me that the machines ploughed 
in both cables at once.  In some places the cables were laid 
side-by-side in open trenches.  I was working and in no position to 
observe much of what went on.  All I saw was machines with twin reels of 
cable - one of black and one of blue.  I saw reels of spare cable - both 
black and blue - by the roadside.  The blue, I'm told, was most likely 
fibre: the other, copper.  Yet the best service Telstra offers me is ISDN.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  My figures are just as good
                              |  as any other figures.
                              |  I make them up myself, and they
                              |  always give me innocent pleasure.
                              |                     --HL Mencken