Chicago Hopes to Make Their Broadband Suck Less > Physically difficult/expensive to do?

Physically difficult/expensive to do?

I lived in Chicago from 1962 to 1986, so I may not have everything correct as to today's situation. Many residential and small business areas have electricity and telephone delivered from ally placed utility poles. These could be used for a fiber network. In the center city area there are a lot of underground utilities. Some run in quite open tunnels, other run in tiny conduit. As others have pointed out, there is quite a bit of fiber already in the central city and at some of the colleges in the city.

The Chicago Parks Department has gotten lots of comments about a lack of cellular service in the larger park areas and along the beachfront. The cellular companies have definitely made an effort in that area, but must negotiate with private building owners to get permission to place antennas. Some reach agreements and some do not. The city has thought that by creating a WiFi system overseen by the city, they can provide connectivity in the park system, without being seen as giving total control of the system to a private company whose goal is only short term profit. The city does not really want to get involved with accommodating cellular service by allowing cell sites in the parks, as they believe there is plenty of private property that can do that nearby. The building owners and the cellular companies just need to agree more and disagree less, so that those small cell sites can be constructed using existing buildings. With the newer smaller pico cell sites that are available, maybe more agreements can be reached.

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