said by WVNet :Wow, seems like everyone is heading in the same direction!
Yeah, it seems like a pretty logical move for many of us. My network is mature enough to be self sufficient, but some of it is nearing the end of its useful life. In order to stay competitive, I figure I can either invest half the money now for equipment that will limp me along competitively for now, and then invest the other half in another 5 years when I need to replace the network again.... or I figure can invest twice as much now for fiber which should get me at least 15 years or more, without all the environmental issues that I seem to spend way too much time dealing with, and I don't have to spend a single minute worrying about capacity for a LONG time.
said by WVNet :Biggest hurdle here in the US is the red tape. You have to be a CLEC to get an interconnect agreement - that takes months and $$$. Then the interconnect with the local ILEC takes months and $$$$, and that'll give you pole & duct access. Once you get a franchise agreement with the various towns, that is....more time and $$$.
I'm working totally independent without any CLEC status or anything. All my backhauling is still wireless and I'm planning on building out in villages where I already have service to, so I'm not interconnecting with anyone. Since I'm staying strictly internet, no franchise agreement needed for the towns. I'm also working directly with the power company who owns the poles in order to lease space on them, which is a fairly straighforward contract.
The biggest single cost will be the hardware, followed by the labor to install. I'm doing all the engineering/splicing/and customer drops myself, so that's a big chunk of change saved. The power company (understandably) wanted the feeder and distribution figure-8 cables to be hung my an NESC qualified contractor, but we have a customer who just so happens to be a linesman for the same power company who is willing to do the aerial work for $40/hr, which I figure is a hard price to beat. Even if I could hang it all myself, I'd be hard pressed to say that it wouldn't be worth that just to have him do it anyway!
I've got a lot of planning left to do, but I'm pretty confident in the knowledge I have been able to find so far. When I get a bit more time, I'll start posting some of my plans which will hopefully be helpful to anyone else starting down this path, and I figure another set of eyes might catch something that I overlooked.
Joe