Rural Infrastructure thread

[paulsharvey]

With that much infrastructure it is not what I would even start to call rural.
Much rural has no water lines, no gas lines and most of the other utilities are on poles if even available.

Oh, another point; just cause a fiber is there, does not mean its available. Lots of telecoms dont provide home service, they run to commercial customers, goverment customers, and cell towers, as well as sell back bone to smaller telecoms.

One, on the south side of the road, 3 each, 1.25" conduits, single 144 count fiber, I watched in 2016/2017, they run to cell sites, some limited commercial customers, and every single county building in my county. Every fire house, school, library, sheriff's substation, voting precinct, ect. But, they wont run to your house.

 

[paulsharvey]

Maybe a good way to explain it; this is the rural gap between two urban areas. Its still rural, but there is more here then the middle of nowhere where, if that makes sense.

 

[bdhsfz6]

In the rural area where I live, Verizon is on a kick to eliminate copper telephone cables. They now offer 5G internet as well as home telephone service via cell towers. They install a box in the home and wire all the phones to it. The box converts a cellular signal to landline.

It used to be called VOIP, Voice Over Internet Protocol and the latency was terrible, much worse than a cellular conversation, but they've made some improvements. My neighbor has it and it isn't bad. Verizon is offering the service for $30/mo. to try and get customers to convert.

 

[ponytug]

In the rural area where I live, Verizon is on a kick to eliminate copper telephone cables. They now offer 5G internet as well as home telephone service via cell towers. They install a box in the home and wire all the phones to it. The box converts a cellular signal to landline.

It used to be called VOIP, Voice Over Internet Protocol and the latency was terrible, much worse than a cellular conversation, but they've made some improvements. My neighbor has it and it isn't bad. Verizon is offering the service for $30/mo. to try and get customers to convert.

Some of the equipment and providers have settings buried in the control menus options to improve the voice quality. In my experience you really have to dig for them, as it increases the data used/sec, and the telcos don't want to waste bandwidth (on anyone who doesn't really care).

All the best, Peter

 

[paulsharvey]

In the rural area where I live, Verizon is on a kick to eliminate copper telephone cables. They now offer 5G internet as well as home telephone service via cell towers. They install a box in the home and wire all the phones to it. The box converts a cellular signal to landline.

It used to be called VOIP, Voice Over Internet Protocol and the latency was terrible, much worse than a cellular conversation, but they've made some improvements. My neighbor has it and it isn't bad. Verizon is offering the service for $30/mo. to try and get customers to convert.

At my house, we have the T-mobile box, and never looked into an "land line" part, but thats our only real option for internet. Im mostly fine with it, but Comcast is working on (design phase; i get to see things the general public doesnt, not insider info, but also not Easily available) a rural fiber to the home project on my road. Im not 100% sure if we want to connect or not. We are mostly good with the cellular box, but fiber to home would be faster, and more future proof. It also would be Far cheaper to connect during the build, then a couple years later... so, we might connect, and try it,

 

[LouNY]

Many places do not have and likely never will get fiber. And many rural cell towers do not have 5G, lucky to have 4G and LTE

 

[Highlandr]

In the rural area where I live, Verizon is on a kick to eliminate copper telephone cables.

Telcos have been abandoning copper for data circuits for years. Only a matter of time before they do the same for all residential land lines.

 

[ultrarunner]

None of the Wi-Fi internet has availability at my address but go up the street and no problem…

The farm has sewer and gas crossing farm property but because outside the urban growth limit it’s not available to connect… but no problem at ever parcel abutting the farm…

The county powers that be have decided they like the rural farm as a backdrop and never want it to change…

Even the cell tower which ATT spent a lot to research is no longer happening… the dead spot in the road will remain so…

 

[ultrarunner]

Telcos have been abandoning copper for data circuits for years. Only a matter of time before they do the same for all residential land lines.

Just got another letter today urging migration… saying discontinuance awaiting regulatory approval…

 

[paulsharvey]

Telcos have been abandoning copper for data circuits for years. Only a matter of time before they do the same for all residential land lines.

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

 

[paulsharvey]

On one rural fiber build, stimulas project, the utility company mentioned a condition of their grant (or whatever you call it, their federal check for the build), they needed to attempt to pull out all of their old copper, and if not able to pull it, dig it up every 50 ft and cut it.

Now, I understand A reason, but I doubt the feds are doing it for this; but wrecking out retired utilities helps prevent what we see every day; dozens of things in the right of way, some good, some dead, and no really way to know.

 

[ultrarunner]

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

Yep… I have one left…

Even the hospital has a landline often called the Red Phone.

 

[ponytug]

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

Around here, there was no plan B until Starlink came along. Nobody bid on our general area for providing rural broadband, so in the future, if Starlink goes down, we are either driving to somewhere in cellular range or using signal fires or smoke signals.

Most of my neighbors are not only under 80 but have land lines. We've experienced outages that took all sorts of utilities off line. A few probably fall into the heavily prepared category.

Just got another letter today urging migration… saying discontinuance awaiting regulatory approval…

Just because they are pushing doesn't mean it will happen. The comments during the PUC hearing were not only negative, but very negative. I wrote a pretty stiff letter detailing not only their lack of responses to issues, but their active avoidance of investing in any sort of upgrades, as shared by many of their employees over the years.

If the PUC doesn't approve it, have you consider writing a letter on how underserved your specific neighborhood is?

My view is that they can drop copper after they pull fiber and get it working, and all the customers transitioned, but not a moment before.

Zero sympathy from me for our telco. They were even refusing to do short production runs on replacement DSL boards, and instead sending container loads of old boards to Canada for rework, leaving them without stock to do repairs in the central office or in the terminal boxes.

I wonder what Alexander Graham Bell would think of all of this.

All the best, Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

In the Santa Cruz mountains entire communities only have copper unless they start taking out redwoods for Starlink…

One, not far from Davenport, only got copper about 30 years ago as part of a connect program…

I found it amazing, deep in the redwoods and 7 miles from paved road and off grid to hear the phone ring…

 

[bdhsfz6]

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

I'm 79 1/2 and still have mine.

I've had the same phone # for over 60 years. I keep it as backup, since our cellular coverage is sketchy. Besides, it's cheap. I'm a Verizon retiree and get a substantial discount.

 

[Oaktree]

At $7/pole/month for a joint use pole attachment, underground for fiber is pretty dang attractiveness. Just not paying the power company those pole attachment fees, probably offsets the cost of the UG in 5 years.


Edit: Dont know if it is nationwide, or Florida, or a mix; but here, in 99% of cases the power company owns the aerial poles, and they charge any other entity to attach to those poles. Yes, installation is fast and cheap; but those monthly fees eat up the telecom. Just look at your own home, how many power poles to get to a main road. Then figure $7/month/per pole, and most rural customers cost more then the telecom charges.

UG cabling might make sense in Florida where your soil is mostly sand, but it would be a hugely expensive project here in New England where it's mostly rocks with ledge often close to the surface as well.

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

Yeah, but you're a millennial so you've got an excuse. I'm "only" 75 and my primary phone is what I suppose you'd call a landline...not copper, but VOIP thru my internet provider. Does everything I need a phone for, and gives me a good excuse to avoid dealing with text messages.

Interestingly, I spent most of my career in some sort of tech field, but never felt the need to adopt this particular gadget, do have a cheapie Tracfone flip phone for emergencies. 99% of the time it sits in a drawer.

Potatoes to the left of me, potatoes to the right of me...

Didn't know potatoes grew in Fla, always thought of them as more of a cool weather crop.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have not been able to get a land line to my house since ihad the old, noisy line shut down over 10 yers ago. Verizon sold all copper lines to frontier which sold to ziply. No one wanted to repair the lines.

The cell reception was spotty, so i really wanted copper landline restored.

But a few months ago they brought in fiber and im thrilled. I-can now use wifi calling and have good cell reception all over property.

They also widened and repaved the rural highway on the north portion of my property, while replacing all the old overhead infrastructure and underground gas systems. This has strengthened our power reliability tremendously.

I was really surprised that they finally were working on the infrastructure in our area, as it was really falling apart over the years. We used to lose power every time the wind blew. No more.

 

[paulsharvey]

"Didn't know potatoes grew in Fla, always thought of them as more of a cool weather crop."

Flagler, St John's, and Putnam counties produce 2.5 million cwt of potatoes per year. These fields all seem to follow the same rotation, late fall to late winter, cabbage. As soon as cabbage comes out, potatoes from late winter to June 1st; and then about 50% run a 3rd crop of a grain, mostly corn, till harvest in fall, and back to cabbage.

2.5m cwt of cabbage. Much more limited grain, as its not worth the trouble. About 17.5k head of cattle too.

As you go south west and north west, you get into cotton and peanuts.

Looks like corn is only 200-400,000 bushels per year

And pulp wood is just under 1m tons annually.

 

[LHF2019]

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

I'm a few years older than you and still have my landline and original number. Mom still has hers. Most of my relatives on both sides still have theirs. I have mine on purpose. We do not give out our cell number except to customers and we use the landline for screening calls. very rare I get a call on my cell that isn't known.

 

[WM75Guy]

Does anyone under 80 still have a land line? Or, maybe a better way to say it, is anyone intentionally keeping a land line in the modern era? Im 43 and wife is 40, we have never had one as adults, except the one assigned as part of DSL, but even then, no actual house phine.

We still have 2 landlines, one in the house and one in the stained-glass shop. Mainly for fax use, some government agencies still require fax rather than email. Although our last communications with the USDA will now let us scan and email documents. Both go to voicemail as any incoming calls are mostly spam. It is nice to have a number to give some vendors, other than our cell phones, when we don't want to be bothered by their phone calls.