Rural nework economics [was: Sabotage...]

Mon Nov 3 19:28:40 UTC 2003

On Mon, Nov 03, 2003 at 08:15:11AM -0500, Douglas S. Peeples wrote:
> 
> What you describe is a folded ring and is indicative of either a temporary
> solution or bad network design. As a rule, phone companies and capacity
> suppliers build very robust systems.  

LATA and ILEC boundaries, along with fiscal measures tend to
conspire against rural areas.  The result is bad network design or 
a temporary solution that is going to be in place for decades.

By example:
I can't imagine Taos, New Mexico needing more than an OC-48 to
service all of its voice and data needs over the next few years.
The ILEC had a reason (and funding) to build fiber to the
city -- but who will pickup the tab for the redundant build?
The revenue from the services on a single OC-48 won't pay for it...