Texas internet connectivity declining due to blackouts

Tue Feb 16 15:13:58 UTC 2021

It will happen because storm frequency and outages will rise throughout the century. It is a capital investment that will sharply reduce outages. Florida is on the verge of putting their long-haul power underground. Texas is primed for storms due to the high and growing humidity in the Gulf. Finally, capital costs - interest - is low. Both governments and big corporates pay very little to borrow so it is not onerous. May be it is time to make America great again. 😉

Nor does it have to be mandatory for all systems. But there should be at least one power network in the ground as well as one telco network.

Regards,

Roderick.

________________________________
From: Jared Mauch <jared at puck.nether.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2021 3:38 PM
To: Mike Hammett <nanog at ics-il.net>
Cc: Rod Beck <rod.beck at unitedcablecompany.com>; nanog at nanog.org <nanog at nanog.org>
Subject: Re: Texas internet connectivity declining due to blackouts

> On Feb 16, 2021, at 8:25 AM, Mike Hammett <nanog at ics-il.net> wrote:
>
> It's cheaper to build 2x, 3x, 4x the aerial plant than to build 1x the underground plant.
>
> The actual cost per foot is more like 10x difference, but there are right of way, maintenance, etc. costs to factor in as well.
>

Labor is something in 8x but the permit/engineering cost is usually the same per foot, but the make-ready on poles can make underground competitive or more like 1.5x when you fully bake the costs.  Really depends on pole distances and quality.  O&M long-term is lower on underground vs aerial.

- Jared
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