From: "Alan (Gesture Man) Wexelblat" <wex@media.mit.edu>
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 14:08:59 PST
To: talon57@well.sf.ca.us
Subject: Should we build the Data Superhighway/NII
In-Reply-To: <199311101839.KAA19331@well.sf.ca.us>
Message-ID: <9311102207.AA22836@media.mit.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


The business about replacing copper with optical fibre and who's going to
pay for it is a total red herring.  Currently, it's much cheaper for the
RBOCs to lay fiber than copper.  Over the whole nation, about 5% of the
wiring is replaced annually.  For at least the last two years, that
replacement has been 100% fiber and (IMNVHO) that trend will continue.  In
~20(*) years the whole country will be fiber without anyone doing anything
out of the ordinary.

(*) It's a little more than 20 years because there is some overlap in the
areas that get replaces; I.e. it's not a new 5% each year, but the overlap
is well under 1%.

--Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker, Author, and Cyberspace Bard
Media Lab - Advanced Human Interface Group	wex@media.mit.edu
Voice: 617-258-9168, Pager: 617-945-1842	PUBLIC KEY available by request
Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational.