In a message written on Fri, May 17, 2002 at 03:24:38PM -0700, Paul Vixie wrote:
I had the same thought. However, it turns out to light a path there's all kinds of climbing down into manholes that has to happen. I'm no fiber expert, but the parent company (MFN) does employ such experts, so let's remain calm.
(Disclaimer, I also work for MFN) I'll echo Paul's comments. While I don't work directly in the fiber side of our business, several things have become clear about NYC: * The streets are crowded. Be that adding conduit, or existing manholes (which are quite full), things are packed in. Anyone who has been in Manhattan can understand this fact. This slows progress. * The city doesn't like you blocking a lane/street. They really don't like it. They have lots of limits on when you can do things. * Virtually all labor is Union. I personally find this neither good nor bad, but it does change slightly how things are done. * Resources are in general in high demand. What I mean by this is that there is enough demand that it's unlikely "extra" resources from a previous activity are still available to support new activity. Sometimes you get lucky, but in general your waiting in line. * Much of NYC is old. This includes the fiber, and conduit. Problems that occur with old things (out of spec, broken when you go back, missing, etc) happen alarmingly often in Manhattan. Also, a general comment on the dark fiber business. Dark fiber means the fiber must be spliced end to end, and until someone comes up with a better idea that means someone has to go out to many manholes to do it. That is the downside of this method of provisioning. I think it's outweighed by the upside, but that's just my opinion. I know nothing about Paul's specific case, but in general be patient with fiber in Manhattan, and from talking to other carriers that is not unique to MFN. -- Leo Bicknell - bicknell@ufp.org - CCIE 3440 PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/ Read TMBG List - tmbg-list-request@tmbg.org, www.tmbg.org