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Pastimes : Home on the range where the buffalo roam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Boplicity who wrote (7726)	12/19/2000 12:24:13 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13572

Hi Greg, How about re-establishing an Investment Tax Credit? Thinking positive....

To: Boplicity who wrote (7726)	12/19/2000 12:25:25 PM
From: organicgerry	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13572

Thought you would like this article Greg. Pray for the sewer rats! LOL Lefty High-Tech Sewer Rats Help Broadband The Albuquerque sewers are being invaded by high-tech rats. A horde of computer-controlled robots will soon begin running through the city’s sewers, stringing fiber-optic cables that will carry broadband Internet and other data services. The innovative approach will bring the fiber right into buildings, avoiding the “last mile” problem that typically requires glass fiber network trunks to be linked to copper cable for local distribution to users. It will also avoid the cost, delays and disruptions involved in tearing up city streets to bury new conduits. The robots, nicknamed SAM (for sewer access modules) are being deployed by CityNet Telecommunications, a Silver Springs, Md. builder of all-optical networks. Albuquerque is one of the first U.S. cities to approve the deployment of this technology, which has been used in Europe. CityNet will provide the service and pay the city to use the sewer pipes for delivering the fiber-optic cable to buildings. As an additional benefit, the company also will monitor the condition of the sewers it uses and will repair them if needed. CityNet will deliver dark (unused) fiber-optic networks to telecom carriers and network service providers, who will then activate and provide services to building tenants. The SAM robots, equipped with cameras, pull the fiber-optic cables and install stainless-steel rings to support the cable inside the sewer pipes. The fiber is enclosed in a protective stainless steel conduit. The company is currently mapping the sewer system and will start pulling cable in a few weeks. Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca said. “We are confident this technology presents an attractive solution to satisfy the needs of our citizens for advanced communications, while protecting our infrastructure.” The city is one of the nation’s fastest-growing centers of high technology and new-economy activity, creating a strong demand for bandwidth. CityNet has signed a similar contract with Omaha, Neb., and plans to begin deployment in more than a dozen other cities in 2001. “Network service providers today use existing copper lines that weren’t designed to carry data,” said Robert G. Berger, president and CEO of CityNet. “Network use is growing so fast that these old lines can’t support the demand.”