Dontaskmeaboutnam t1_j63r3rn wrote on January 27, 2023 at 2:38 PM

Reply to comment by instantcoffee69 in BGE is quietly pushing to control Baltimore’s underground conduit system by finsterallen

You can’t unsell the conduit and it’s ridiculously expensive to install. It’s very shortsighted for the City to sell.

Matt3989 t1_j63v1tj wrote on January 27, 2023 at 3:06 PM

I agree with the first part, but I wouldn't say that it's ridiculously expensive to install conduit. Not in the days of Horizontal Directional Drilling.

istayquiet t1_j64ccfl wrote on January 27, 2023 at 4:56 PM

FWIW, directional boring is currently not permitted in Baltimore City (and neither is micro trenching, which would be a game changer for fiber-to-the-home service here).

DrJungeyBrungenMD t1_j66d1q7 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 12:53 AM

Why is microtrenching not permitted? I’m sure there are plenty of ISPs that would love to move in here

istayquiet t1_j66hwqm wrote on January 28, 2023 at 1:30 AM

Great question! My best guess (based on years of work in this industry) is that Baltimore City’s legal department can’t figure out how to legally permit microtrenching, so it’s one of those back-burner things that will never progress beyond “wow, other medium and large-sized cities do this and it’s great for all involved, but we should keep studying it indefinitely [and spend taxpayer dollars to commission a report from a preferred contractor that will result in nothing]”.

instantcoffee69 t1_j63tbmk wrote on January 27, 2023 at 2:54 PM

Yea that's again easily fixable through contact control and permitting.

Contact includes a clause saying BGE must leave space for city fiber.

And when each new conduit is build, in the permit process, the city requires space for the said fiber conduit. If it's not shown on the permit submission, it's rejected.

Every other city has does it differently besides Baltimore. I love Baltimore city with all my heart. But I can say, i don't think Baltimore is the only one who knows this some secret of owning conduit is some genius stroke.

todareistobmore t1_j64tj35 wrote on January 27, 2023 at 6:43 PM

This isn't selling the conduit, it's more like setting up an escrow account. The city would still have the right to terminate the agreement and resume full control of the conduit system before any renewal.