Comment by tryptophan
3 years ago
Crazy idea, but why can't we just buy some armored cable and let it lie on the ground? People can bury it themselves if it really bothers them.
A lot of these people dont seem rich enough to justify caring about it being pretty...
I think it's acceptable to expect better. If we didn't, we'd probably have surface level sewer, water, fiber, cable, etc; all laying about, probably causing trip hazards. And these industries would probably lobby and set archaic and asinine rules for how the burial happens, and make you pay 10x the cost of what it really takes to use one of their approved contractors, because you're indulging in the luxury of having hidden basic-needs infrastructure.
Traditionally the solution is to have a tiny outbuilding with your electric meter, water valve (if you're on town water) and landline connection and then let the homeowner deal with the bulk of the length of the line run.
Getting electrical and water in those situations is always a town by town crap shoot because the trades are constantly lobbying to disallow it because they want more work. I assume ISPs are the same way.
There are many reasons why this isn't done and isn't a good idea. One of them is: animals will eat the cable. Another is: people will trip over the cable. Another is: eventually someone will dig the cable up with an excavator, even if the operator of the excavator is the same person who carefully laid the cable a few years earlier. I don't explain how I know that...