— from Rock Island Communications and OPALCO —
General Manager Foster Hildreth announced today that Orcas Power and Light Cooperative (OPALCO) has acquired Rock Island Communications. Rock Island will merge its staff, infrastructure and operations with OPALCO to deliver modern, scalable and reliable broadband services for homes and businesses in San Juan County. “The full transition may take a little time,” said Hildreth, “but we can hit the ground running, thanks to the tireless efforts of Gerry Lawlor, who will serve as the Executive Vice President of Rock Island.”
“This is a win-win scenario for all of us in San Juan County,” said Mike Greene, founder of Rock Island. “We have the expertise and a long history in the community, and OPALCO has the infrastructure backbone to take us to the next level.” Mike will continue to manage the system as Vice President of Technology. “The sale satisfied all my criteria,” said Greene, who has entertained a number of offers. “This acquisition meets my personal and professional goals, protects the interest of our employees, and benefits the community with an exciting new line of services.”
For existing Rock Island and OPALCO customers, the transition is planned as seamless: the same excellent, local customer service and increasingly faster, more reliable Internet services. Rock Island Communications will build on its strong foundation to provide several new types of services. (Learn more at rockisland.com)
Rock Island’s Friday Harbor office and retail store on Court Street will remain open. A new office at 208 Enchanted Forest Road, adjacent to the Orcas Rental & Saw, will open on Orcas Island. Each location will feature a “Giga Bar,” a fun, interactive area for members of the community to experience true high speed Internet including streaming TV services demonstrations, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Micro Cells for cellular connection and more.
OPALCO, as the parent company, is providing the funding for start-up costs and working capital for the combined new entity. The business plan (available at www.opalco.com) projects a positive return on the total investment by 2020. After Rock Island Communications has met that goal, revenue will grow at the rate of member demand, potentially creating a new revenue stream for OPALCO. This short-term investment in a long-term solution will contribute to our cooperative’s financial health and improve our quality of life in San Juan County.
“I thank the OPALCO Board of Directors for their thoughtful decision making,” said Hildreth. “We now have the team and resources in place – we’re off and running. I’m very excited to see this project accelerate and grateful to the team who are working so hard to build a local and sustainable solution.”
Lawlor urges patience as the new company makes the transition. “For current Rock Island or OPALCO’s Island Network customers, no action is necessary. Stay tuned for further announcements and service offerings as Rock Island Communications gears up our high-speed Internet and phone services and as we deploy solutions beyond connectivity for homes and businesses.”
Okay, bring on the “seamless transition.” That usually works.
P.S. But if anyone can do it, Mike Greene can. Hope, hope, hope.
Paige: As you can imagine, there will be some hiccups. The public interest is enormous. There are over 80 neighborhoods that are requesting quotes. So we will all need to have some patience.
As I know you know, in the information age, fiber internet is the electricity of the 21st century. In 1937 OPALCO began the critical project of building out the rural electric grid. This is the 21st century equivalent. And like 1937, the build-out will unfold incrementally over the span of years.
In my view, it is an important project that no one else was willing to take on, make the investment, and do the work. It is a very large endeavor, it will take time, create jobs, and stimulate the local economy, now and well into the century.
It is a sad day. A few years ago when OPALCO was first floating the idea that it could greatly expand its broadband presence, I was told that they were not going to compete with the likes of Orcas Online or Rock Island. Those providers would simply use their OPALCO infrastructure. Now they have got in bed with Rock Island. As a loyal Orcas Online customer I wonder what that means to me long-term.
This deal should have been available for public (membership) scrutiny before it was ever finalized. The first I knew of it was the email I received (presumably using OPALCO’s database) announcing the deal and advertising Rock Island’s service. I did not appreciate that advertising.
I am very disappointed in the way this was done. It seems that OPALCO’s BOD has taken on itself to jack up our power rates and now start acquiring companies. Does the membership get a say in any of this? Certainly at the next General Meeting Ballot Box.
Don: The merger between Rock Island and Island Network is a mutually beneficial action realized with the full cooperation and collaboration of both parties. Because Island Network provides Orcas Online (and several other providers) with their Internet backhaul – everyone benefits from this move – including and especially the members of OPALCO who will benefit from the positive cash flow beginning in 2021. This revenue stream could help us with expensive submarine cable replacements down the road.
The email you received could only have been from Rock Island – who sent out an email in advance to their list of existing customers. You must be on their list. I can assure you that OPALCO did not send out an email – OPALCO’s privacy policy prevents us from sending unsolicited emails.
I hear your disappointment and hope that as you begin to see the benefits of this new entity – in the services provided and cost savings down the road – you will change your mind.
One more thing. Jay, I have seen your comments here and at the Islands Sounder online edition. Don’t you think if you are endorsing what is going on at OPALCO you should at least divulge that you are a Consultant for OPALCO?
Don – The acquisition of Rock Island was a mutally beneficial action realized with the full cooperation and collaboration of both parties. In addition, Island Network has provided the Internet services (backhaul) for Orcas Online and several other providers – now Rock Island Communications will continue to do so. The real change here is that OPALCO has paired its infrastructure and borrowing power with the leading local Internet provider to accelerate delivery of essential Internet services throughout San Juan County. It’s an innovative local solution to a real problem in our islands – and will create a revenue stream beginning in 2021 that will help us meet the real challenges of submarine cable replacements and the rising cost of power. As Mike Greene himself said, “It’s a win-win-win.”
The email you received had to have been sent by Rock Island – they sent out notice to all existing Rock Island and Island Network customers. You must be on their list. OPALCO didn’t send out any emails – our privacy policy prevents us from doing so.
Sorry to hear that you are not happy with our direction. I hope that as you begin to see the benefits to the community and cash flow back to OPALCO in the future, you will understand if not appreciate this decision.
The date that Rock Island will begin to have a positive cash flow is 2021. Sorry for the typo in my previous post.
(Editor’s Note: the date has been corrected in the original post)
Suzanne
The email I received starts out on the “From” block as Foster Hildreth” the GM of YOUR organization. Since I have never been a customer of Rock Island nor Island Network you can see why I would identify it as an OPALCO email and yet it is a blatant advertising for Rock Island’s supposed offerings.
The acquisition of Rock Island is a complete turnaround from the OPALCO internet Business Plan (available online at OPALCO and dated December 31, 2014) wherein it indicates “The goal is to achieve self-sufficiency within an achievable timeframe. Island Network can meet this goal by optimizing deployment in line with the backbone build by delivering cost effective options to local ISP’s and population concentrations.” In several places it indicates you will use the local ISPs to”. Never suggested you were going to buyout one of them.
I came from the corporate world. Business Plans are written to last years not weeks but apparently OPALCOs December 31, 2014 version was not a long term plan. It seems that the OPALCO BOD is quite happy to tell its owners one thing on December 2014 and then substantially change direction in less than 2 months.
How will OPALCO ensure there is a level playing field between its subsidiary “Rock Island” and firms like Orcas Online?
Lastly, once again, like Jay you are paid by OPALCO. Nothing wrong with that and you are entitled to do your job but please identify yourself as such when you are defending OPALCOs actions in this type of forum.
You are correct I am not happy with your direction or the methodology OPALCO used to get there.
This merger is a win-win and does make sense if the goal is to improve the overall internet connectivity of San Juan County.
But, if the goal is to provide another revenue stream for OPALCO to help with offsetting submarine cable replacement, or other power side revenue shortfalls, that goal I predict will fail miserably. So lets not play that card please.
Providing internet access is a very competitive business, and not a huge money maker. Especially once the FCC classifies internet access as Title II like phone service.
So, lets be honest. This is about improving internet access to all. It’s also about creating some new jobs.
Lets also be honest about fiber to everyones home. This is HUGELY expensive (I remember quotes being thrown around of $75M+). The overall solution should be a hybrid fiber/fixed wireless solution.
I also think Orcas Online and others will continue to compete with Rockisland.
My 2 cents.
Chris Sutton…not a paid consultant/part of OPALCO PR machine :)
Thanks Don. Yes, the views expressed here are my own, (informed by 40 years in telecom, engineering, and business). I consult for OPALCO on accelerating energy efficiency and community solar initiatives. For more on that, see: https://www.opalco.com/energy-savings
Don – Suzanne Olson of OPALCO here. I can see how the email you got was confusing. Foster’s name is on the “from” line along with Gerry Lawlor and Mike Greene. Foster is the President of the new entity – as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Why your name is on the Rock Island list is still a mystery.
Suzanne, like Don I also received the email and am not a customer of Rock Island. I believe all OPALCO members subscribed to OPALCO emails received the advertising for Rock Island.
For clarity, I sent out the press release (not advertisement) and it went to the following two groups only, existing active rock island customers and anyone who expressed interest in OPALCOs internet efforts over the past 18 months. In total it was 5004 email addresses. If you received the mail your address was on one of these two lists. It was not mailed to the general Opalco membership.
We live on Waldron which is not served by Opalco, but have been a long time Rockisland customer. We are at a loss as to what is happening. We have received no E-mail from Rockisland or anybody else about this purchase. We are concerned t, that not being in the OPALCO service area we will become second class customers now that RockIsland is owned by Opalco. Mike Green has been trying to buy band width for some time to serve us better. What is going to happen to that effort?
The people do not want to erect wireless towers to poison the Island airspace with electromagnetic radiation, KNOWN to cause damage to living beings.
OPALCO has already heard from the community, and we do not want a intense wireless network here.
Wake up people. Wake up OPALCO, and actually function like the CO-OP you are suppose to be. Please.
Thank you Gerry for the clarity. You have always been there to answer any question or explain things to me in language I can understand as I’m not as tech savvy as I probably should be.
In M&A, ‘win-win’ value for deals is projected in press releases but only confirmed by history. While there are no metrics in the announcement, available data indicates that things may be going well. OPALCO credit facilities are forecast to lend newco/RI $2.9 million through 2015 to acquire 1,000 broadband customers. The newco/RI website currently lists 266 connections. If at least 90 of these are active, new broadband customers, they are ahead of the curve. Kudos to them for this progress, but only time will tell if this is a true win-win for all stakeholders.
Chris Sutton brought up a number of valuable points in an earlier post. What he did not mention is that he is a founding principal of the Doe Bay Internet Users Association, aka DBIUA. (Disclosure: I am a DBIUA customer/member, but not a principal) Since last summer, DBIUA has installed nearly 40 broadband connections in the Doe Bay neighborhood using a wireless solution. For reasons that are unclear to me, OPALCO chose not to engage with DBIUA and as such, we are using an off-island vendor for our internet service.
Although DBUIA is a completely non-profit initiative with volunteer labor from the neighborhood, DBIUA’s launch time for members is faster than OPALCO. DBIUA is also less expensive than OPALCO broadband and service levels are excellent. (Although I am in one of the more logistically challenging locations on the network, I consistently get 25+ Mbps down / 30+ Mbps up for $75/month, which will fall to $50 ~ $60 in approx 18 months) Candidly, I’d argue that this makes DBIUA a better value than OPALCO broadband.
I encourage OPALCO dialogue with DBIUA principals. There are valuable lessons from the DBIUA experience that can increase the likelihood of success for OPALCO broadband…the type of lessons that will help secure this deal as a ‘win-win’ legacy.
Stan Wagner, nothing with your service will be changing. Waldron is now part of our service territory and will continue to be so. They are a few more folks out there also looking for improved service so we will be looking to do more work in your area to provide you with better service. If you have any questions please reach out to me at gerry@rockisland.com
In response to Alexander Conrad. I have spoken with Chris on a number of occasions about your collective efforts in the DB area and I applaud them. He has even put a couple of folks that could not be served by DBIUA in touch with us and we have incorporated these locations into the work we are doing into the Eagle Lake neighborhood.
Some points worth nothing as a comparison, especially relating to cost of service. The majority of pricing we advertise is for Internet & PHONE service. DBIUA is not supporting a voice option. For Rock Island, this is a $15 cost on each serve offering and is optional for any customer.
So our base service without phone is $80. $20 of this cost we have associated with the cost of investing in any individuals construction. If someone was willing/able to cover their individual construction cost the service price would be $60 a month. We don’t have volunteer labor so this clearly adds a significant cost skew to any business model. I think it is fair to say our pricing is in line given all the costs factors we are dealing with on building a platform to support the entire county.
Wireless service in general is a cost effective solution to deploy but it is very expensive to support and maintain overtime, especially on a county wide basis as compared to a neighborhood of homes lucky enough to have the technical expertise who devout time and energy. The other major issue with wireless is, it is not guaranteed to work everywhere. We have preformed, in every corner of this county, RF analysis to see what wireless propagation would be and the reality is in every area it will serve some homes but not others. We will face scenarios where some folks get great service while a neighbor will get terrible service. In any business model I have looked at 80% of your running costs will support 20% of your revenue base on a wireless solution. Basically there are no freebies.
Apologies, meant to say in my last post, “some points worth noting” not “worth nothing”. Gerry.
Gerry,
I am uncertain if your cost analysis covers all the costs to provide those broadband/telecom services.
Please reveal how much of that $60 per broadband subscriber per month is being paid by Island Network / Rock Island to reimburse our grid-side non-profit co-op for its use of our backbone network.
Also, I have questions about the credit you mentioned. I believe you are referring to the credit for CIAC (Contribution in Aid of Construction) that is covered by loans of the co-op and needs to be paid back by the broadband subscriber. Is that CIAC credit of up to $1,500 applied to what the subscriber owes for connecting to either the fixed wireless or fiber backbone?
If the subscriber only has to pay $20 per month that will take 6.25 years to reimburse the co-op for the principal borrowed. Longer if you include the interest that our non-profit co-op is paying to loan those funds to IN/Rock Island. Does the subscription agreement require them to repay that credit if they sell and move before it is paid back? And does the repayment cover the interest the co-op has to pay?
Thank you.
Thanks Gerry, and no worries, I read that sentence as you intended, if not how you wrote it. :-)
Understand your points on price. I think a better comparison would be your 25 Mbps service, given the speeds we’re getting…and yes, I do pay about $19 separately every month for VOIP. All in, monthly costs appear to be approximately 15% lower than RI…this seems reasonable given there are neither labor costs nor margin requirements at DBIUA. But the thrust of my comment was more about value than price…among other things, our 25 Mbps service is already live – there is no need for patience or waiting…in this alone, there is a lot of value.
I agree that wireless is cost effective to deploy. But I disagree that it is always expensive to support over time. I realize that we are only something like 8 months into this, but DBIUA’s experience does not support the high cost of support argument. We are not using 700 Mhz, so perhaps there are deltas there that I’m unaware of. My point is a simple one. DBIUA is a local proof of concept for the wireless model and you may wish to revisit your assumptions on this basis.
I think most would agree that fiber is very expensive to deploy. While it may be easy and cost effective to support over time, this is moot if up-front costs prevent deployment. I understand why you are targeting homeowner’s associations to begin this initiative. (setting aside the prickly issue of equity in this prioritizing) They’re good low hanging fruit with already established group dynamics and a legal infrastructure. As well, associations may be able to access bank loans for deployment capex. This will not be the case when you move to neighborhoods without a formal association structure. (exhibit A: Doe Bay) There might be a lot of expressed support in neighborhoods for broadband, but that support may turn out to be a practical rope in the sand. Translating that support to signed agreements will be challenging; getting aggregate financial support to move forward, even more so. DBIUA found solutions to these challenges through effective communications, a shadow banking loan and community leadership. There are valuable lessons here that extend well beyond the technology and they are out here in the open for you to leverage.
I wish you good fortune Gerry. Like many in our community, I want to see this initiative succeed as the benefits are so significant… and as an OPALCO member on the electricity side, we’re already stakeholders in the project and none of us want to see it fail.
Alexander, As I understand it, the primary DBIUA connection to the mainland is via microwave, a technology that is quite literally line-of-sight. Once to DB it is locally distributed via “WiFi”. This makes the initial creation of the high speed backend link comparatively inexpensive. But due to Orcas Island’s terrain such an approach would be prohibitively expensive as there would have to be a very large number of microwave repeaters to cover the bulk of the island. Microwave makes a great bulk point-to-point connection medium, but is a poor choice for wide area dissemination of signal.
I submitted this last night about 9:30PM and your website stated it was pending moderation, but it was not added. Here it is again.
Gerry,
I am uncertain if your cost analysis covers all the costs to provide that broadband/telecom service.
Please reveal how much of that $60 per broadband subscriber per month is being paid by Island Network / Rock Island to reimburse our grid-side non-profit co-op for its use of our co-op’s backbone network.
Also, I have questions about the credit you mentioned. I believe you are referring to the credit for CIAC (Contribution in Aid of Construction) that is covered by loans of the co-op and needs to be paid back by the broadband subscriber. Is that CIAC credit of up to $1,500 applied to what the subscriber owes for connecting to either the fixed wireless or fiber backbone?
If the subscriber only has to pay $20 per month that will take 6.25 years to reimburse the co-op for the principal borrowed. Longer if you include the interest that our non-profit co-op is paying to loan those funds to IN/Rock Island. Does the subscription agreement require them to repay that credit if they sell and move before it is paid back? And does the repayment cover the interest the co-op has to pay?
Thank you.
Jim McCorison,
Adding to your excellent points; OPALCO chose their wireless standard to be LTE, which is a lower frequency system (the old UHF television frequency), which operates much better in forest environments, than Wi-Fi and other higher frequency systems. In addition, it is more strictly FCC licensed and therefore subject to less interference.
It is important to have a wireless component to county broadband: 1. It helps OPALCO expand first responder emergency services, especially in the dark zones of the county where emergency services communications are very poor, and 2. since so many people are adopting LTE-based smartphones, OPALCO’s choice of the LTE standard will help more people connect. OPALCO’s wireless LTE will help better meet both those needs. Here’s a picture that shows the hybrid fiber and wireless network of the OPALCO/Rock Island system: https://www.opalco.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Grid-Control-Backbone-Diagram1.jpg
That said, if you look at broadband internet speed trends, fiber will be the essential internet connection in the not too distant future. Here’s a picture of the trend: https://www.opalco.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/SJC-Broadband-Speeds.jpg
It is hard to remember that just 10 or 15 years ago, many people here were on dial-up modems. Imagine trying to do that today. DSL already is inadequate for many islanders needs. In the next decade or so, for internet service, Fiber will be the endpoint technology that meets the exponentially growing needs of the the county, for the remainder of the century.
Jim,
Yes, the DBIUA system uses a microwave signal to originate service. In a perfect world, this would have been OPALCO’s fiber network. No one is suggesting that microwave be part of the hybrid solution. Keep in mind that from DBUIA’s main router, a relatively large geographic area is served…multiple square miles. It’s fair enough to conceptualize the delivery over this area as WiFi…most WiFi routers use 2.4 Ghz, which has a lot of ‘noise’ due to its ubiquity. DBIUA uses a few spectrums with different characteristics to accommodate the operating environment. It is this non-microwave wireless distribution network that we argue should be more prominently featured.
Jay,
Saying, “Fiber will be the endpoint technology…for the remainder of the century,” is simply ludicrous and not credible. Eighty-five years is a LONG time for technological built infrastructure. Remember when every new home or office build-out featured Cat5 wiring throughout? Exactly. Samsung has already successfully demonstrated 1 Gbps wireless technology with commercial viability expected in several years, as just one example. This is exactly why investing in built infrastructure is always a risk…you can’t see the disruptive technology that will come next.
Jay,
Your comment that “LTE, which is a lower frequency system (the old UHF television frequency)” is not entirely correct and seems to conflate LTE with UHF frequencies. LTE in North America can be applied on top of bands in the following MHz frequencies 700, 750, 800, 850, 1900, 1700/2100 (AWS), 2500.
I have been very disappointed with OPALCO/IN/Rock Island’s business plan released last October. Other than the last page that shows a simplified SWOT diagram listing 3 typical market threats I have no confidence that the gamble the OPALCO board is taking with our owners capital is wise. Your misconception regarding LTE reduces my confidence to even lower levels. I do have a lot of respect for what you’ve done consulting for our co-operative.
The information provided to our member-owners certainly doesn’t justify the risks and impact related to the 59% (compounded) energy bill increases projected to continue at least through 2019 to pay for the broadband assets saddled onto the non-profit grid side. By my calculations only 2.9% of the last 4 rate increases (in less than 4) years were due to BPA rate increases. This is using OPALCO’s rate increase numbers. I know for my residence those rate increases were larger than specified as a system average. There are going to be a lot of families in this county who will suffer from the $78 per month fixed charges regardless of how much energy they use.
But the question to be answered is whether LTE might be available on relatively inexpensive lightly licensed spectrum that could be used to compete against our co-op?
While I agree in spirit with Alexandar’s concerns, Samsung’s millimeter wave efforts in mobile technology suffers in non-line-of-sight distances of 200 to 300 meters. Might there be improvements for point-to-point transmission distances using this sort of technology? Probably.
If Elon Musk and Richard Branson are successful in their separate efforts to construct constellations of low earth orbit Internet communication satellites this could be a future threat to market share. It is way too early to know for sure, but I wouldn’t bet against Elon Musk.
I think DBIUA’s efforts to create neighborhood broadband are commendable.
Right now my Century Link telephone lines have so much noise on them that it triggers “answers” to auto-attendant questions, like Push 1 for English. While Orcas Online has saved us from Century Link’s ridiculous internet service that runs often at .3 MB, telephones are still a problem. Land lines. In the 21st century.
So anything that will allow us access to a VoIP alternative to Century Link sounds good to me.
Will you naysayers PLEASE GET WITH IT! Here are today’s comments from the FCC:
“The Internet is the most powerful and pervasive platform on the planet. It is simply too important to be left without rules and without a referee on the field,” said FCC chairman Tom Wheeler. “Think about it. The Internet has replaced the functions of the telephone and the post office. The Internet has redefined commerce, and as the outpouring from four million Americans has demonstrated, the Internet is the ultimate vehicle for free expression. The Internet is simply too important to allow broadband providers to be the ones making the rules.”
Sheeesch!! Get with the ‘vision thang’ ASAP!!! Thank goodness for OPALCO’s wisdom! What do you think this is? 1972???
I think it is ironic that Rick Boucher brought Internet to the island from Pacific Rim who was bought out I believe by Juno. If Orcas Online is driven out, not through standard capitalistic competition but by our Coop, a non profit entity, this is wrong. Since the train has left the station it would only be right to absorb (buy out) Orcas Online and hire Rick and his associates if they were amenable. The board should look at this.
Alexander Conrad, Thanks for your comment.
Yes, suggesting that fiber will serve us well through the century does seem ridiculous. I may be wrong. But I would like to suggest that fiber may be the new disruptive technology. Though it has been around for decades, unlike DSL, it keeps getting better and better and better, thanks especially to innovations in the endpoint opto-electronics. What makes it especially important versus wireless, is the ability to deliver massive speed, for many people, in a world where demand for speed has been growing exponentially.
Yes, very high frequency wireless technologies like Samsungs can offer high speeds in optimal line-of-sight situations, they run up against pesky laws of physics and the limitations of our heavily forested island environment.
I believe fiber has staying power. And I also appreciate the careful thought, analysis, and engineering OPALCO/Rock Island folks have done in understanding the complex and subtle costs of both fiber and wireless networks designed to provide county-wide service in due time. Their hybrid approach that integrates a network of fiber and LTE wireless helps meet both fixed and mobile, urban and rural communication needs.
And finally Alexander, Chris, and DBUIA, I appreciate the fine work you folks are doing in your neighborhood. It’s much more satisfying to be part of the solution, than part of the problem.
Note: For the casual reader, unfamiliar with the term “disruptive technology”, Google on that, and also see the excellent series of books by Clayton Christensen, on the subject.
Thanks Jay for your reply. I respect your views even if they sometimes differ from mine. As the saying goes, reasonable people can agree to disagree.
I concur with your suggestion to the curious to read Christensen. Some of his writing on disruptive innovation seems particularly apt to our dialogue: “…transforms a complicated, expensive product into one that is easier to use or is more affordable than the one most readily available. Therefore, you know an innovation is disruptive when a new population has access to products and services that previously were only affordable for the few or the wealthy.”
I reiterate that while I may question some strategy and tactics, I share your desire to see this RI initiative succeed. We now have some metrics to begin measuring progress towards success. We are now at the end of February. The broadband business plan indicates that the following footprint shall be deployed between November 2014 and February 2015:
5 deployed sites (i.e. Eagle Lake, Cattle Point, etc)
275 locations (subscribers?)
8 LTE sites
Surely the BOD is asking how the dashboard is trending on these and other metrics. Periodic and transparent status updates against the business plan would be an effective tool to address member concerns about this project.
Thanks Alexander. Check with the Rock Island Team on progress. I suspect they will give the board monthly updates. Next meeting is in Friday Harbor, then Eastsound the month after that. And I think they are planning a webpage showing what neighborhoods are in evaluation, construction, operation, etc.
As for more on the staying power of Fiber and qualities of other technologies, there is a nice summary of various technologies here:
https://www.ipaloalto.com/pgs/tech.html
Another piece of data. Exciting times.