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own.
A. Development of Conduit-Encased Fiberoptic Cable
Prior to the late 1980s, long-distance carriers often buried
cable directly in the ground. In the late 1980s, the idea of
encasing fiberoptic cable4 in flexible conduit was developed.
The conduit provides the cable greater protection from being cut,
is more readily accessible for maintenance purposes, and, once
buried, allows the installation of fiberoptic cable at a later
date by pulling the cable through the buried conduit. Fiberoptic
cables, or fibers, are pulled through buried conduit by way of
hand holes, which are installed at appropriate intervals along
the conduit route.
B. Use of Southern Pacific’s Rights-of-Way to Install
Conduit
As fiberoptic cable became the preferred medium for the
long-distance transmission of data, Southern Pacific developed
the idea of using its railroad rights-of-way to lay fiberoptic
cable for long-distance data carriers. The use of Southern
Pacific’s railroad rights-of-way was advantageous because: (1)
The easements already existed and thus negotiations with private
4 Optical fibers, each approximately the width of a human
hair, are wound into cables, usually in multiples of 6 or 12.
Each fiber can be individually connected to specialized optical
equipment that makes possible the transmission of laser-generated
light signals over the fibers. Dark fibers are optical fibers
that are not yet connected to the optical equipment. Lit fibers
are optical fibers that have been connected to the optical
equipment and can transmit light signals.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011