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owners and government agencies for such rights were not
necessary; (2) specialized equipment could ride the rails and be
used to perform the installation efficiently and economically;
(3) railroad rights-of-way are often the most direct routes
between locations; and (4) railroad rights-of-way are more secure
than other rights-of-way, such as those for highways, telephone
poles, or overhead power transmission lines.
C. Qwest as a Liaison
In 1987, Qwest first participated in a conduit project,
acting as a liaison between Southern Pacific and MCI. Qwest
obtained an easement for MCI for the right to install conduit and
fiber on a Southern Pacific right-of-way from Houston to Los
Angeles. MCI performed its own construction on this route. In
exchange for the easement, MCI paid approximately $13 million in
cash and provided capacity in the form of 36 DS-3s along the
route.5
D. Qwest’s First Conduit Installation Project
1. Conduit Installation Process
Once Qwest began installing conduit and pulling fiber, as
discussed infra, Qwest used Southern Pacific’s railway and
equipment in the construction process. Qwest used a specialized
rail plow to install the conduit along the railroad rights-of-
5 Each DS-3 line represents capacity to transmit 672 long-
distance calls simultaneously.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011