Camp Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 My neighborhood is finally having fiber optic lines installed (they started on my street yesterday). The install and sales pitch is not exactly what I would have expected. I thought once fiber finally hit the area it would be AT&T, Verizon, or some name I've heard before. Instead, it's a company called Open Infra doing the installation. Supposedly they are a Swiss company that also operates under the name Stadsnätsbolaget. Their sales strategy has not exactly inspired confidence. They are using door-to-door sales people armed with the most basic of information: Open Infra is not the ISP - Instead, they will connect us to one of three ISP. Open Infra is installing the lines to the neighborhood and to homes. 1 gig service at $79.99 with no data caps Commit to 1-year and Open Infra will install the fiber from the street to your home free The 3 ISPs are all no-name regional ISPs that, as far as I can tell, have no operations in Texas. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is SumoFiber I skimmed their contract and nothing really stood out as a red flag -other than the 3 no-name ISPs. The sales guy I spoke with couldn't answer questions about modems or how/when I would be put in contact with the actual ISP. He had zero knowledge about any of the ISPs beyond the marketing speak they fed him. The whole experience just feels off. It's especially odd since the neighborhood is quite large so the cost of putting in fiber must be significant. Is this at all typical for new fiber installs? What are the changes that a more well-known ISP (AT&T, etc.) will eventually lease the lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 I've never heard of this either. That's not the "normal" way of doing it because it's usually driven by one of the big established telcos that run everything end to end (i.e. AT&T etc). This is different by far - they're laying fibre +leasing it to third party ISPs. The list they have for their "app market" of providers is weak (https://us.openinfra.com/fiber/marketplace/) because the big ISPs aren't going to touch this IMO as there's no profit in it for them. It doesn't seem dodgy, but definitely unusual for Texas burbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 This is really common for neighborhoods that the bigger services do not want to install in. Do you have an HOA? A friend's HOA partnered with a company similar to this to install fiber in their neighborhood but the deal you are getting is better than there's, you had to sign up for 3 years at $99 per month for 1Gb during the pre-sign period if you signed up after that period you had to pay $999 for installation. He did the pre-sign deal as he went form 10Mbps DSL that hardly hit 3Mbps to 1Gb fiber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camp Posted April 13 Author Report Share Posted April 13 I suspected the HOA at one point too. Based on what others have found, it doesn't sound like they are part of the deal. I would probably jump in just because the 1-year commitment isn't the worst thing in the world. But, the list of ISPs is so weak that I'm inclined to wait to hear reports from neighbors. One neighbor said the door-to-door sales person told him there is no need for a modem. You just connect the fiber line directly to your router. That strikes me as odd as there has to be something converting the signal from fiber to Ethernet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBardon Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 I'd take $80/month for Gb in a heartbeat. I'm paying that for cable 250/20 right now. Camp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertA Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 That's super weird. AT&T seems to still be expanding here in the DFW metroplex though. At&t informed my brother (He's in Richardson) he know could get fiber - and he did. I got it last year (but had it available for a few years). He got the same price I did too.. $50 for 1G service for a year, $70 after that. Camp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted April 13 Report Share Posted April 13 It sounds like something similar to an MVNO setup for cell service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted April 16 Report Share Posted April 16 On 4/13/2021 at 4:42 PM, AlbertA said: That's super weird. AT&T seems to still be expanding here in the DFW metroplex though. At&t informed my brother (He's in Richardson) he know could get fiber - and he did. I got it last year (but had it available for a few years). He got the same price I did too.. $50 for 1G service for a year, $70 after that. We’ve got AT&T fiber and it’s great. Way better than my old Comcast service and about 1/3rd the price. Best of all, no data caps. Camp and Whooter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Just moved to SF where my building was set up for Google Webpass gigabit fiber for just $70 / mo. Setup was hilariously easy. Dude showed up, pinged an ethernet port already in my unit, and he was done. They only activate one port, but he said if I wanted to I could install a switch in the comm panel and activate other ports. I probably won't bother, but so far I'm super impressed with the speed even on WiFi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foogledricks Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 Fiber is great. Fun fact though. Insects eat fiber and have done so twice since I’ve had it with Verizon. The technician was like “Ya insects ate ya fiber” Blew my mind. I guess even insects have worry about colon cancer JTello and Josh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 13 Report Share Posted October 13 2 hours ago, foogledricks said: Fiber is great. Fun fact though. Insects eat fiber and have done so twice since I’ve had it with Verizon. The technician was like “Ya insects ate ya fiber” Blew my mind. I guess even insects have worry about colon cancer do bugs have colons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted October 14 Report Share Posted October 14 Do they have cloaca? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foogledricks Posted October 14 Report Share Posted October 14 3 hours ago, Josh said: do bugs: have colons? Fixed Kranix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 14 Report Share Posted October 14 15 hours ago, Robot Monkey said: Do they have cloaca? i think that's a reptile and bird thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted October 15 Report Share Posted October 15 Funny that this thread came up, I’m visiting our friends who did the HOA fiber. Changed their life, they can work from home when needed, he bought an iPad (he still uses a flip phone). He was telling me about how he’s been documenting his antique tool collection with his iPad so when he dies it’ll be easy for his daughter to sell it all, he just turned 60. They stream their grand daughters volleyball games. It’s amazing what good internet does for people’s lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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