Dark Fiber Available In Lewiston But Rivers Slow Expansion

The Port of Lewiston’s dark fiber network is up and running and now has connected a commercial customer, reports 4-Traders, but achieving the maximum reach has hit some resistance.

Warehousing and distribution company Inland 465, is operating a 150,000 square-foot warehouse and obtaining Internet access from First Step Internet, which leases dark fiber from the Port of Lewiston’s network. Community leaders hope this is the first of many commercial customers.

Last summer the community announced that they intended to deploy an open access dark fiber network to spur economic development opportunities. The network plan called for a connection to nearby Port of Whitman’s fiber network, which has operated for more than a decade.

Bumps On Bridges

According to 4-Traders, the Port of Lewiston is encountering issues deploying over the optimal route for expanding to serve more commercial clients. The community is near the Clearwater and Snake Rivers and must cross bridges en route to connect with nearby networks in the ports of Whitman County and Clarkston. Both communities have their own fiber networks and would like to connect to Lewiston’s new infrastructure. The collaborations would allow a larger loop and better redundancy for all three networks.

The Port of Whitman has an agreement with Cable One to use the provider's hangers on the bridge across the Clearwater River. In exchange, Cable One is allowed to access certain Port of Whitman County conduit on a different bridge. The state of Idaho issued the permit to Cable One to allow them to install the hangers and now the Port of Whitman County is applying to the state to have those same permits issued in its name. Once the Port of Whitman County has the permits, the Port of Lewiston will be able to use the hangers to connect to the Port of Whitman County network.

CenturyLink's Conduit...Or Is It?

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In order to achieve the maximum reach, Port of Lewiston officials and Port of Clarkston officials will have to contend with a less-than-eager CenturyLink. There is ample conduit space on the Southway Bridge that crosses the Snake River, but the incumbent provider controls all of it. The 20 conduits on the bridge are legacies from the time when it was part of AT&T. 

Clarkston Port Manager Wanda Keefer told 4-Traders that CenturyLink is only using five of the 20 conduits and the Port of Lewiston would like to take advantage of that empty space to link up to the Port of Clarkston’s fiber-optic network. Before they can do that, however, they have to learn more about CenturyLink’s rights to be on the bridge and where on the bridge any potential ownership may end. In order to obtain that information, the Port of Clarkson filed a Freedom of Information Act with the bridge builder, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The Wires Have To Go Somewhere

The situation in Idaho underscores the importance of access to rights-of-way and fiber routes, be it bridge, boulevard, or pole. New York State, filled with bridges and opportunities to host dark fiber over waterways, has its own Bridge Authority that deals with such issues. In Minneapolis, the Park and Rec Board are stalling deployment of a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network as a local ISP seeks to bury conduit in boulevards that are off limits due to protective agency policy.

Occasionally, incumbents take advantage of pole ownership or dispute pole position to delay municipal networks as a sabotage strategy. Frontier did as much in Lake County, Minnesota.

According to Clarkston's Keefer, however, there are agreements in place that all the ports consider priority. Port of Lewiston and Port of Clarkston have set a September 1st target date for having the connections linked and communicating.