I was wondering who operates each part of the cabling system for internet signals from an ISP to the home, like the ones from the neighborhood fiber to an individual home, and if the cables are shared between different ISPs or if each has their own and how they direct the cables to another ISP if a user changes their ISP.
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This depends largely on the carrier. For example, in the U.S., Verizon might own all the fiber and copper cable in a given large distribution area. FCC mandates that they allow other operators to use the infrastructure if they are willing to pay Verizon for access. So a smaller tier provider might also be using copper wire pairs owned by Verizon to provide phone service. The fiber however is not so straight-forward. In a fiber to the home network, the fibers connect to an optical splitter somewhere in or near your neighborhood. From the splitter, it goes to the head end equipment at a Verizon cabinet or central office. Although it’s technically feasible to put another provider’s optical signal on the same infrastructure, the planning, integration and complexity of managing a shared fiber plant makes this approach a no-go. But Verizon might have some spare fiber they are not “lighting” up that they can lease to other providers however, getting to the subscriber’s home from that fiber is quite expensive so the typical approach is for a competing operator to choose underserved or more rural areas.
In all cases if a subscriber has a damaged fiber or wire, its up to the operator to dispatch their own techs (or a subcontracted tech) to make the repairs. Sometimes they might have a repair contract in place with the actual owner of the cable which might be Verizon or AT&T. BTW, the big telcos like Verizon and AT&T ALWAYS use their own cabling infrastructure. You wont see them leasing any fiber or copper from someone else.
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