• emizeko [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    wow I had no idea about the pressurized mineral oil. and yeah after I posted this I realized how hard it would be to trench over dozens of miles of rocky mountain areas. sinking poles is several orders of magnitude easier

    • invalidusernamelol [he/him]M
      ·
      2 years ago

      Yep, another bonus of poles is rent. Power companies can charge rent to telecoms that want to attach to their poles. Can't charge rent on a hole (though there are some kinda trying by pulling extra conduit and selling it to ISPs)

      • emizeko [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        now I've been reading about all the operational reasons for why the oil is there. very interesting, also apparently an environmental hazard after the line is decommissioned

        • invalidusernamelol [he/him]M
          ·
          2 years ago

          Yeah, it's really not a good idea. They only put it in because of NIMBYs. Ironically they all now have a n environmental hazard waiting to happen in their back yards instead of a few high voltage pylons.