You might remember Ohio-based Buckeye Cablesystems for when they came down hard on the heads of cable modem upcappers back in 2002, going so far as to bring in the FBI to investigate users who were trying to squeeze extra bandwidth out of the cable system. It's now 2009, and Buckeye has found a much better solution for bandwidth-hungry customers -- they've started a fiber to the home trial in Toledo, but they're installing it without having to dig up any existing infrastructure thanks to a new technology by Kabel-X. From the Kabel-X description of the technology:Delicious, just like the white filling of an Oreo. Those interested can watch this video for more detail.

For years we've explored how many consumers are anywhere from a few miles to a few feet away from getting cable broadband service. Our forums are filled with tales from users who say getting their carrier to extend service that extra distance can be painfully expensive -- as in $25,000 for just a few hundred feet. The Cleveland Daily Banner (via Stop The Cap) explores how five relatively affluent development dwellers in Tennessee (including a former State Senator) are trying to get Charter to run coaxial cable an extra few miles to their development. Bankrupt Charter says the 36-48 months needed to see a return on the necessary $130,000 investment isn't a deal they'd do, but they are willing to run the cable if each person in the 55 home development is willing to pay $1,850.

Verizon recently signed off on a New York City franchise that has the company promising to deliver FiOS to every home in all fiver boroughs by the end of 2014. With plenty of wiggle room in the agreement's later stages it's not clear that will ever happen, but with new smaller ONTs and bendable fiber in hand, the telco is certainly going to make a good effort of it. In what's surprisingly the first installation of FiOS in any University housing in New York City, Verizon this morning announced that they've struck a deal with NYU to offer FiOS to faculty residents in the college's Greenwich Village housing units. Verizon hinted last March that they were facing some NYC install delays due to negotiations with landlords.

Cypress, California is one of only a few neighborhoods where AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS even get close to directly competing, but according to the Orange County Register, deployment of both services is on hold for very different reasons. Verizon has been slowing down FiOS builds in the state because they say the economy's slow (and because they want to increase uptake in already deployed areas). But U-Verse is seeing a slowdown because once again, city officials are annoyed by the VRAD cabinets AT&T needs to plunk down in neighborhoods in order to offer VDSL and IPTV. The cabinets have been an ongoing point of contention between AT&T and cities, who in some cases are getting AT&T to foot the bill for landscaping to hide the cabinets.

The cutting of an unmarked fiber optic cable or a sewer line are par for the course during construction or fiber installations, though the Washington Post explores what happens when that fiber you cut just happens to belong to a secretive government agency. A $5.2 billion project to extend the DC Metrorail means moving more than 75 miles of conduit. When a normal fiber line gets cut (and they've spent $150 million to move the lines of 21 private utilities) it takes some time to find out the owner, but construction crews say when they cut a government intelligence line, they get a personal visit from very annoyed government employees in black SUVs within minutes.