Underground Infrastructure - June 2023 - 6

EDITOR'SLOG
A Fiber Road Paved By HDD
Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief
It doesn't seem that long ago when fi -
ber cable plans were beginning to be
developed by various communication
companies of the world. My fi rst recollection
of the fi ber future came at a UCT
Conference. I was sitt ing in the back of
a packed room listening to an HDD/
telecommunications session. It was the
mid-'90s and fi ber optics was barely a whisper.
As I tend to do, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman
sitt ing adjacent to me as we were waiting for the session to begin.
Th e session was covering the telecom construction outlook
and the role HDD would play. I soon learned this elderly gentleman
knew an awful lot about telecommunications and HDD.
Turned out he was a senior offi cial from the construction side
of AT&T. As the session wrapped up, he turned to me and said
simply, " You ain't seen nothing yet! "
I pressed him for an explanation. " Ever heard of fi ber optics?
You will, " he told me. " We just fi nished a complete overhaul of
our infrastructure and we'll soon be doing the same thing again,
except this time with fi ber. "
As he explained what the capabilities of fi ber were, I understood
why he was so excited. Communications, not only in the
U.S. but the world as well, would never be the same again.
By the late '90s, fi ber backbone construction was marching
across the land like Sherman to Atlanta. It was the early version
of crypto currency - every investor was going to become
a multi-millionaire overnight. Th e market for directional drills
hit unprecedented - and unrealistic - highs. HDD was the perfect
technology to aid the expansion of fi ber installation, along
with trenching and plowing. It was the telecom version of the
early 1980s oil boom.
Th en the infamous crash came. By 2002, all was quiet on the
fi ber construction front - and that included small rig drilling.
Th e business model of the time was seriously fl awed. Th e
" build it and they will come " philosophy was misplaced. Fiber
trunk lines may have surrounded key cities and areas, but rarely
was the " distribution " aspect - gett ing fi ber to homes and
premises - in place.
Entertainment, communications, web access, etc. had not
evolved enough to justify the high costs (at the time) of paying
for fi ber to be routed through the " last mile. " Plans for fi ber
product development were just beginning to emerge from existing,
and a plethora of start-up, companies. All struggled to fi nd
the right combination necessary to prosper with fi ber. Without
customers signing up for fi ber services, dark fi ber quickly became
the rule of the fi ber road.
6 JUNE 2023 | UndergroundInfrastructure.com
By the 2010s, fi ber was rebounding. Th e term " fast internet "
became synonymous with aff ordable fi ber capabilities at your
offi ce and (shockingly!) perhaps coming to our homes, as well.
Steadily, visionaries came forth and we subsequently experienced
the birth of media/entertainment companies, rather
than just cable or telephone providers. Cable television companies
tripled their channel off erings - and then tripled again,
learning how to price tier structures.
Th e internet fi nally took off , though slow access speeds hindered
growth initially. Early web access and email platforms
like AOL enabled modern internet access. People actually
started seeing a serious need for digital communications in
both their businesses and homes. It wasn't long before telecommunications
technology advancements allowed speeds to
increase geometrically.
Suddenly the race was on to capitalize on new internet capabilities
made possible by the fi ber highway. I would even argue
that fi ber - and subsequently HDD - actually built Amazon
and Google.
Th e new fi ber boom was upon us, but this time most of the
installation was in/around neighborhoods, as well as businesses.
With access to millions of new customers, providers could
off er various and dramatically increased speeds at more reasonable
prices.
Fiber was built in my neighborhood a couple of years ago. Th e
poor young salesperson who knocked on my door didn't know
what hit him when I pulled him into my dining room to talk. Th e
high-speed service we signed up for actually saved $5 per month.
Leading the way for this latest fi ber boom is none other than
HDD combined with mini-trenching and the established stalwarts
of utility construction: plowing, trenching and piercing
tools. But small HDD rigs fi t hand-in-glove with most of the fi -
ber buildout. Th ere's no denying that HDD built, and continues
to build, America's telecommunications future.
HDD survey says
In this issue are the results of Underground Infr astructure's
25th Annual HDD Survey. As usual, this exclusive and in-depth
research into the ever-widening world of directional drilling
produced its fair share of interesting market twists.
What wasn't surprising was the tenacity for directional drilling
displayed by the respondents, whether they were sweating
out tough times from the energy sector or riding high on the
fi ber tsunami.
One veteran contractor issued what seemed to be a very apt
statement about HDD: " Pure and simple, HDD is here to stay.
We're defi nitely in it for the long haul. " UI
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Underground Infrastructure - June 2023

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