[Fwd: Multiple Internets]

[dan@geer.org (dan@geer.org)]

 | In most of the US i am pretty sure the utility oligopoly has a lock
 | on the public roads, and I am pretty sure they will not allow anything
 | to be strung across or under the road.


If by "utility oligopoly" you mean the providers of water, electricity,
sewerage, piped gas and the like, you are incorrect.  Crossing a public
way with a private anything will require an explicit permission from
whatever entity is the authority for the class of roadway (local, county,
state, federal, tribal).  Those permissions are straightforward to
acquire if the developer or whatever is willing to spend a politically
sufficient amount on money on the authority's preferred public goods.
("You can put your pedestrian bridge up if you take over street
maintenance on all four sides of your shopping mall in perpetuity.")

Personal experience and all that, both in the U.S. and Switzerland.

--dan