[telecom]

There is no excuse for "inadvertently" cutting a buried cable these days. Every state now has a "Dial before you dig" law. These laws require every contractor (or anybody else planning to dig a hole) to call 811 at least three business days before digging. Failure to call

On the other hand, the owner of a buried cable also must meet certain requirements. It must be able to demonstrate that it has legal permission to put the cable there in first place. It must have placed the cable in accordance with the requirements of the National Electrical Safety Code and by applicable state and local laws. It must have responded to every 811 notification by accurately marking the location of the cable on the surface of the ground (by paint, flags, or other means) and it must have monitored the situation to remark any marks obliterated as a result of the contractor's work. Failure to meet any these requirements can relieve the contractor of liability.

If both the contractor and the cable owner obey these requirements, there will be no cut cables. If a cable is cut "inadvertently", one party is legally at fault.

Neal McLain

On Sat, 26 Sep 2015 19:31:34 -0700, Neal McLain wrote: ........

....... Question:

In these days of mega-paranoia about protecting "critical" infrastructure then surely marking out buried fibre cables essentially paints a big , fat target on them saying "Come and get me"?

Much easier to cripple telecoms with a couple of stolen diggers than blow up a building.