Hunters forced Google to bury fiber

Google has reported that fiber optic channels in Oregon are “regularly” shot down by local hunters.

At an AusNOG conference last week in Sydney, one of the leading engineers, Vijay Gill, said Oregon hunters specifically target transformer insulators.

Apparently, for local shooters this is a kind of competition for accuracy.

The problem is that Google’s optical fiber also passes through the transformers from the data center in Oregon to the neighboring data center in Dulles, worth $ 600 million.

“Every November at the beginning of the hunting season, we know that the optical fiber will be shot down, so we have now begun to lay underground channel, ”said Jill.

Hunters can entertain themselves out of boredom or compete. Vijay Jill added that they almost never get into the insulators themselves, but regularly damage the fiber. Due to snowfall and avalanches, it is not always possible to quickly fix the breakdown. If the weather is good, then a helicopter or tractor Caterpillar D9 is sent to the scene of the accident. Three technicians in the backpacks have repair materials. “The guys are literally working under guns, so the Internet is a more dangerous thing than you thought,” the engineer joked.