$5,000 fines in Utah, 50 calls in Puerto Rico and taxes at death Citizens Telecom reports that they experience one cable cut in Utah each week of the year! Years ago, O'Dean Redman, of Albian Tel in Idaho, told me that one local contractor just figured it was cheaper to cut and pay for the repair than to notify and wait for a locate. O'Dean said they commenced doubling the bill each time. Eventually the guy came around to the view that cutting cables isn't worth it. The industry is pushing for punitive fines for folks who cut underground cables. A bill being run by the Qwest lobby in the Utah legislature is calling for a $5,000 fine to be imposed on anyone who cuts a cable. This in addition to costs of repair. The fine would flow to the owner and not be kept by the court. So highway administrators and government land owners who want out of any associated liability say bury the cables five feet deep. That way they won't cut the cables. That makes buried cable costs prohibitive. It might work where the ground is made of dirt. But out West, our ground is mostly rock. We might have a few inches of dirt or sand over what is miles of nature-made solid concrete that is a foot or three thick. As an example, in Las Vegas, regular truck-mounted augers just can't dig it. OPASTCO Some telcos would like to see a minimum fee for a cable locate. No chance. Some say they are hard pressed to choose between NTCA or Opastco as to who puts on the best sessions for its members at conventions. Between management types who won't go to anything unless it has golf, yet provides reasonable comfort for spouses and kids - and meet the objective of "not been there" - I don't envy the job of board members and staff to come up with locations to hold training sessions for their member companies. One area for Opastco types that cooperatives don't worry about is Thomas Jefferson's concern that America never allow rich folks to take over the country. Taxes on wealth when the rich die was his solution. But small business types consider that passing ownership of a company to their kids is hardly that of empires taking over the country - empires that our founding fathers realized existed elsewhere in the world. Non-cooperative companies are interested in minimizing the tax burden to hand off the family owned telco when the owner dies or retires. In a recent gathering of the faithful in Puerto Rico, a four-hour presentation by Sagebrush Consulting of Overland Park, Kansas was well received. And about half as long as it could have been. For those interested in passing the baton while disinheriting the IRS, contact Tim DiSette at tbdisette@LNC.com. PUERTO RICO... ...was the site of Opastco's January "do." The poor US cousin, PR is always interesting. Not the best educated. English is forgotten or never used by the majority. Its song is auto alarms. Buildings and homes go for protection by bars over windows for the first four stories - and also exist in walled and gated compounds. Cops and security everywhere. No taxes bring gas to an average of 33�� per liter at the pump. Cheap. No sales taxes. Road construction. Traffic jams. I did find unsold shoes at Sears in the American Mall that I've been unable to buy stateside, as Sears discontinued the line two years ago. Minimum wage is the norm, from McDonald's to clerks to hotel help. Few realize that booking at any hotel within a mile of the airport brings massive jet noise from takeoffs, with that rumble day and night. That in turn deletes both quiet sleeping and reduces adjacent walking beach access to half that promoted in Isle Verde. There is really less than 1% of the entire 250-mile Puerto Rico border that has sand access to the ocean. Which is why, over 500 years ago, the Spanish built those massive forts to control or keep ships out of the beautiful deep-water harbor. They had the guns and high ground. Photographs show dozens of Catalina flying boats at anchor in that harbor during WWII, adjacent to flat land still used as a general aviation and commuter airport. PR Telecom has coin phones everywhere. Two bits per minute to call anywhere, with a 50�� minimum to the 50 states. No dialing of zero or 0+. Instead, dial 1+10 and a slick computer voice prompts for deposit of coins. Fast. Efficient. Cheap.   Copyright 2001 by A. W. Brothers and Americas Network magazine. All rights reserved.   © Beehive Telephone Co.