And since fiber-optic cables are typically run right along with utility pipes--neither phone nor gas companies want to have their lines cut--it's easy to connect a fiber backbone to the gas pipes at the neighborhood level, and beam a signal the final few feet to each home.

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Meanwhile, downed power lines, leaking gas lines, broken water pipes and still-blazing fires have blocked the return of thousands of Southern Californians who fled their homes this week ahead of more than 20 wind-whipped wildfires.

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The broadband-in-gas system differs from traditional BPL by using subterranean gas pipes instead of electrical wires.

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For a few weeks we were without gas and electricity, and water had to be fetched from stand-pipes in the streets.

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