Comment Re:And it's in Japan (Score 1) 268
The glass itself is cheap - With decently-sized orders, you can get a 1 km run for under $75. The majority of the costs are manpower to string the stuff to poles (or run it through manholes), do splices and OTDR signal levels along the way. Besides higher population density, Japan has an added "advantage" of having lower median income, which is likely to translate into lower labor costs for installation...