Telus refusing to run fibre optic cable through existing in ground conduit

Rural property in Courtenay. Pole is on my property and power along with my old coax cables have their own conduit that go underground into my house.

Telus says they can't use existing conduit. The reason given is its complicated and we need to run overhead line or install a conduit. The guy suggested to run the cable on the ground for "now".

Anyone know anything about this?