April 27 Sac Bee item connects with Eldo readers

Bob Walter, columnist for the El Dorado County section of the Sacramento Bee, reports in today's column his April 27 column on the AT&T "upgrade or divest" petition garnered strong reader interest, demonstrating that quality telecommunications services is an issue of concern to county residents.

This blog is also mentioned...

Fiber is the future

Fiber-connected U.S. homes doubled since October
By Ed Gubbins

Apr 27, 2006 3:15 PM

The number of U.S. homes connected to fiber has doubled in the past six months, according to new data released today from Render Vanderslice and Associates.

Between Sept. 31, 2005, and March 31, 2006, nearly 350,000 U.S. homes were newly connected to fiber, bringing the country’s total to 671,000, a 107% increase.

Fiber is the future. It's time for El Dorado County to embrace it and abandon aging, antiquated copper cable.

An insane and highly ironic commute

Now this is insane, $3 gas or no. And it's highly ironic to see an employee of the world's leading provider of Internet servers drive 186 miles to use a cubicle-bound computer that could just as easily be used in a home office if Mr. Givens has reliable, high speed Internet access, which he likely doesn't.

If you're howling about paying a lot more to fill up these days, thank your lucky nozzle you're not David Givens.

Every weekday, Givens drives 372 miles commuting from Mariposa to his job at Cisco in San Jose.

On Thursday, as prices in California skyrocketed 3 cents more, to a record average of $3.18 a gallon and Exxon Mobil reported a historic first-quarter profit of $8.4 billion, Givens talked with resignation of doling out $40 a day, $200 a week, $800 a month in gas money.

For his daily round-trip journey, Givens won the ``America's Longest Commute'' contest conducted by Midas Muffler, which received nearly 3,000 entries from New York to the Golden State as part of a 50th anniversary celebration. Considering the average one-way commute nationally is 25.5 minutes, you can call Givens a runaway winner.

Story in San Jose Mercury News

Are we on the same planet here?

El Dorado County inhabitants who have been left hanging on the wrong side of AT&T's digital divide with sluggish 24K dial up connections to the Internet over aged copper cables must be wondering if they are living on the same planet as this item in Thursday's Sacramento Bee business pages:

AT&T expands broadband service

Seeking to stay competitive in the hotly contested broadband market, AT&T said Wednesday it will offer a new tier of service with download speeds of up to 6 megabits per second and uploads of up to 768 kilobits per second for $27.99 a month.

Sac Bee: Drive for faster online access boots up in El Dorado County

Here's Bob Walter's column on the AT&T "upgrade or divest" petition drive that appeared in today's Sacramento Bee.

AT&T spokeswoman Vanessa Smith says the company is committed to expanding broadband offerings in the the county. Your blogger is quoted expressing a healthy degree of skepticism given years of promises and no action. I'm from Missouri on this issue. "Show me."

Telecommuting interest rises with fuel prices

That "down the hill" commute getting more costly with rising fuel prices? Telecommuting (and a telecommuncations system in El Dorado County that allows for reliable broadband Internet access) is looking better and better.

See related story Fuel Prices have workers eyeing telecommuting

Florida town's problems with wireless Internet pose implications for topographically challenging deployments

Here's a link to a story on problems with a wireless Internet deployment that illustrates the technology's weaknesses compared to a wire line-based system. And keep in mind this is in relatively flat Florida, not topographically challenged El Dorado County.

Illinois municipality joins with AT&T to offer broadband

Starting next week, high-speed Internet connection will become a basic municipal service available to Bedford Park residents, much like garbage collection, police protection and library access.

The southwest suburban village has struck a deal with AT&T Inc. to deliver digital subscriber line connections to all residents who want it, paid for by the village.

Story in the Chicago Tribune.