Verizon exec: Broadband is vital infrastructure

"I think broadband infrastructure is as important as highways and airports and any other type of infrastructure the state needs, now and for the future," said Timothy J. McCallion, Verizon regional president.

McCallion, quoted in this Sacramento Bee article today on the multi-million dollar lobbying battle between telcos and cable companies over video franchise rules, is absolutely correct. Wonder if his competition, AT&T, gets this?

So far, there's no indication that it does in El Dorado County, where large areas of the county remain relegated to dial up and unable to get broadband Internet access. If AT&T can't or won't deliver this vital part of the county's infrastructure, perhaps Verizon will.

Beyond DSL: Rural consumers want "triple play" services

This new study by the National Carriers Exchange Association (NECA) finds consumers in rural areas expect telcos to provide more than DSL. They're looking beyond DSL -- an interim technology designed to allow broadband to work over copper-based cables -- to their future needs for higher bandwidth to support multiple Internet protocol-based services known in the industry as a "triple play" of high speed Internet, voice, and video. That finding is relevant to El Dorado County, where much of the copper cable system is deteriorated and unable to support DSL services anyway.

The results are not surprising since telcos have broadly promoted triple play as the emerging product standard and are taking on cable companies for the right to sell video Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). The question is will they invest the estimated $11.9 billion to upgrade their networks to deliver minimum speeds of 8 Mbps in order to offer triple play services?

This study goes beyond NECA’s previous examinations of the challenges of bringing broadband to rural America. In The Packet Train Needs to Stop at Every Door, NECA looks at the transformation occurring in rural networks toward Internet Protocol (IP) technology to meet evolving customer expectations for “triple play” multimedia services—a combination of voice, data and video.

These services are driving the need for much higher delivery speeds in the “last mile.” The study examines issues affecting a rural consumer’s ability to access advanced services comparable to those available to urban consumers. Among
these issues are the continuation of stable funding mechanisms to encourage needed network investment
in rural America and emerging issues associated with the delivery of multimedia services. Availability of these services may be a key to increased “take” rates for broadband. These are among the subjects that must be addressed to ensure the packet train arrives on time in rural America.

Another WISP entering El Dorado County

NuTel Broadband Corporation, a broadband wireless managed services provider based in Cranbury, NJ, announced it plans to deploy wireless "mesh" broadband networks in Sacramento, Chico, San Jose and El Dorado County as part of a 14-state rollout.

The rollout is targeting underserved suburban and rural subscribers and small-to-medium sized businesses in regions where broadband wireless network services have been limited or generally unavailable, according to NuTel.

NuTel CEO Joe Fiero says unlike most wireless broadband systems that utilize a copper cable-based data line to connect them to the Internet, NuTel uses fiber optic cable as the system "backhaul," providing a minimum throughput of 45 Mbps, offering plenty of bandwidth for future growth. It will also offer proprietary network VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) that allows subscribers to make digital voice telephone calls over the system.

Fiero says NuTel expects to offer 192/192 kbps Internet connectivity for $14.99 a month, 1.5/1.5 mbps for $34.99, and a bundled Internet and unlimited digital voice calling product at $59.99 per month.

In hilly terrains like El Dorado County, wireless faces a major technological challenge since it requires a clear, unobstructed line of sight to reach end users. Not NuTel's "mesh" system it's deploying in conjuction with Santa Clara-based SkyPilot Networks, which Fiero says is based on a "close spaced node topology that gives us the ability to saturate the coverage area."

Given the many underserved areas of El Dorado that are clearly within NuTel's stated target market such as parts of Placerville, Garden Valley, Camino, Pollock Pines, Pleasant Valley and Mosquito, I asked Fiero when NuTel would be deploying in these areas. Unfortunately despite their starkly underserved status with no broadband services, Fiero didn't have good news.

Turns out parts of Folsom and El Dorado Hills are running short of DSL connections from AT&T (AT&T isn't confirming this) and NuTel will roll out there first, eventually making its way east up Highway 50. Fiber optic cable is also more readily available in Folsom and EDH at this time, Fiero explains.

Memo to Mr. Fiero: fiber is also available farther up the hill. Those who have been stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide surrounding Placerville will surely be watching with interest to see if NuTel can get its system off the ground on the western edge of the county during this initial deployment and if it lives up to its stated mission of providing service in underserved areas where broadband is not available.

The world's going broadband, but El Dorado County still stuck with dial up

The days of dial-up Internet access are nearly done as global demand for broadband booms according to research firm IDC, reports Reuters in this USA Today story.

Worldwide high-speed, or broadband, subscriptions will almost double in five years to nearly 400 million in 2010 from about 205 million in 2005, fueled by cheaper prices, increased customer choice and the growth of devices and applications built for the use of broadband, IDC said in a study made public Monday.

For many El Dorado County residents, however, the reports of the demise of dial up Internet access will provoke rueful laughter as they continue to struggle with sluggish dial up connections with no indications of relief for the foreseeable.

AT&T customer service lacking

There have been complaints about poor quality telecom service from AT&T such as long service outages and noisy or crossed lines and for too many in El Dorado County, no wire line broadband Internet service.

Apparently customer service in this day of voice mail jail and transfers to busy signals and outsourced customer service reps half a world away in India leaves something to be desired as well. Carol Anne Ogdin, a Placerville correspondent of this blog, shares this account of her recent experience:

Well, now that SBC has absorbed AT&T and assumed that venerable name, they're engaging in the same brand destruction they've been perpetrating on themselves through previous name changes. Each new name change brings progressively worse service.

Today, I tried to call AT&T to talk about my bill and my business DSL service. After slaving through their "voice mail jail" and listening to numerous self-promoting (and lengthy) announcements...then assuring me my call was really "important" to them, I was informed by the voice mail I'd be answered by the next available agent. Whereupon, I was connected directly to a permanent "busy" signal.

I tried again. same result. A third time...same result.

On the fourth try, I actually was informed I was now in the queue, and "an agent would be with me in a moment." Three minutes later, I reached a human who actually informed me she was incompetent to help me, but she'd take my telephone number and name and have someone call me back...in a day or two!

Fifteen minutes wasted, just so I can leave a callback number! Gee, most companies have automated equipment to take voice mail, why not AT&T? This is how AT&T (nee SBC, nee Southwestern Bell) wants to treat its customers: Mere irritants to their single-minded focus on making money to fatten executive wallets.

I wonder if I'll ever get a call back.

Oh, how I wish I had a choice for telephone service! I'd be happy to pay anyone else for customer service, accurate bills, reliable service...and true broadband, not some inadequate satellite-based substitute.

AT&T, Comcast expanding, upgrading in greater Sacramento area

The Sacramento Business Journal reports AT&T and Comcast are gearing up to spend billions on expanding and upgrading their networks in the greater Sacramento region -- which ostensibly includes El Dorado County where both companies have a presence.

AT&T said it will invest up to $1 billion to "push fiber closer to our customers' homes," according to company spokesman Gordon Diamond.

Meanwhile, Comcast, which had previously positioned itself as an entertainment company, is going into full telco mode. Comcast plans to launch digital phone service across central California from Chico to Fresno as early as first-quarter 2007, said spokeswoman Erica Smith.

Readers of this blog will recall that AT&T spokeswoman Vanessa Smith told the Sacramento Bee in late April that AT&T is committed to expanding broadband offerings in El Dorado County in 2006. As for Comcast, the company isn't saying whether it has any plans to expand its rather limited footprint in the county this year or next.

Another supervisor candidate calls for better Internet access in El Dorado County

Yet another of five candidates in the District 4 county supervisor race says he wants to expand Internet access in El Dorado County. Alarm company owner Todd Schwenk wants Internet "easily accessible to rural residents," according to today's Mountain Democrat. (The newspaper does not provide the article on line).

As with fellow candidate Wendell Smith who took out a full page ad in the paper on Friday calling for the county to "add DSL and cell service" to improve the county's business environment, I applaud the goal. But specifics are needed, not just appealing rhetoric. How do these candidates propose to accomplish their goals and how quickly? There's a longstanding surplusage of talk on this issue and a glaring deficit of action.

Many El Dorado County residents are outraged and desperate for broadband access ASAP after being stuck with dial up modem access that was state of the art technology when Bill Clinton was starting his first term as president but impractical for today's Internet. Read some of their comments accompanying their signatures on this on line petition calling on AT&T to upgrade its infrastructure to fiber optic or divest its holdings in the county and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.

My concern is politicians exploiting the genuine frustrations of these folks through sloganeering merely for short term political gain with no follow through. A concrete plan of action from these or any other supervisorial candidates -- if there's a runoff after Tuesday's election -- would go a long way to alleviate my concerns.