Monday, August 28, 2006

Power company abandons BPL in favor of fiber

Last week, I posted a San Francisco Chronicle story reporting talks between El Dorado County's electric utility, PG&E and a provider of broadband over power lines (BPL) bogged down over money.

Here's a story from NRTC Update reporting that a municipally owned Tennessee electric company has opted not to pursue BPL, concluding it represented an inferior technology in the long run compared to a fiber optic-based system that rolls out in January.
Pulaski Electric System, a municipal electric power provider in rural Pulaski, TN, says it plans to begin offering triple-play (voice, video and broadband Internet) communications to its service area of 4,750 households by January 2007. The city of Pulaski is financing the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network for the services through an $8.2 million bond measure. The group expects to exceed 50 percent penetration within the first three years. Greg Solomon, Pulaski Electric’s vice president and chief information officer, said the group made the decision to go with FTTH because the technology has matured to provide reliable service and the cost of fiber optic infrastructure is dropping to affordable levels. “Compared to the other technologies out there today and [considering] the bandwidth required for future applications, fiber to the home is the one we see as being the ultimate way to get to the customer,” Solomon said during an online presentation earlier today hosted by the Fiber to the Home Council. “We evaluated broadband over power line and it was more in its infancy then [in 2002] than fiber to the home was.” Pulaski Electric also evaluated hybrid fiber coaxial and fixed wireless approaches before deciding on FTTH, he said.

Broadband may be up to 2 years off -- and not even that's certain

After a meeting with AT&T officials, El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago believes DSL Internet service could arrive in areas with dial-up within 18 to 24 months.

But she needs help.

Those who do not have the high-speed Internet service and wish to have it are requested to provide addresses and telephone numbers that will allow AT&T officials to begin a planning and cost analysis for a construction budget submission to the county, Santiago said.


Click here for rest of the story in the Tahoe Daily Tribune (registration required)

Let's analyze this for a moment. AT&T's actions mean either one of two things:

1. AT&T's system planners had planned to deploy advanced broadband services no sooner than 5 to 10 years from now, knowing that in order to do so it would need to upgrade its aged, pair gained copper cable system that isn't able to support expanded DSL to fiber optic. In the meantime, Ma Bell is "playing" Santiago and Handal in a delaying tactic to gather market data it likely already possesses in a cynical game of rope a dope. It's highly implausible that AT&T doesn't already know its customers' phone numbers and service addresses as well as the tremendous pent up demand for broadband as well as reliable voice service. The company's acting as if this information is "news" strikes this blogger is disingenuous.

2. AT&T has essentially written off large portions of its service area and has no plans to upgrade its system in El Dorado County to support advanced services such as high speed Internet, concluding it's not in its business interests to do so. But rather than say this publicly amid growing pressure to act, AT&T is engaging in a public relations palliative and running a "drill" to gather information and create an appearance of genuine concern.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Anger in Adelaide over lack of broadband

Even while El Dorado County is considered part of a metropolitan region, it suffers from widespread lack of broadband access that is increasingly angering local residents and business owners.

Turns out they are not alone. Residents of metro region down under in Adelaide, Australia are also upset over the same problem:
In metropolitan Adelaide there are many Internet users who still can't access broadband technology.

Broadband anger is not confined to the bush where Telstra has ditched a $4 billion roll-out of high speed internet connection.

The company has told some customers they will have to wait up to three years for the service.


Internet user Geremia Porcaro lives in Adelaide city and is fed up with being stuck on 1980's dial-up technology.

He lives close to the Unley telephone exchange and yet it takes him five minutes to receive an email using Telstra's basic dial-up service.

"I reckon if I go to the African jungle I can get faster dial-up speed there" he said.

Click here for full story.

California bill would define broadband as 384kbs or higher

Late amendments to SB 909 would define broadband Internet connections as running at a minimum of 384kbs. That's above the current Federal Communications Commission standard of 200kbs.

State PUC deregulates voice phone rates

The California Public Utilities Commission announced it is deregulating what telcos can charge for voice services while reserving the right to intervene to halt market conduct abuses or anticompetitive behavior. Rates for basic residential service will remain frozen until Jan. 1, 2009, the CPUC said.

Click here for CPUC news release.
Click here for Los Angeles Times story.

County supe Santiago reports on 8/21 meeting with AT&T

Here’s a news release issued Thursday evening by El Dorado County Fifth District Supervisor Norma Santiago reporting on a meeting she had earlier this week with AT&T regarding expanding DSL service in the Tahoe Basin. Motivating Santiago’s meeting with Ma Bell is an ongoing petition drive being run by South Lake Tahoe’s Patti Handal, who Santiago reports has collected nearly 500 signatures from 215 households imploring AT&T to expand DSL to those still stuck with sluggish circa 1993 dial up Internet access.

I applaud Santiago for her interest in this vital infrastructure issue for El Dorado County and urge her colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to share in her well-placed concerns since the county’s telecommunications problems are by no means limited to South Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, it appears AT&T is continuing the same song and dance that it has for years on the county’s West Slope — which like Tahoe suffers from a creaky old copper cable system running out of good pair that barely provides adequate voice service and features massive broadband black holes.

Since the copper cable plant’s so dilapidated it can barely support voice and certainly won’t support more sensitive DSL signals, the reality is AT&T is looking at having to replace much of its aged infrastructure with fiber optic cable in order to ensure reliability of voice service and to offer advanced services such as broadband Internet access and potentially IPTV (Internet Protocol Television). That’s a big expenditure that probably won’t get past the bean counters in San Antonio anytime soon, particularly as AT&T absorbs the costs of its mergers in the past year with SBC Communications and Bellsouth. So not surprisingly, AT&T is telling Santiago what we’ve heard before on the West Slope from company representatives: We’ll look into it and see if it’s in the budget and get back to you. I call it the San Antonio (where AT&T is headquartered) shuffle.

Given the circumstances, Santiago and Handal are wise to court alternative providers including the cable company that serves the Tahoe Basin, Charter Communications — over which the county has direct influence since it grants franchises to cable companies — and to continue to gather signatures from residents and business owners to make the case to these providers that there’s plenty of market demand. The cable providers such as Charter and Comcast on the West Slope have a real opportunity to lock down market share as Ma Bell naps while digesting her recent acquisitions. They can offer a triple threat of high speed Internet, television programming and digital voice all over the same wire line connection in a bundled deal. Comcast has said it plans to begin rolling out digital voice service in Northern California early next year. Verizon, which is committed to abandoning obsolete copper cable in favor of fiber optic, has the right idea. Santiago and Handal should also be talking to Verizon about expanding beyond cellular service in El Dorado County and installing fiber-based landline services while AT&T sleeps in San Antonio.

The full news release issued by Supervisor Santiago along with contact information for Handal’s Tahoe Basin petition drive:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For information, contact

Supervisor Norma Santiago, (530) 409-9615

On Monday, August 21st, El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago held a meeting with AT&T representatives to further discuss prospects of obtaining high speed internet service throughout various areas within district five of El Dorado County. Santiago indicated that the discussions were very positive thanks in large part to a DSL Campaign headed by Mountain View Estates resident and veterinarian, Patti Handal. Handal had successfully collected nearly 500 signatures representing 215 households throughout South Lake Tahoe. “In my previous discussions with AT&T, I strongly expressed that there was a great interest for DSL not only for the public benefit but also as a tool for economic development. Now, thanks to Patti, I was able to provide the evidence,” Santiago said. Regarding the ongoing success of the DLS campaign and its implications, Handal states, “High speed internet access is no longer a luxury but part of everyday life in today's world. Through the campaign it has become very apparent how the availability of DSL would enhance the quality of so many people's lives and provide economic opportunities for our town.”

So what are the next steps? Specific information requested by AT&T (addresses and telephone numbers) from the petitions and e-mails received will be compiled and given to AT&T so that company representatives may begin a planning and cost analysis for AT&T construction budget submission. Budget decisions will be made early next year; however, even if the proposal was successful, residents would not be notified until 30 days prior to the actual completion of the project. This is due to a FCC regulation that prohibits announcing upcoming upgrades or changes provided by the utility that may create an unfair competitive advantage. In spite of this, Santiago remains confident indicating that she still sees DSL coming to the region within the next 18 to 24 months. Santiago further states that she is taking other steps to make this market attractive not only to AT&T but also to other potential carriers including Charter Communications. Discussions with Charter Communications are currently being arranged. In the meantime, Handal strongly encourages that proponents of DSL continue to send in their petitions. “The more households we have on record, the stronger our argument,” Santiago said.

Requests for petitions can be made by phone at: 530-314-9127 or by email at: BrutHilda@aol.com. Petitions can be returned by mail to: DSL Campaign; P.O. Box 17087; South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151. Or they can be faxed to: 530-577-2817.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

State franchise legislation won't benefit El Dorado County

While ostensibly designed to speed the deployment of bundled advanced digital telecommunications and television programming services, it’s highly unlikely the proposed Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 will hasten the availability of such services in El Dorado County.

AB 2987, which awaits approval by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, proposes to accomplish that by preempting the authority of local governments to negotiate video franchise agreements such as El Dorado County’s existing franchise agreements with cable providers Comcast and Charter. Driving the legislation is the big telcos, AT&T and Verizon, who want to offer wire line-based TV programming just like the cable companies under their own franchise deals. The telcos say it would take too long to effectively compete with the established cable providers if they must comply with current law that requires them to negotiate their own video franchise agreements with local governments. Giving the state Public Utilities Commission sole franchising authority would provide one stop shopping, cutting through local government red tape and afford them a level competitive playing field with cable providers, they argue.

If El Dorado County’s current telco, AT&T, could do what AB 2987 proposes, does that mean county residents and businesses could expect to see Ma Bell’s existing aged and obsolete copper cable system that marginally supports plain old telephone service be rapidly replaced with a fiber optic-based system to usher in a brave new post-AB 2987 digital world? Not at all. The bill allows big telcos like AT&T to serve only 50 percent of their service areas within five years of getting a state franchise. In practical terms, that means El Dorado County residents and businesses located within an existing broadband black hole would remain there with no hope of escape.

Nor would the bill help expand cable services in the county since it leaves intact existing county franchise agreements like the flawed agreement between El Dorado County and Comcast that's based on an urban grid model that leaves large pockets of county residences cut off from service.

Notwithstanding the measure's lip service to the notion that all Californians should have access to advanced telecommunications services, AB 2987 simply preserves and protects the status quo just as state residents, frustrated with the lack of broadband access, increasingly pressure local governments to take action as they have recently in El Dorado County's fifth supervisorial district.

The urban geographical bias of AB 2987 that neglects Californians living outside urban areas is evident in other provisions of the bill that prohibit discrimination against customers based on socio-economic status and ethnicity in determining where to offer advanced services. In non-urban areas like El Dorado County, those criteria are largely irrelevant as the county’s digital divide bears no relationship whatsoever to the socio economic or ethnic status of its residents.