San Francisco Wants to Build its Own Fiber Network With Google Fiber pausing deployments to consider a pivot to wireless, San Francisco is one of several cities left standing at the altar. The city had been part of an effort by Google Fiber to deploy service to a few key locations where fiber was already deployed. But with Google Fiber apparently now fascinating with next generation wireless technologies like millimeter wave, the city tells the Los Angeles Times that it's considering one of the biggest municipal broadband deployments ever conceived.

The project would cost at least 1 billion and would provide a fiber connection to every city home and business. "Plain and simply, the Internet has to be viewed as a utility,” San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell, who is spearheading the program, told me. “Just like water and power, people cannot function in today’s world without access to the Internet. Over 100,000 San Francisco residents don’t have access. Bridging that gap needs to be a priority, and it’s up to individual cities to move forward.” The problem, as always, is who pays for it. Seattle has similarly found itself historically disappointed by ISPs like Comcast and CenturyLink, but locals have consistently shied away from funding such a massive project -- especially given the city's current focus on shoring up mass transit. Incumbent ISP lobbying also consistently tangles these efforts, usually adding additional costs as the cities have to deal with lawsuits and other regulatory headaches. Despite being seen as the most technically sophisticated city in the country, the LA Times estimates that just 2.6% of San Francisco residents have access to gigabit broadband service. Sonic CEO Dane Jasper, whose company is also busy deploying gigabit services to the Bay Area, tells DSLReports.com he belives those figures are stale and gigabit penetration rates in the city are closer to 17%. Despite being seen as the most technically sophisticated city in the country, the LA Times estimates that just 2.6% of San Francisco residents have access to gigabit broadband service. Sonic CEO Dane Jasper, whose company is also busy deploying gigabit services to the Bay Area, tells DSLReports.com he belives those figures are stale and gigabit penetration rates in the city are closer to 17%.







News Jump WISPs Get CBRS Range As Great As Six Miles At 100 Mbps Speeds; Windstream Officially Exits Bankruptcy; + more news Charter Relaunches Free 60-day Internet And Wi-Fi Offer; NCTA: FCC Should Stick With 25/3 Speed Threshold; + more news Comcast Shuts Off Internet for Subs Who Were Sold Service Illegally; AT&T, Verizon Team To Stop T-Mobile 5G; + more news California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

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caesarv

join:1999-08-02

Santa Rosa, CA 1 edit 3 recommendations caesarv Member What about Sonic.net I thought Santa Rosa-based SONIC.net was already deploying fiber to many locations in SF (among other cities.) Maybe the City can partner with them. They are a great company and have a long-proven record of not screwing over their customers. In addition, they respect customer privacy, support net neutrality, and do not employ usage caps. (Disclaimer: I have been a loyal Sonic customer since 1995)