Advancing the understanding and utilization of technology in Sonoma Valley.
Broadband Access in Sonoma
Did you read "High speed Internet is not a luxury" in the Valley Forum section of the March 2 Sonoma Index-Tribune. We need to find a solution to this hodgepodge of broadband deadspots in Sonoma that taxes our businesses.
We've started an experiment to see if we can map where service is and is not in Sonoma. Please put a placemark on this Google map to record where there is:
- No broadband (RED)
- Just AT&T DSL (BLUE)
- Just Comcast broadband (YELLOW)
- Both AT&T and Comcast (GREEN)
We are particularly interested in areas where there is no broadband access (RED).
If you think there is a better way to map this, let us know.
Thanks!
Chip
Tags: at&t, att, broadband, comcast, dsl, internet, map, sonoma
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Marshall Berry on
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Sonic.net tried to give the city free hi speed a few years back. Comcast threatened to sue the city claiming it broke the franchise agreement and the city backed down.. what's different about this?
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Permalink Reply by Shirin Etessam on -
You bring up a point that is incredibly important. I run a media site and the low to non-existing broadband access in Sonoma has made my job much more difficult. I have an office in the Marcado which is right on the square. The service is through VOM and we have a T1 line coming into the office building and yet the service/speed is nowhere near what you would get in SF or Marin. We also live on top of Trinity Road in Glen Ellen where there is absolutely no DSL access. We have had to subscribe to HughesNet, which is a "Satellite DSL" service, but pretty much an inch better than dial-up. HughsNet gives us a 400MB download limit because of some sort of weird and seemingly made up "fair access rights act." The funny thing is that if you're over your threshold limit, which basically bring their access to a grind, you can bypass this "fair access rights act" by paying another $10 for your access to be reset for the day. Go figure!
I find it very interesting and frustrating that we can get better internet accessibility in Morocco and Peru than we do in Sonoma. We're going to be moving to Marin soon and one of the reasons is purely that for my business we need much better service and it is simply missing in Sonoma. Thank you so much for trying to change that!
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Permalink Reply by Chip Roberson on
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I guess the question is are we going to be passive and accept the situation or can we put the collective resources of our community together and seek a solution. Is there pressure that can be brought to bear on Comcast and AT&T, can we bring in a new competitor (e.g. a WISP), or can the city declare that Comcast and AT&T have failed to serve the needs of the community and build it's own downtown network? I don't know but we need to have the conversation otherwise I doubt it will ever change.
James Marshall Berry said:Sonic.net tried to give the city free hi speed a few years back. Comcast threatened to sue the city claiming it broke the franchise agreement and the city backed down.. what's different about this?
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Shirin, I'm so sorry to hear you're leaving our community in part due to the lack of broadband but I agree. As an ex-Telecom engineer, I have long lamented the state of our telecom infrastructure in the US but I find Sonoma especially disappointing. Still, I am hopeful we can improve the situation if we can find the will. The community as whole will when, especially when we don't lose talented business people and members of our community like you.
Shirin Etessam said:I find it very interesting and frustrating that we can get better internet accessibility in Morocco and Peru than we do in Sonoma. We're going to be moving to Marin soon and one of the reasons is purely that for my business we need much better service and it is simply missing in Sonoma. Thank you so much for trying to change that!
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Chip
I too share the dilemma. I have an office in the Sonoma Court Shops. We have access to Comcast, but based on what I saw at the last city council meeting, that group seems only concerned that the 'big 7' hotels have people in them. They really could care less about the business community and to see the way they folded with the Farmers market and the Dance Academy, I doubt they're capable of standing up to anyone. Unfortunately, once again, the Sonoma City Council gets to make a decision that affects the entire Valley and the entire valley has no say in it and can't vote out the people making the decisions in which we don't agree. We need to address a new regional governing body, and not our county supervisor, who represents Santa Rosa and Rohnert park. We need to redraw the districts, get true representation for Sonoma Valley and it will make the Sonoma City Council irrelevant. We need a new city.. the City of Sonoma Valley.
I'm seriously considering moving my office out of city limits when my lease is up.
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Permalink Reply by Gustav Hobel on -
Thanks, Chip. Great article to start a discussion on this vital topic. I live and work in El Verano and agree very much with James: "Unfortunately, once again, the Sonoma City Council gets to make a decision that affects the entire Valley and the entire valley has no say in it and can't vote out the people making the decisions in which we don't agree."
I spend much effort on staying away from corporations which ( or better who ) impose their monopoly policies on us.
For years I am working with a slow DSL connection provided now by napanet. It is at times a struggle. But the only alternative is Comcast and I am refusing to sign up with them. I do not agree with their policies of content filtering and their political ambitions.
As Chip pointed out in his article, we are a vital part of the economy of the valley and our tax money is easily taken. In these times a city should do everything to attract and maintain local businesses to avoid deficits. It is truly sad that Shirin considers to leave for reasons which could be avoided. This seems to be a political issue, as the technology is available. WiredSonoma could and should be our own "chamber of commerce". And as such, could we ask for a review of the Comcast franchise agreement? As James states, it must be a in place for years and times have changed.
And does the official Chamber Of Commerce has an opinion on this matter? They represent businesses within and outside of the city limits.
They are hosting the 2010 Business Expo on March 18. This could be an opportunity to make our voices heard.
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Gustav.. I too am in El Verano, where I am 17,700 from the DSL CO. I needed faster speed as I move gobs (is that a technical term??) of data. I had no choice but to get comcast, but, by subscribing to basic cable for 10 bucks, I get 20 off the price of internet access.
Gustav Hobel said:Thanks, Chip. Great article to start a discussion on this vital topic. I live and work in El Verano and agree very much with James: "Unfortunately, once again, the Sonoma City Council gets to make a decision that affects the entire Valley and the entire valley has no say in it and can't vote out the people making the decisions in which we don't agree."
I spend much effort on staying away from corporations which ( or better who ) impose their monopoly policies on us.
For years I am working with a slow DSL connection provided now by napanet. It is at times a struggle. But the only alternative is Comcast and I am refusing to sign up with them. I do not agree with their policies of content filtering and their political ambitions.
As Chip pointed out in his article, we are a vital part of the economy of the valley and our tax money is easily taken. In these times a city should do everything to attract and maintain local businesses to avoid deficits. It is truly sad that Shirin considers to leave for reasons which could be avoided. This seems to be a political issue, as the technology is available. WiredSonoma could and should be our own "chamber of commerce". And as such, could we ask for a review of the Comcast franchise agreement? As James states, it must be a in place for years and times have changed.
And does the official Chamber Of Commerce has an opinion on this matter? They represent businesses within and outside of the city limits.
They are hosting the 2010 Business Expo on March 18. This could be an opportunity to make our voices heard.
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I posted this as a comment to the article on the IT's site but I felt it was worth posting here too:
Some people are aware of August Sebastiani's effort to get wifi around the plaza and I believe there has been some confusion between that issue and my letter.
I just got off the phone with Ryan Granko, who is working on the WiFi project with August and wanted to make sure that you (and others) understand that the plaza wifi project and my issue over broadband infrastructure are related but not one in the same.
The plaza wifi project is more akin to expanding a wifi hotspot to cover the plaza and generally depends on having access to the broadband network somewhere. It is primarily designed for the itinerant internet user and not, necessarily, to meet the needs of fixed business establishments. Still, I think it is a worthy project.
My concern is over the fundamental infrastructure issue of providing broadband to any business in town that needs it at a data rate that supports their business needs and at a reasonable and competitive price.
The plaza wifi project should make life a bit better for people visiting the plaza and surrounding venues; however, I'm curious to see what kind of demand it incurs as some of our starving businesses might see it as an alternative to their infrastructure needs. I believe supplying fixed business access is beyond the scope of the plaza wifi project (as I understand it) and I think that is a reasonable limitation.
On the other hand, if we were able, somehow, miraculously, to upgrade the broadband infrastructure of downtown to (near) universal access, then it would be much easier to implement the plaza wifi project and to provide plenty of access and bandwidth with multiple integration points to the broadband network. Unfortunately, doing the infrastructure upgrade is much, much harder than creating an 802.11g wifi hot spot for the square and I don't think we should hold up the plaza wifi project for an infrastructure upgrade.
Just to clarify, my intent regarding my letter in this morning's paper was to express my belief that Comcast and AT&T have neglected what I believe is their obligations to provide adequate coverage to our community. However, I'm sure there are plenty of technical and legal details of which I am not aware. My objective was to begin making the case that based on the needs of our business community and its importance to the health of our community, we are justified to seek a solution rather than wait for AT&T and Comcast to decide they are ready to serve these broadband deadzones. Either we find a way to apply more pressure to Comcast and AT&T or else we look to a third party (or ourselves) for a remedy.
There are several options that could be explored but my objective was first to raise awareness of the problem that is silently vexing many businesses (and property owners) around town. Additionally, there are a lot of technical details that could be discussed at this point but that is best left for another time and another venue.
The plaza wifi project is on the calendar for this Wednesday's City Council meeting.
Chip
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The New York Times had a very timely article related to this topic today:
Effort to Widen U.S. Internet Access Sets Up Battle
Vast F.C.C. Plan Would Bring Net to More in U.S
Very much worth reading.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Witous on -
For the past six months, we (cafeMac) have been working with Mitzi Zamarippa, a Sonic representative who covers the Sonoma Valley. She is actively involved in setting up high-speed internet servicea with many of our clients utilizing DSL, T1 and Fusion (3Mbps-30Mbps) technologies. She understands the challenges that our local businesses and entrepreneurs face with the limited and sometimes non-existent high-speed internet access that is so prevalent in our valley. We have had many discussions about why we face this dilemma and her company is putting in some serious effort into changing this through practical and innovative technologies.
The Internet Service Providers (ISP) available in Sonoma Valley include VOM (Dial-Up, DSL, T1 & wireless microwave), Comcast (cable), AT&T (DSL, T1 & cellular wifi), Sonic (Dial-Up, DSL, T1 & Fusion), Hughes (satellite), WildBlue (satellite, Sonoma Sky (microwave), Earthlink (Dial-up & DSL) and Verizon (cellular wifi). Their speeds range from 60Mbps (Comcast), 30Mbps (Sonic Fusion), 1.5Mbps (DSL) all the way down to 56kbps (dial-up)
Ben Kaufman, who works with me at cafeMac, is a former Sonic tech support representative who gained a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge working at Sonic for several years. Ben will be contacting Dane Jasper, the CEO of Sonic, who is very interested in supporting communities like Sonoma with high-speed internet access. His blog can be read at http://corp.sonic.net/ceo/
Ben mentioned to me that Sonic tried to provide free internet access for Sebastopol, but was rejected by their city council. Feel free to call me if you have any input or questions that you feel we should discuss with him. Also, we will forward your article to him.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Witous on
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Here's an article from Sonic regarding their Fusion/FlexLink Availability in Sonoma
October 13, 2009 – 9:44 pm
We have deployed equipment in two new central offices on our new technology platform. Both Fusion and FlexLink products are now available to customers served by the Cotati and Sonoma central offices.
Cotati and Sonoma were left out in the initial wave of deployment last year because both are awkwardly situated with relationship to many of the customers in the serving area. For example the Sonoma central office is actually in Agua Caliente, and this limits the availability of Fusion services for many Sonoma residents. (Agua Caliente residents on the other hand are very well situated.)
That said, for our business clients, broad FlexLink availability is important, so it’s nice to have wrapped these two locations up. Many wineries in the Sonoma area for example have previously had only expensive T1 or wireless options available, and can now take advantage of the speeds and low prices of FlexLink symmetric products.
These two offices complete our near term Sonoma County coverage, and we are now focusing construction efforts in Marin, Napa and the East Bay.
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So then what they're saying, as I understand it, is that due to the location of the CO and the fact that their products run thru the same copper and have similar packet size, there's nothing sonic can do? Explain how a winery, say BR Cohn, who is very far from the CO can take advantage of the technology.. maybe it's just me not getting it...
Jim Witous said:Here's an article from Sonic regarding their Fusion/FlexLink Availability in Sonoma
October 13, 2009 – 9:44 pm
We have deployed equipment in two new central offices on our new technology platform. Both Fusion and FlexLink products are now available to customers served by the Cotati and Sonoma central offices.
Cotati and Sonoma were left out in the initial wave of deployment last year because both are awkwardly situated with relationship to many of the customers in the serving area. For example the Sonoma central office is actually in Agua Caliente, and this limits the availability of Fusion services for many Sonoma residents. (Agua Caliente residents on the other hand are very well situated.)
That said, for our business clients, broad FlexLink availability is important, so it’s nice to have wrapped these two locations up. Many wineries in the Sonoma area for example have previously had only expensive T1 or wireless options available, and can now take advantage of the speeds and low prices of FlexLink symmetric products.
These two offices complete our near term Sonoma County coverage, and we are now focusing construction efforts in Marin, Napa and the East Bay.
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