Terman Library in the Terman Community Center, 661 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA
Results of the Phases 1-3 study were summarized. The objectives are:
The City Council eliminated doing nothing and competing directly as telecommunications strategies after Phases 1-3 were completed.
What PA-COMNET members think about the goals and objectives, and what may have been missed or should be modified is of great interest.
Bill Cutler wanted to know how the process is working, who are the stakeholders, and have all of them been involved?
Bernie noted that the city attempted to involve the community by working with the Telecommunications Advisory Panel and PA-COMNET to provide feedback, plus the business community, Utility Advisory Commission, council members, and members of the public. All of them have been involved and participated in the study and review. There were public meetings and hearings on the topic, interviews were held with community members and a range of opinions were sought. No issue in Palo Alto goes to the council without extensive discussion and this was actively discussed.
Jay Thorwaldson noted that there was a good effort by the City to reach out and involve people, but many stakeholders don't yet know they are stakeholders.
David Harris asked about how content on the system may or may not be controlled. Will City involvement cause problems?
Margaret Cooley wanted to know what the city means by no financial risk. Isn't it reasonable to take some risk and also be able to profit later?
Bernie said that the city understands there would be some up-front costs. It's unclear how it would work, especially with a partner. There could be buffering of expenses with a partner, but it doesn't mean that the city would shy away from some initial cost. There could be significant expenses for 3-7 years, after which the enterprise works quite well and is profitable.
Van noted there will be trade offs where no single alternative meets all objectives. They will have to be evaluated by the council.
Louis Bookbinder (Booky) was surprised that the city seems reluctant to invest in telecommunications utilities considering their past involvement with other utilities. It's known that telecommunications is different from standard utilities, but why is there such concern about the difference?
Bernie noted that utilities were a monopoly, but telecommunications aren't, so it has to be looked at more carefully.
Jay noted that originally there were a number of small utilities all producing their own power as monopolies. This situation is different, and much faster moving. The professors who began the city utility operations in 1896 are considered visionaries today.
Bill asked how they will handle rapid technological change, and deal with obsolescence.
Bernie noted that this is a real concern. Technology moves very rapidly and the City doesn't plan to hire it's own experts.
We then discussed the strategies being evaluated which are:
Bob noted that partnering allows the city to avoid the risks of trying to outguess technology by letting the partner react to changes in the environment. A local private business will be better able to respond quickly to changes in technology. Cable Co-op has been using their system for 3 years to provide experimental data and communications services with Hybrid Networks, Com21 and others. They have been approached by a number of organizations to serve as a test bed for new technology.
Is any consideration being given to serving the entire joint powers area, not just Palo Alto? The area certainly has lots of people interested in the high speed data service. A visitor at the Cable Co-op Board meeting last night was willing to replace his ISDN line with a cable modem, pay as much as $500 - $1000 for installation, and $80/month for service if he could get the access. There are many others like him who want the service, in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Stanford and Atherton.
Bob noted there will be significant initial costs because it will take time to build a customer base, costs are high at this time for equipment and installation, and it will take time to recover these costs. After 5 or 6 years the costs for modems and equipment as well as installation will be lower and there will be a much larger market. It will be more effective for the City to have a small private organization such as Cable Co-op understand and implement new technologies than the City. They are inherently quicker to react.
Bernie said that reaction from major businesses and PAUSD was very positive about city involvement in telecommunications. PAUSD is particularly supportive. The recommendations from the Phase 4 study will go to the UAC in June and to the City Council in August. At this time there is no move to expand beyond Palo Alto as that may be more than they can handle.
The partnerships possible include working with Cable Co-op, with other telecommunications organizations such as AT&T, etc. There's lots of interest in working with the city by many organizations. They want to minimize the number of times the streets and infrastructure are torn up by telecommunications companies laying cable. It's very disruptive to have repeated street construction.
Jay asked about forming partnerships with several entities such as Cable Co-op and PAUSD and then going with that partnership to form other partnerships.
Margaret liked the idea of partnerships, and cautioned that the city hasn't the expertise to operate a competitive telecommunications facility. Use of partners will allow use of their experience and expertise and allow faster reactions to events and changing technology.
Dave wanted to look at using existing systems more. There is access to almost everyone now and it could be used. For example, phone companies have ASDL, there is wireless, and the cable companies also can provide access now.
Keith Cooley noted that all existing systems have some limitations, such as low speed upstream access for ASDL, limited capacity for high speed modems in cable systems, and low speed for wireless. It's important to have a system capable of high speed upstream delivery so that individuals also can be publishers.
Bernie said that there is lots of interest in serving the high capacity businesses who will provide revenue. The City could use that income to serve the rest of the community over time. It may require phasing in to serve all residential areas. The system would be a fiber ring with a central processor, but users wouldn't be able to tell how the system worked since it would be so fast.
Van said Palo Alto has had an internal telecommunications system for years, including a coax system between municipal facilities. The City already has a certain expertise in communications and servicing a communications network.
Bill noted that there should be more emphasis on societal values and inter connections. Pure financial issues shouldn't govern.
Kathryn also noted the importance of involving all residents and neighborhoods, and building community. It's a great opportunity to bring people together and improve interactions.
Bernie commented that Austin, TX is working with a utility to develop a network which will provide services to the entire community, including energy management and telecommunications. Other cities such as Anaheim also are getting directly involved in telecommunications. It isn't considered very unusual anymore. Since these utilities are using the fiber system for energy management and other functions of an electrical utility it's easier to justify spending utility money for the upgrade.
Nine of us filled out the e-mail survey. A copy with the results was distributed. The staff wants others to respond also. (If you haven't responded yet please e-mail back your replies).
The meeting adjourned at 8:35 AM.
The next meeting will be Wed. June 12, at 7:30 AM Terman Library.
Submitted by Bob Moss