Terman Library in the Terman Community Center, 661 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA
Topics for discussion at the meeting were considered. Perhaps the phone company or DEC could discuss their plans and programs for the future. Keith Cooley will contact someone at DEC and see if they want to talk about the existing fiber system and any future plans. Imsong will contact Pacific Bell and try to get a speaker.
Council member Ron Anderson was the expected speaker, but in his absence the group reviewed the major topic of interest for the meeting.
The status of the last mile of the broadband communications system was discussed. These points were raised during the general discussion:
Cable Co-op is actively looking for a means of refinancing or restructuring in order to continue serving the community. A problem is that TCI has well publicized problems which cast a shadow over the entire cable industry and depressed stock values for most cable companies. This has limited financing and refinancing options.
Cable Co-op has a variety of options. There could be a refinancing via banks or other investors such as CalPERS, buy-out by a telecommunications organization, investment by an entity such as some investor on Sand Hill Road, City investment and direct involvement in the cable system, City loan guarantees, even bankruptcy and sale by the banks.
Bob Moss discussed the functionality of the existing cable system, ability to interconnect with high speed modems on the coax system, ability to scale up with fiber, and ability to increase capacity in specific areas as demand warrants. The existing system is unusual in that it is 2-way, has been well maintained, and can provide high bandwidth telecommunications with minor capital investment. Usually it is thought that a fiber backbone is needed before a cable system can operate high capacity data services. He said that Cable Co-op can provide cable modem hookups to from 250 to 2500 users with the existing coax plant. The exact number is unclear pending further tests.
There would have to be some capital investment, for example for filters to prevent interference, but the cost is not great. Tying the cable system into the new city fiber ring will provide very high capacity for most of the city, including most residential areas. It will be practical to hook almost everyone up to modems with 30 Megabit/second speed in both directions once the fiber ring is tied to the cable plant. While 30 Megabit/second modems will be great, even the existing 1 Megabit/second modems are extremely fast compared to phone lines. There will be lots of interest and demand for the service once it's available. This is an excellent opportunity for the city and the community to get involved so that local ownership and control are maintained, and the community gets the benefits of an advanced telecommunications facility.
Bob said that the City has millions of dollars in surplus utility reserves, some of which might be available for a telecommunications utility. Last time when there was a big surplus in the reserve accounts the City spent $39 million giving everyone rebates on utility use. Rob Pound noted that there is lots of competition for the money. The policy makers at City Hall have to be convinced that an information utility is important and worth investing in. The City Council needs to be convinced.
Jay Thorwaldson noted that there is a different issue in direct City investment in Cable Co-op than with the fiber ring. The risk vs. reward of having a fiber ring was fairly simple because it could be shown to be import and, relatively risk free, and has a high benefit. PA-COMNET and the city were able to identify the issues and resolve them fairly quickly and simply.
The result was approval of $2 million for the fiber ring and construction start all within less than a year. The last mile connection issue is different, because there is less clarity as to risks and rewards. How can PA-COMNET help to move the process forward, state the vision clearly and simply? It's important to act quickly. It is a significant advantage to have a locally focused and operated communications system. It also is important that modern telecommunications be available to people elsewhere in the area, not just in Palo Alto.
Jay asked whether PA-COMNET might have a useful role by taking the lead in creating a vision statement to present to the City Council and the community. Jay will be busy until next week. Margaret Cooley will help Jay try to create a mission/vision statement by working first with Jay, then the entire group to create an agreed position to be adopted in January or February. The initial exchange of ideas will be on-line, with discussion and adoption at the January PA-COMNET meeting if the statement is far enough along.
Marvin Lee noted East Palo Alto is very interested in being tied into the network. There is a community organization called Congress of Community Organizations that is trying to get broadband communications into the city. They are looking for assistance.
We need to get the information and vision out to the overall community using the press and the Internet. Imsong suggested asking the City to make a formal study of the issues and advantages and risks. Van Heimke said since the City has already prepared a formal study from a "generic strategy" perspective and is now pursuing the strategy that was found to be best for the City, he does not anticipate another such study being generated at any time in the near future. Evaluation of specific responses to a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) of some sort would be more likely.
Van Heimke also said that The City is in the process of constructing the initial fiber optic backbone infrastructure. The City is also in discussions with a number of parties interested in using the fiber infrastructure once it is constructed. City staff are currently examining the broader policy issues associated with the use of the fiber infrastructure to best achieve the five City telecommunications goals that were approved by the City Council (see the City Manager's Report in the August 3, 1996 entry under the "What's New" section of the City's web page at www.city.palo-alto.ca.us).
City staff have not yet formed any concrete policy recommendations, but intend to develop some over the course of the next 1-3 months. A variety of options are being considered and the City would welcome additional suggestions from PA-COMNET. Any policy recommendations developed by City staff will ultimately be presented to the Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) and the City Council for their consideration. Based on the level of interest expressed by both the UAC and Council in comments from the public, I would assume that both the UAC and Council would appreciate further input as they consider these policy issues.
Jay followed the cable system process for many years. He recalled that initially the City considered owning and operating cable, but that was rejected due to concerns about government ownership of a major medium of communications. It took years for Palo Alto to go out for bid for the franchise, and to make the award to Cable Co-op. The issue of cable communications came up in the 1970's and 1980's, resulting in a series of public meetings and hearings that often lasted past midnight. Some of the questions that were asked by people like Council member Emily Renzel were:
will people watch TV, will they subscribe to cable, and will it be viable?
A survey found that Palo Altans watched 3 hours/day of TV vs. 7 hours/day for average viewers nationwide. 41.5% of those polled said they would subscribe. Cable Co-op has about 48% penetration now, so the figures were realistic.
Marvin Lee noted than many university towns all over the US are moving to take over or create locally owned and operated telecommunications operations. It is not new for highly educated groups to want to keep local control and provide programming not otherwise available.
Bill Cutler said he gave Bob 2 copies of his discussion paper on defining the system for a Palo Alto telecommunications Utility. If we establish what people want from such a utility we can set up the functionality requirements first and then work on the instrumentality needed to deliver what people said they want. We should not get into too much detail before we know what overall needs and goals are. We should avoid committing to a particular implementation until we establish a range of options and a means for making correct selections.
Since we're looking 5 or 10 years ahead we should take into account peoples' and industries' needs and desires by asking for input and suggestions. Stanford has not provided high speed access to all parts of the campus. Residents in the Southwest part of the campus are not hooked up to the main Stanford network, and are very interested in being served by high speed broadband networks. They should be contacted about tying in to the City fiber loop and Cable Co-op coax system.
Jay will be helping with a symposium in March, the sixth Conference on Computer, Freedom and Privacy (CFP '97). He will provide more information, schedules, etc. to those interested.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 AM .
Next meeting will be Wednesday January 8, 7:30 AM at the Terman library.
Submitted by Bob Moss
Chairman of PA-COMNET