[1st-mile-nm] Santa Fe Fiber Conduit Project Update

[Christopher Mitchell]

The part I don't understand about these approaches (Seattle did something
similar in one neighborhood) is how this results in real competition and
investment.  It seems at best a stopgap... moving from having only 1 or 2
providers to perhaps 3 or 4.  This is an improvement, but there is a real
limit on how many service providers can share this approach.

And presumably, most service providers are not interested in the
investments necessary for universal service, so the benefit generally seem
very limited to me.  Am I missing something?  Thanks


Christopher Mitchell
Director, Telecommunications as Commons Initiative
Institute for Local Self-Reliance

http://www.muninetworks.org
@communitynets
612-276-3456 x209



On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 4:08 PM, Richard Lowenberg <rl at 1st-mile.com> wrote:

>  Following are some excerpts from an article in today's New Mexican.
>  To read the entire article, go to:
>
> www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/City-aims-to-upgrade-Internet-access
>
>
> >>A proposal to improve broadband access in the city initially was
> >> included on a list of property-tax bond projects that voters will
> >> decide on during March's municipal election. However, city councilors
> >> last week decided instead to allocate $1 million for the broadband
> >> project from a $23 million bond issue that doesn't require voter
> >> approval. That bond issue will be paid off with revenues from an
> >> existing gross-receipts tax.
>
>  The basic idea, according to Sean Moody, a city Economic Development
>  Division project planner, is for the city to install the infrastructure
>  for high-speed Internet — empty conduit and access points from the
>  underground pipes to privately owned interconnection facilities. Those
>  pipes can be filled with fiber optic cables by companies that want to
>  start providing high-speed service. The intention is that such service
>  could be made available at a more competitive price and in areas where
>  it's not even an option now. <<
>
>
> >>Moody's proposal envisions three corridors where users are or could
> >> be, but critical decisions can't be made until the next step when the
> >> city spends up to $130,000 of the planned allocation to hire a
> >> professional business consultant to put together an analysis and
> >> engineering plan.
>
>  Empty pipelines already exist underground in the recently redeveloped
>  Santa Fe Railyard, where officials laid the pipes with the hope that
>  someone would run fiber optic cables through them later. In the St.
>  Michael's Drive corridor, the city would have to trench and bury new
>  conduit that could connect with the pre-piped campus of the Santa Fe
>  University of Art and Design. The third potential service area is the
>  Santa Fe Municipal Airport on the southwestern edge of the city, but
>  that facility does not have any infrastructure in place for fiber
>  optics. <<
>
>
>
> --
>  Richard Lowenberg
>  1st-Mile Institute
>  Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
>  505-989-9110 / 505-603-5200
>  www.1st-mile.com
>  rl at 1st-mile.com
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>
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