42 ms·

So is there hope for the eastern half of the city?

wahern 10y ago
Not unless the city changes its tune on micro-trenching. It's not financially viable to dig up the street just to lay fiber for the last segment. At least, not for a small company like Sonic. Some supervisors have recently proffered (again) plans for the city to lay fiber underground. Unrelated, there are also plans to move the existing aboveground utilities in the outer neighborhoods below ground. Both sound like a colossal waste of money unless paired with required work like sewer replacement. In any event, like the sewer work I can't see how the timeline would be any less than a decade or two. (If you Google news articles discussing plans to move utilities underground you can find cost estimates. Spoiler: it's unfathomably expensive!) Aside from micro-trenching, I think the best hope would be FTTN/FTTC. But the holdup there are the NIMBYs worried about larger utility cabinets on sidewalks. And because AT&T isn't keen on competing with Sonic, who would also benefit from newer cabinets, they've put that work on the back burner. Like Comcast I think AT&T has decided to opportunistically improve their network. So, for example, I'm sure all those new buildings in SOMA are getting fiber. But if you're in an older neighborhood, theoretically they may never come; not with FTTH or FTTN. There's an epic, multi-year thread discussing all of these San Francisco issues. https://forums.sonic.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1085 (Probably best to go to the last page and work backwards.) The CEO regularly answers questions there. But Sonic tries to keep secret from AT&T and Comcast the details of their expansion plans. You may not be able to get any answers to the most important question, especially if you're not in the Sunset or Richmond.
- jacobolus 10y ago
  Thanks for the summary. I had found that forum thread, but have no desire to read 100+ pages.
  - wahern 10y ago
    The same questions tend to be asked repeatedly. If you read the last two dozen pages or so you've basically read the whole thing, especially regarding the more recent developments. Every month or so last year I went back to that thread and could literally track Sonic's progress westward in the Outer Richmond, starting from the central office at Geary Blvd & 9th Ave. In fact, IIRC that's how news broke about the Richmond build out; people reported in that thread suspicious Sonic activity at the central office and nearby. Also, if you read the CEO's, Dane's, comments, you begin to get a sense of the regulatory landscape they're treading. I think among the 2014-2015 posts, mostly discussing the Sunset, are some good posts from Dane explaining delays related to cabinet installation, including AT&T's behavior.

Not unless the city changes its tune on micro-trenching. It's not financially viable to dig up the street just to lay fiber for the last segment. At least, not for a small company like Sonic. Some supervisors have recently proffered (again) plans for the city to lay fiber underground. Unrelated, there are also plans to move the existing aboveground utilities in the outer neighborhoods below ground. Both sound like a colossal waste of money unless paired with required work like sewer replacement. In any event, like the sewer work I can't see how the timeline would be any less than a decade or two. (If you Google news articles discussing plans to move utilities underground you can find cost estimates. Spoiler: it's unfathomably expensive!) Aside from micro-trenching, I think the best hope would be FTTN/FTTC. But the holdup there are the NIMBYs worried about larger utility cabinets on sidewalks. And because AT&T isn't keen on competing with Sonic, who would also benefit from newer cabinets, they've put that work on the back burner. Like Comcast I think AT&T has decided to opportunistically improve their network. So, for example, I'm sure all those new buildings in SOMA are getting fiber. But if you're in an older neighborhood, theoretically they may never come; not with FTTH or FTTN. There's an epic, multi-year thread discussing all of these San Francisco issues. https://forums.sonic.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1085 (Probably best to go to the last page and work backwards.) The CEO regularly answers questions there. But Sonic tries to keep secret from AT&T and Comcast the details of their expansion plans. You may not be able to get any answers to the most important question, especially if you're not in the Sunset or Richmond.

jacobolus 10y ago
Thanks for the summary. I had found that forum thread, but have no desire to read 100+ pages.
- wahern 10y ago
  The same questions tend to be asked repeatedly. If you read the last two dozen pages or so you've basically read the whole thing, especially regarding the more recent developments. Every month or so last year I went back to that thread and could literally track Sonic's progress westward in the Outer Richmond, starting from the central office at Geary Blvd & 9th Ave. In fact, IIRC that's how news broke about the Richmond build out; people reported in that thread suspicious Sonic activity at the central office and nearby. Also, if you read the CEO's, Dane's, comments, you begin to get a sense of the regulatory landscape they're treading. I think among the 2014-2015 posts, mostly discussing the Sunset, are some good posts from Dane explaining delays related to cabinet installation, including AT&T's behavior.