DavisGIG progress updates and how you can help by donating on Thu., 5/4/2017

We are pleased to announce some great progress in our effort to bring community-owned fiber optic infrastructure to all our homes and businesses in Davis. As you all know, the work started by DavisGIG in 2015 to advocate for better broadband options, has been taken up by the City of Davis, through its Broadband Advisory Task Force (BATF). On April 18th, City Council authorized and executed a contract with CCG Communications, an industry leader in the area of fiber optic planning, engineering and design, to compare and contrast a variety of methods to deploy fiber optic throughout Davis. 

This is exactly the Feasibility Study we were fundraising for last year to move this project forward, and now it's underway.  This contract passed unanimously. The public process does take time, but we believe it is in the best interest of everyone to have this infrastructure as a community asset. DCN and DavisGIG believe that, at the same time, this investment diversifies revenues for City of Davis, makes the city better positioned to attract and retain various businesses, and provides real competition in the broadband internet market, which provides better service, pricing and performance to residents. 

DavisGIG turned over its Feasibility Study RFP document last year, to be used by the BATF, and it really helped motivate the Task Force, and gave them something to consider and work through right away, to get us where we are so quickly.  

In April 2017 at his "State of the City" address at the Progressive Business Exchange, Mayor Davis listed community broadband as one of the positive and worthwhile developments, like Community Choice Energy, that could provide long lasting benefit to the community. Just like Unitrans, a 50 year City and University partnership, being one of the best and most cost effective public transportation systems in the state, we can implement DavisGIG to become an effective and  successful community collaboration. 

A wholly new and modern telecommunications infrastructure is a large undertaking, but a necessary one. Community ownership of the infrastructure effectively decouples internet access services from the physical means used to deliver internet access, and removes the monopoly leverage the telecom duopoly exerts on everyone that has to use their services.

The support you all gave, and the interest level from the community has really moved this along, thank you. You all are helping this along. After the kick off meeting with CCG, DavisGIG and DCN will likely be coming directly to you to help provide data about your current network speeds, fees, and willingness to take and use community owned fiber-optic infrastructure. 

Please continue being aware of and supportive of DavisGIG. This is a multi-year process to take back your most essential economic toolkit, broadband internet access, away from investor owned telecom giants, and put control of that infrastructure back into your community.  

Now we need your help funding COS Systems Service Zones, a broadband demand aggregation tool, and survey platform. We need to raise $10,000 to implement this tool over a 2 year period. This will give City decision makers HARD numbers on the number of households that would take a community fiber broadband service, while at the same time gathering comprehensive information from the community about your current broadband performance, fees, and contracts. As the municipal fiber effort proceeds, we will also use this tool to reach back out to you and get residents signed up and deploy neighborhoods. An example of this platform has been rolled out by Santa Cruz ISP, CruzIO, and may be found here.  
 
Please support DavisGIG in this process by donating here on the Big Day of Giving, Thursday, May 4, 2017. Should you want to donate directly, we have a PayPal link here.

Thank you Davis, publicly owned Fiber To the Home is on its way thanks to YOU! 
 
When you support DavisGIG you are:

• Directly fighting back against the internet duopoly
• Directly setting up a system where you have better prices and services for internet access
• Directly helping your City's fiscal situation by not only giving it a tremendous hard physical asset, but a portion of your monthly broadband revenues. 
• Directly assisting City and Business efforts to grow more high tech business in Davis. 

Thank you all and with your help we will keep working until this is done, and we have public network infrastructure that will last at least generations.

DavisGIG Committee of Davis Community Network