[1st-mile-nm] Fwd: High Speed Internet Project Launched

[John Brown]

I'll be posting my questions on this proposal shortly.

I think the specified route is very expensive and seriously limits who can be connected.

We have 4 alternative routes that would bring services to small businesses, homes and schools that are located between the two defined end-points.

Citizens of Santa Fe should also have the ability to have their homes connected.  After all its their money....



> -----Original Message-----
> From: 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org [mailto:1st-mile-nm-
> bounces at mailman.dcn.org] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 9:34 AM
> To: Richard Lowenberg
> Cc: 1st mile nm
> Subject: Re: [1st-mile-nm] Fwd: High Speed Internet Project Launched
> 
> Is there a reason to limit this to "businesses and institutions"?  I guess the main
> reason is the route itself.
> 
>    -- Owen
> 
> 
> On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Richard Lowenberg <rl at 1st-mile.com>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> 	May 17, 2013
> 
> 	Contacts: Sean Moody; Project Administrator; Economic Development
> 	Division; 505-955-6350; sxmoody at santafenm.gov
> 
> 	Jodi McGinnis Porter; Public Information/Multi-Media Administrator;
> 	505-795-4169, jmporter at santafenm.gov
> 
> 	HIGH SPEED INTERNET PROJECT LAUNCHED
> 
> 	SANTA FE, NM - A $1 million broadband infrastructure project to
> improve
> 	Internet speed, pricing and availability in Santa Fe is beginning
> 	today.
> 	This has been a priority for City of Santa Fe Economic Development for
> 	almost five years. A Request for Qualifications is being issued to
> 	selected firms to compete for the opportunity to design, build, own and
> 	operate a fiber-optic link from downtown Santa Fe to the St. Michael's
> 	Drive corridor.
> 
> 	"It's wonderful that we will finally be able to build this project and
> 	improve Internet in Santa Fe," said Mayor David Coss. "The City Council
> 	heard the request from businesses and community members and made
> it a
> 	priority for our bond funding."
> 
> 	The project was authorized by the City Council as part of a Capital
> 	Improvements Program bond issue in 2012. Once complete it will
> enable
> 	local Internet providers to increase their network capacities and
> 	reduce
> 	costs. In turn this will translate into better speeds and lower prices
> 	for customers. Slow and expensive Internet has been a recurring
> 	complaint among local residents and businesses.
> 
> 	Physically the project consists of a fiber optic cable running inside
> 	an
> 	underground pipe. Data is transmitted from one end of the cable to the
> 	other over strands of glass fiber using a signal composed entirely of
> 	visible light. This technology allows for extremely high data speeds,
> 	very low power consumption and no electromagnetic noise or
> 	interference.
> 	The cable will follow city streets using "directional boring"
> 	construction techniques which drastically reduce traffic impacts and
> 	asphalt cutting, trenching and patching. The only visual evidence of
> 	the
> 	completed project will be new manholes along the route.
> 
> 	Santa Fe is considered "well-served" in a national ranking of the
> 	number
> 	of local providers, geographical availability and median level of
> 	service. Every home and most businesses already have two physical
> 	routes
> 	to the Internet: A telephone line and a television cable. In addition
> 	to
> 	these physical connections, mobile devices, as well as small, fixed
> 	antennas attached to the outside of buildings; provide Internet to an
> 	increasing number of individuals, residences and businesses. But in
> 	spite of this abundance of pathways, there is a crucial missing link in
> 	the infrastructure, an enduring legacy of the former telephone
> 	monopoly.
> 	This missing link spans from the central telephone office to a location
> 	about two miles away where several fiber optic cables emerge from
> the
> 	ground after traversing many miles of road, railroad and countryside
> 	from remote junctions across the state. Absent this two-mile link,
> 	local
> 	providers have only one way to connect to the outside world, and must
> 	pay a steep toll on the data transmitted over it. This effectively
> 	limits the levels of service they offer their customers. The project
> 	being launched today will bridge that gap, allowing providers for the
> 	first time to shop for better toll rates, interconnect with their
> 	choice
> 	of carriers, and increase levels of customer service.
> 
> 	Once the project is operational, it is expected that local providers
> 	will begin to offer improved high speed Internet to businesses and
> 	institutions along the route, which will run through the Railyard to
> 	St.
> 	Michael's Drive. Airport Road and other areas will achieve similar
> 	availability as demand grows and providers extend the network to
> serve
> 	customers in those areas.
> 
> 
> 	--------------------------------
> 	Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
> 	1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
> 	Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
> 	www.1st-mile.com  rl at 1st-mile.com
> 	--------------------------------
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