[Davisgig] Thoughts

Taylor Buley taylor.buley at mcnaughton.media
Tue Mar 3 16:26:10 PST 2015


Howdy - I'm Taylor. I've just joined here, so I apologize if these comments
are late or otherwise unuseful.

I like a lot of what's been written. I would strongly advise against a
pricing argument so early on in this effort.

I think price is something to avoid talking about at all for various
reasons, among them that for this to be politically viable I imagine it
would have to be economically viable and sold at a price greater than the
cost to offer the service. Unlike ISPs, which subsidize their prices with
Web portals, captive search, privacy-violating data partnerships and the
like (the new hot deal in Austin and Kansas City is $60/month for privacy
from AT&T), I would not like to see low price expectations to force a
municipal operator to have to stomach such practices. Moreover,
empirically, if you look at how networks spend their marketing dollars it's
typically feature-based: speed, simplicity, access and the like  (coverage!
4 shows at a time! the hopper!). The market research big bucks suggest to
me that there is something to a feature-based argument and that a community
effort should consider it as well.

Quick notes:
* I would definitely "brand" this groups effort, at least with a name with
caps. Used "Davis Community Fiber" in what I banged out below
* Says "you" need to get involved, doesn't repeatedly make it obvious on
how to get involved. If involvement is the call to action you shouldn't
have to scroll a long way to see it
* Pretending I want to stay in touch (I do): how does the information come
to me? A Facebook page to like? Twitter feed to follow? Newsletter?
* Speed. Also, I find it useful to translate speeds into time it takes to
download X. E.g. much of Davis would have to have 5x its current average
speeds to support streaming House of Cards on Netflix on the latest (4K)
TVs.
* I think "going local" is another strong argument to make. Where do you
want your techies to live when your Internet goes down?
* I do not think Davis is exceptional in terms of today's infrastructure, I
think a point we may try to make is that we should be exceptional but today
fall short of expectations
* Switches tenses "DCF is a brand new... would provide" in both future
tense and present

The notes hit seem: 0) why you care about this 1) who we are and 2) how you
to get involved. Playing off the content as is and one of Steve's links, I
feel like something short like this could pack a brief punch:

> You probably don't have high-speed Internet. 61% of Davis doesn't have
what the FCC today qualifies as broadband access (>10Meg), according to a
draft 2015 Yolo County [broadband survey](
http://www.yolocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=27240). Some 44% of our
neighbors don't have fast enough connections to watch a YouTube video
without worrying (>5-6Meg).

> Davis was once a leader in Internet connectivity, with the non-profit
Davis Community Network first bringing Internet access in 1993. Instead of
trying to play catchup with today's speeds, Davis Community Fiber is a
city-owned municipal telecomm operator partnering with Davis Community
Network to propose leapfrogging Davis out of "the Copper Ages" and onto
fiber optic network infrastructure that boasts data speeds approaching the
speed of light.

> This nascent effort is just underway and now is the time for community
members to come forward and show support. [Sign up](current URL is
localhost) for our newsletter and join our network of neighbors working to
make the next mark on Davis's legacy of exceptionalism.


On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Steve McMahon <steve at dcn.org> wrote:

> A few excellent resources for linking and quoting:
>
> 1) The Yolo County Broadband Report
> <http://www.yolocounty.org/general-government/yolo-lafco/shared-services-initiative/yolo-broadband/download-the-draft-plan>
>
> 2) The President's Report on Community-Based Broadband Solutions
> <http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/community-based_broadband_report_by_executive_office_of_the_president.pdf>
>
> 3) White House FACT SHEET: Broadband That Works: Promoting Competition &
> Local Choice In Next-Generation Connectivity
> <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/13/fact-sheet-broadband-works-promoting-competition-local-choice-next-gener>
>
> All of these are very current.
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 2:20 PM, Fei Li <flcli at ucdavis.edu> wrote:
>
>>  Thanks to everyone who replied. Here's what we've got. Please pick this
>> apart! Is it good enough for now?
>>
>>
>>  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  You're paying too much for slow internet.
>>
>> Your internet is slow. It's expensive, it's limited, and it's unreliable.
>> How much of your time is lost to buffering videos on YouTube and Netflix?
>> How many times have your Skype calls dropped unexpectedly? Do you really
>> need the added stress of data caps on your internet? Your options are
>> limited, and *your current service providers fine with this.*
>>
>> We're sick of it. And we're going to fix that with community fiber
>> <http://127.0.0.1:8000/app/>.
>>  What is community fiber?
>>
>> You might have heard it called municipal fiber, or community broadband.
>> We think of it as a modern infrastructure for a modern city.
>>
>> Davis community fiber is a brand new, state of the art, city-owned
>> telecommunications operation. Community fiber would provide neighborhoods,
>> businesses and schools with the internet infrastructure they need to stay
>> competitive in the world. The possibilities are endless when we are no
>> longer bound to obsolete, fragile, and sluggish copper phone and cable
>> lines.
>>
>> Much like the copper networks installed 100 years ago, fiber networks
>> will be used for decades to come. With the adoption of fiber optic
>> networks, Davis can remain a leader in science, technology, and quality of
>> life.
>> Why is community fiber good for Davis?
>>
>> The advantages of community fiber are as numerous as they are
>> outstanding. Here is just a small selection of the benefits that are made
>> possible through community fiber in Davis:
>>
>>    - Truly unlimited, reliable and lightning-fast service at prices that
>>    match--or even beat--currently available plans.
>>    - Property values will go up.
>>    <http://motherboard.vice.com/read/gigabit-internet-connections-make-property-values-rise>
>>    - A new revenue stream for the city, cheaper maintenance costs,
>>    market competition and even resurfaced roads. Really!
>>    - Your pick from a wide variety of internet, television and phone
>>    options from multiple providers, all served from the city network.
>>    - Fast. Wifi. Everywhere.
>>    - Public accountability. Community fiber is made for you. When you
>>    have a concern, your voice matters.
>>
>>  Many of these things are nigh impossible to implement with our aging
>> networks, but community fiber will open the doors to this and so much more.
>> How can we bring community fiber to Davis?
>>
>> As with all good things, there is still a lot of hard work to be done.
>> We're partnering with Davis Community Network
>> <http://www2.dcn.org/dcn/about/org_description>, a citizen-driven,
>> non-profit organization that first brought internet access to Davis in
>> 1993. Several cities across the nation have already brought this dream to
>> life through groups like us. There is only one thing missing: *You*.
>> With your support we can make sure that Davis remains exceptional.
>> You can help.
>>
>> Keep in touch. <http://127.0.0.1:8000/app/> We'll keep you up-to-date
>> with the latest news and show you how to get involved with this
>> community-driven effort.
>>
>>
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>> *From:* davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com <
>> davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com> on behalf of Fei Li <flcli at ucdavis.edu>
>> *Sent:* Monday, March 2, 2015 7:26 PM
>> *To:* davisgig at list.omsoft.com
>> *Subject:* [Davisgig] Thoughts
>>
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>>
>>  The website is nearly done. Thanks to everyone who helped out with this
>> effort and other efforts. We did some great work, but we're not done yet
>> and time is not a commodity we have much of!
>>
>>
>>  I'd like to get the site published tomorrow before 5 PM tomorrow.
>> Luckily, it's not *that* tall of an order.
>>
>>
>>  We have some content that needs to be put in. Rob was kind enough to
>> provide some paragraphs to our web team, but I'd like to hear from all of
>> you as well. The sooner, the better!
>>
>>
>>  How would you answer these questions?
>>
>>
>>  1) What is municipal fiber?
>>
>>
>>  2) Why is municipal fiber good for Davis?
>>
>>
>>  3) How can we bring municipal fiber to Davis?
>>
>>
>>  That's it. Doesn't have to be long. Maybe a paragraph or two tops. Try
>> to keep it on the simple side if you want. No need to go into technical
>> detail, nor make promises we may or may not be able to keep. Your answers
>> will be edited and used as content for the front page. If anyone wants to
>> take the lead as a writer in the future, then please let me. For now we're
>> just trying to drum up some support and pave the way for a full-fledged
>> site with fact sheets and numbers later.
>>
>>
>>  Thanks!
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts:
>>
>> http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start
>>
>> Davisgig mailing list
>> Davisgig at list.omsoft.com
>> http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts:
>
> http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start
>
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>
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