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<p>Hi <br>
</p>
<p>Drama! <br>
</p>
<p>The first time I met DC he was negative on municipal broadband,
and has refused to meet with DavisGIG. Other residents have talked
to him on the subject and they report him as very pessimistic and
negative. He ha as hardened it seems. There is language used here
that I heard about a month ago from a report on one of those
meetings, and so he seems determined to shut it down, and has
likely convinced the rest of the CC to do the same. <br>
</p>
<p> To get him so agitated to put out such a strong hit piece means
something. The city staff report too is trying to shut this off
hard at the next meeting. <br>
</p>
<p> Methinks they doth protest too much. Whether is covering for
the Comcast franchise debacle, or huge corporations are their
friends, or a personality conflict I cant say. <br>
</p>
<p>Here is a link to the OpEd you all helped create that went live
this morning:</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/opinion-columns/commentary-kicking-the-tires-on-broadband/">https://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/opinion-columns/commentary-kicking-the-tires-on-broadband/</a><br>
</p>
<p>At this point, I'm carrying on with my final letters to CC today,
will speak at the meeting, but we will have to see where it goes
from there. It would be prudent to ask CC not to make any major
decisions about this at that meeting, but to hopefully give it
more time and consideration. <br>
</p>
<p>Any thoughts? <br>
</p>
<p>Take Care</p>
<p>RAN<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<h1 class="ydp9f42ee08singlePageTitle ydp9f42ee08sans">Commentary:
Municipal broadband network would be a huge risk</h1>
<div class="ydp9f42ee08meta"> <span
class="ydp9f42ee08metaAuthorTitle"> </span> </div>
<h5>By Dan Carson<br>
Special to The Enterprise</h5>
<p>This Tuesday, the Broadband Advisory Task Force will step
forward with its final comments on whether the city of
Davis should build and operate a municipal fiber network
that could bring higher broadband speeds and new services
and technology to our community.</p>
<p>BATF’s community broadband advocates wrapped up three
years of hard work as citizen volunteers with a letter
endorsing such a venture in concept. The panel did not
offer a specific plan to accomplish their dream, calling
instead for more financial and technical studies of
building such a system. All Davis citizens should read and
consider the conclusions of BATF and its response by city
staff. I welcome their advice and thank them for their
public service.</p>
<p>But don’t just read their latest letter — read all of the
information the task force produced. Under the auspices of
BATF, the city hired one of the top teams of telecom
experts in the country, CCG Consulting and Finley
Engineering, to assess the feasibility of a municipal
fiber network in Davis and whether local residents would
sign up for it. They determined that a municipal broadband
project would be costly and risky and that community
interest in committing to pay for such a service is weak.
Specifically, they found that:</p>
<p>* Building such a network in Davis would be costly. The
entire system would have to be buried underground. Our
high population density means conduit and fiber must be
laid down both sides of residential streets, instead of
the customary one side. High labor costs would boost
construction and operating costs.</p>
<p>* The total cost of construction would exceed $100
million, comparable to the cost of a new water system or
sewage treatment plant. Bond issuance fees, working
capital, capitalized interest and a debt service reserve
would bump up borrowing costs for construction to as much
as $140 million.</p>
<p>* Similar ventures have failed in Monticello, Minn.,
Crawfordsville, Ind., and Alameda.</p>
<p>
</p>
<div id="ydp9f42ee08div-gpt-ad-article-top">
</div>
<p>* Because investors view broadband revenue bonds as
pretty risky, the city might have to pursue a general
obligation bond (requiring two-thirds voter approval) and
make our General Fund a backstop for paying off bonds if
the broadband venture failed. That could put pressure on
the funding source used to pay for police, fire, parks,
and roads.</p>
<p>* Even under fairly optimistic assumptions about the
number of customers who would sign up for municipal fiber,
the consultants said, “the financial projections for
building fiber within the city were not as good as the
city had hoped for.” Operating losses would occur on Day 1
and range from $34 million to $81 million over 25 years.
Competitive pressures mean that the system would be unable
to charge higher rates to customers to match Davis’ higher
costs.</p>
<p>* Because customer fees would likely fall short of
supporting a municipal fiber system, the city would have
to seek voter approval for a tax hike to provide between
$33 million and $60 million in taxpayer subsidies. A sales
tax increase of a half-cent or more is considered most
likely. Locking up tax money for a municipal fiber system
would require two-thirds voter approval. The consultants
said winning over Davis voters, who recently rejected a
parcel tax hike for road repairs, “would undoubtedly
require a major effort to educate the public and get
community buy-in.”</p>
<p>* Comcast, our biggest local broadband provider, has a
track record of cutting rates and improving its bundled
services to crowd out competitors. A Davis municipal
broadband network might need even more public taxpayer
dollars to compete.</p>
<p>* Davis has good broadband options today, even without
the development of a municipal fiber system. Comcast is
now advertising 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps internet download speeds
in their “Gigabit” and “Gigabit Pro” packages. Only 16
percent of Davis residents are unhappy with their internet
services.</p>
<p>
</p>
<div id="ydp9f42ee08div-gpt-ad-article">
</div>
<p>* A college town could be tough for Davis broadband, with
students likely to be fickle customers. Moreover, large
student apartment complexes in Davis have locked in
long-term deals with various private providers for
internet and cable services, and Comcast and AT&T are
moving aggressively to lure more such customers.</p>
<p>* Only 21 percent of Davis residents said they would
definitely buy their service from a city system. “This is
significantly lower than what we have seen in other
markets,” the consultants stated, and “indicates a market
that is not massively unhappy with the incumbent providers
and not wildly enthusiastic about fiber. It’s a market
where a new provider would need to prove themselves and
expend significant marketing effort to win over
customers.”</p>
<p>Recent developments make a large public investment in
broadband seem more risky than ever in a highly
competitive, and increasingly disruptive, broadband
marketplace.</p>
<p>The FCC last year opened the gates for cellular wireless
5G service by imposing strict time limits for cities to
allow the installation of 5G equipment on utility and
light poles. Two companies have already filed permits to
establish 5G networks in the city of Davis – permits it
has no legal choice but to approve. And, the master of all
business disrupters, Amazon, has begun launching thousands
of low-level satellites into orbit capable of providing
broadband worldwide. Competitors like SpaceX<b> </b>are
hot on their heels. Broadband technology is morphing
rapidly and the market is fragmenting.</p>
<p>Despite the troubling findings in the CCG and Finley
Engineering reports, task force members remain steadfast
in their support of the concept of a municipal fiber
system. They are asking the city to spend more money on
studying such ideas as building a municipal fiber network
in stages or levying assessments instead of taxes to pay
for it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<div id="ydp9f42ee08div-gpt-ad-article-bottom">
</div>
<p>I look forward to hearing more about these ideas, but
worry about a bullet train-style boondoggle in which
construction starts only to find out that the rest of the
money needed to finish a network isn’t coming. Davis could
end up building a “network to nowhere.” Imposing citywide
assessments or taxes could force Davis consumers who want
to keep their Comcast or AT&T bundles to pay a second
time for a municipal broadband system they don’t want.
That doesn’t seem fair.</p>
<p>Nobody disputes the benefits of improved high-speed
broadband for economic development, education,
technological innovation and addressing the digital
divide. The question is, how do we get these benefits
without saddling our taxpayers with huge financial risks?
We already face an $8 million a year funding gap for basic
city services over the next 20 years.</p>
<p>This Tuesday, I would also like to get the community’s
feedback on a different approach I call, “If you can’t
beat ’em, join ’em.” Instead of further studies of
municipal broadband, should we explore how we can forge
innovative partnerships with the private sector and UC
Davis to foster high-speed broadband competition that will
improve service and reduce monthly bills for Davis
businesses and residents?</p>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ydp97db500dyahoo_quoted_9423923286"
class="ydp97db500dyahoo_quoted">
<div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
<div> On Saturday, June 1, 2019, 10:42:45 AM PDT, Robert
Nickerson <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com"><rob@omsoft.com></a> wrote: </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841">
<div>
<p>Hi <br clear="none">
</p>
<p>I'd get your coments in early. They dont want to be
reading this stuff at the last minute. <br
clear="none">
</p>
<p>As this could be our last hurrah, Im sending 3
emails, past present future. <br clear="none">
</p>
<p>Attached is the first one, I hope to have the others
out tonight. <br clear="none">
</p>
<p><br clear="none">
</p>
<p>Is this too strong or offensive a thing to say
something like: <br clear="none">
</p>
<p>"City Staff has been wrong all along. Harriet was
wrong about Comcast. Astound on consent with no BATF
input was wrong. This staff report analysis of
municipal fiber is also wrong...etc" <br clear="none">
</p>
<p><br clear="none">
</p>
<div class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841moz-cite-prefix">On
6/1/2019 10:26 AM, Matthews Williams wrote:<br
clear="none">
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"> </blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<div
class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydp61b9f22ayahoo-style-wrap"
style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
<div>To facilitate this process I have attached three
Word documents <br clear="none">
</div>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div>(1) the original BATF memo to Council from
2018, <br clear="none">
</div>
<div>(2) the side-by-side discussion document that
has what Chris proposed as the text of the
second BATF memo to Council on the left, and
(most of) the suggested revisions on the
right,. <br clear="none">
</div>
<div>(3) the various suggestions provided by BATF
members in the April BATF members</div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div><span>Being able to copy and paste from those
documents should help avoid unnecessary retyping
between now and Tuesday.</span></div>
<div><span><br clear="none">
</span></div>
<div><span>Matt</span><br clear="none">
</div>
<div><br clear="none">
</div>
<div><br clear="none">
</div>
</div>
<div
class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yahoo_quoted"
id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yahoo_quoted_0060211726">
<div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
<div> On Saturday, June 1, 2019, 8:35:07 AM PDT,
Lorenzo Kristov <a shape="rect"
class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:lkristov@cal.net" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><lkristov@cal.net></a>
wrote: </div>
<div><br clear="none">
</div>
<div><br clear="none">
</div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">Good suggestion Jim. I will try to
talk with Lori about that today. <br
clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
> On May 31, 2019, at 10:13 PM, Jim Frame
<<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:jhframe@dcn.org" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">jhframe@dcn.org</a>>
wrote:<br clear="none">
> <br clear="none">
> Mike Webb made it clear to me that city
staff isn't going to solicit a contract from
Lori Raineri unless the CC directs them to do
so. My suggestion would be for Lori to draft a
contract, package it with a CV and a cover
letter, and submit it to Mike with cc's to the
councilmembers. Although it's too late to get
that onto the Tuesday agenda, it would introduce
the city players to the possibility. Even a
letter of intent from Lori (along with a CV;
that's important because Mike told me doesn't
know anything about her) would be better than
nothing.<br clear="none">
> <br clear="none">
> On 5/31/2019 1:05 PM, Lorenzo Kristov
wrote:<br clear="none">
>> The BATF did recommend working with a
muni finance expert on funding options, that was
one of the two next steps recommended, it just
didn’t name Lori.<br clear="none">
>>> On May 31, 2019, at 12:34 PM,
Robert Nickerson <<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">rob@omsoft.com</a>
<mailto:<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">rob@omsoft.com</a>>>
wrote:<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> Hi<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> Since it didn't come from the BATF
the city wont consider it. If we could get
actual BATF members to sign off on it they might
be more receptive.<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> As a BATF member how do you feel
about Staff seemingly going totally against the
BATF recommendation as expressed in its letter?
Anything we 'd need to do should be sent out by
tomorrow am at the latest.<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> Thanks<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> RAN<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> On 5/31/2019 12:00 PM, Lorenzo
Kristov wrote:<br clear="none">
>>>> Just thinking out loud, but in
the interest of time I’ll send these initial
thoughts for y’all to react to.<br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> Staff is recommending the
entire municipal effort be put to rest, and the
big fear they’re playing on is cost. So my
thought would be to bring CC a next step
recommendation that costs almost nothing and
could make the project seem more feasible from a
cost perspective. That is, recommend that city
execute a pro bono contract with Lori Raineri to
explore and lay out potential financing
approaches, working with a city staff person and
a small group of citizen volunteers from among
this email list, perhaps others. But small (3
people or so) so it can start moving quickly and
minimize scheduling problems, and report back to
CC in a couple months. I’d emphasize including
someone with financing expertise (e.g., Matt,
David) and focus narrowly on the funding aspects
of the project rather than the technical.<br
clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> On a parallel track, it might
make sense for a few more technically oriented
folks (e.g., Rob, David, Jeff) to sketch out
what would be needed from a consultant to
address the second BATF recommended next step,
the technical. I wouldn’t expect city staff to
be working on this yet, since Diane did say
they’re planning to come back with the Wave
contract. But if CC approves step 1 to begin
working formally with Lori, then we could have
step 2 ready in a month or so, to lay out a
rough SOW for a consultant on the technical,
cost, etc. elements of the phased
implementation. A main argument for Wave is that
“there is no other proposal on the table.”<br
clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> Other thoughts?<br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> — Lorenzo<br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> On May 31, 2019, at 9:41
AM, Robert Nickerson <<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">rob@omsoft.com</a>
<mailto:<a shape="rect"
href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">rob@omsoft.com</a>>>
wrote:<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> Hi Folks<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> Yowch folks, take a look at
Diane Parro's staff report. It reads like it was
written from the POV of a large incumbent
carrier, lol.<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> I suppose anything we send
in support needs to counter Diane's points one
at a time. There is absolutely no positive
evidence about this presented in the staff
report.<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> Any ideas on how to go from
here?<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> Thanks<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> RAN<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> -------- Forwarded Message
--------<br clear="none">
>>>>> Subject: [Davisgig]
PLEASE READ Staff Report<br clear="none">
>>>>> Date: Thu, 30 May 2019
22:10:13 -0700<br clear="none">
>>>>> From: rob <<a
shape="rect" href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">rob@omsoft.com</a>><br
clear="none">
>>>>> To: <a shape="rect"
href="mailto:davisgig@list.omsoft.com"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">davisgig@list.omsoft.com</a><br
clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> HI All<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> The agenda is out and the
staff report item on community broadband is out.
I don't think we are going to have any luck as
Diane Parro is saying this should be shut down.
None of the points in this memo were covered at
any BATF meetings, the product of which was the
attached letter.<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> Thanks<br clear="none">
>>>>> RAN<br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>>> -- <br clear="none">
>>>>> This message has been
scanned for viruses and<br clear="none">
>>>>> dangerous content by
*MailScanner* <<a shape="rect"
href="http://www.mailscanner.info/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.mailscanner.info/</a>>,
and is<br clear="none">
>>>>> believed to be clean.<br
clear="none">
>>>>>
<08-Broadband-Task-Force-Final-Report.pdf><Attached
Message Part.txt><br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> <br clear="none">
>>>> -- <br clear="none">
>>>> This message has been scanned
for viruses and<br clear="none">
>>>> dangerous content by
*MailScanner* <<a shape="rect"
href="http://www.mailscanner.info/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.mailscanner.info/</a>>,
and is<br clear="none">
>>>> believed to be clean. <br
clear="none">
>>> -- <br clear="none">
>>> Robert Nickerson<br clear="none">
>>> UCD Class of 1996<br clear="none">
>>> CEO, Om Networks<br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> cell: 5308483865<br clear="none">
>>> <a shape="rect"
class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.omsoft.com" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">www.omsoft.com</a><br
clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> <br clear="none">
>>> -- <br clear="none">
>>> This message has been scanned for
viruses and<br clear="none">
>>> dangerous content by *MailScanner*
<<a shape="rect"
href="http://www.mailscanner.info/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.mailscanner.info/</a>>,
and is<br clear="none">
>>> believed to be clean.<br
clear="none">
>> -- <br clear="none">
>> This message has been scanned for
viruses and<br clear="none">
>> dangerous content by *MailScanner* <<a
shape="rect"
href="http://www.mailscanner.info/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.mailscanner.info/</a>>,
and is<br clear="none">
>> believed to be clean.<br clear="none">
> <br clear="none">
> -- <br clear="none">
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------<br
clear="none">
> Jim Frame <a shape="rect"
href="mailto:jhframe@dcn.org" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">jhframe@dcn.org</a>
530.756.8584<br clear="none">
> Frame Surveying & Mapping 609 A
Street Davis, CA 95616<br clear="none">
> -----------------------< Davis Community
Network >-------------------<br clear="none">
> <br clear="none">
> -- <br clear="none">
> This message has been scanned for viruses
and<br clear="none">
> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is<br
clear="none">
> believed to be clean.<br clear="none">
> <br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
-- <br clear="none">
This message has been scanned for viruses and<br
clear="none">
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
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class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yqt9191069037"
id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yqtfd73388"><br clear="none">
believed to be clean.<br clear="none">
</div>
</div>
</div>
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id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd45541"> </div>
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id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd96526"> </div>
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id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd36584"> </div>
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id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd37854">
<pre class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841moz-signature">--
Robert Nickerson
UCD Class of 1996
CEO, Om Networks
cell: 5308483865
<a shape="rect" class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.omsoft.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">www.omsoft.com</a>
</pre>
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