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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
                        <div
                          class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqt5021138298"
                          id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd72115">
                          <div
                            class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yqt9191069037"
id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841ydpa7e7c008yqtfd73388"><br clear="none">
                            believed to be clean.<br clear="none">
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                      <div class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqt5021138298"
                        id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd45541"> </div>
                    </div>
                    <div class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqt5021138298"
                      id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd96526"> </div>
                  </div>
                  <div class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqt5021138298"
                    id="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqtfd36584"> </div>
                </div>
                <div class="ydp97db500dyiv7823288841yqt5021138298"
                  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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