Fiber, Please

[pockyken007]

Well Sonic wants us to vote with our money which is understandable from a business perspective but nobody sane will switch from an existing ISP ( whatever it is ) unless the gains are clearly visible ( aka faster speed or lower bill ) , people are creatures of ha\bit and convenience . Said that people will need a GOOD , WORKING alternative before they switch and sadly as much as I hate to say it a promise of possible fiber roll out if X amount of people sign up is not that especially given that some of us have been waiting for faster internet for quiet some time already . When sonic can deliver instant gratification when it comes to faster service that's when sonic will gain customers interested in jumping the ship ... promising somebody something and giving it to them are two different things and users don't really care much for promises , what they do care is what they get in return for their investment !

[pmbell]

Well Sonic wants us to vote with our money which is understandable from a business perspective but nobody sane will switch from an existing ISP ( whatever it is ) unless the gains are clearly visible ( aka faster speed or lower bill ) , people are creatures of ha\bit and convenience . Said that people will need a GOOD , WORKING alternative before they switch and sadly as much as I hate to say it a promise of possible fiber roll out if X amount of people sign up is not that especially given that some of us have been waiting for faster internet for quiet some time already . When sonic can deliver instant gratification when it comes to faster service that's when sonic will gain customers interested in jumping the ship ... promising somebody something and giving it to them are two different things and users don't really care much for promises , what they do care is what they get in return for their investment !

I think a lot of folks who are too far from the CO to get VDSL to the CO are signing up for FTTN and FTTNX2 and seeing a big benefit from that. I don't know if a FTTN customer counts as a vote for FTTH or not, but I've certainly mentioned it to a couple of my neighbors.

[pockyken007]

I hope it does as I am running on FTTN x2 ...

[rhollow]

I disagree that the only factors for people to change are "faster speed or lower bill".

I've been a Sonic subscriber for many years because of the great customer service, and clear product offerings. With a provider like Comcast, understanding the product offerings is a special challenge. It is difficult for me to tell which offerings may or may not match my needs, and how much any of them will cost in a year. Just inquiring about changes to current service resulted in confusing predictions of increased prices for less service.

Of course I'd love to have Sonic fiber in Berkeley! I'd be willing to pay more than I have been for Comcast, just for the clarity, service, and peace of mind.

But with cord-cutting becoming more viable, I imagine that a combination like Sonic data + a thin bundle like "YouTube TV" will both be cheaper and better than anything the cable companies provide today.

[Ed Allen]

I'm a customer of your 2x DSL service in Berkeley and would desperately like to switch to fiber. It is distressing to hear that you are basing the decision to deploy fiber on the basis of how many customers you can get for the DSL service when it's down to us that just hate the idea of switching to Comcast hanging in there with DSL and waiting for fiber to roll out in our area. The wait will be forever if you expect more DSL customers here to make it feasible to roll out fiber.

[ngufra]

There is a brand new box cover on the sidewalk on Marin avenue at Ventura that reads "sonic".
The other week there were a couple of trucks pulling fiber for sonic on Ventura by the CO on Solano.

I suspect we will see fiber being offered soon in the neighborhood.

I asked Sonic but they told me they don't know.