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It's been a couple of months since I last heard about micro trenching in SF. Dane posted about how the last iteration of the law wouldn't help Sonic because of the specifications.

What's the deal with it? Is it moving forward? Did they revise the specs?

guest234109 wrote:It's been a couple of months since I last heard about micro trenching in SF. Dane posted about how the last iteration of the law wouldn't help Sonic because of the specifications.

What's the deal with it? Is it moving forward? Did they revise the specs?

As I understand it today, it'd be limited to use in sidewalks only, which we have concerns about. How to cross streets, for example, and how to deal with sidewalks where there are existing vaults and other obstructions, or changes in the alignment or pattern of the squares.

SF leadership and staff are actively working on this, and we remain hopeful that they'll make progress toward a usable standard. They've been engaged, and good about keeping us informed.

Sonic Fiber is available 1 block West, 1 block North, and 2 blocks East of me. I'm in the middle of the block with no aerial lines. Has Sonic thought about using antennas, for us customers that can't get access, similar to what Monkey Brains is building?

If it used antennas, then it wouldn't be fiber

In all seriousness, Sonic got out of the wireless business back in 2012, and I can't imagine they'd want to get back in it at this point.

eltonhom wrote:Sonic Fiber is available 1 block West, 1 block North, and 2 blocks East of me. I'm in the middle of the block with no aerial lines. Has Sonic thought about using antennas, for us customers that can't get access, similar to what Monkey Brains is building?

There are some interesting developments in wireless technologies, but none yet provide the level of performance and reliability of wireline services. This isn't about reaching "as good as fiber", because that's not possible, but for a wireless technology to be compelling and worth deploying, it needs to be better than cable at least. And with cable capable of delivering gigabit speeds, this means gigabit wireless.

Just a few months ago, one vendor launched a gigabit-capable point-to-multipoint wireless solution, using 60ghz mmWave spectrum. It's an interesting product, but the range is very, very short. And deployment is more complex than fiber; instead of just a cable and passive terminal on the pole and strand, you'll have to deploy an antenna -- and batteries.

We're also monitoring developments in 3.5ghz spectrum and policy, and technologies like massive MIMO, which along with mmWave technologies, may begin to build a wireless technology ecosystem that could arguably supplant wireline cable or provide practical, near-equivilent service to fiber. But in our view, we're not there yet.

Another infrastructure deployment topic is g.Fast, which allows for delivering of near-Gigabit speeds over short distances of Category-3 twisted-pair telephone wire. This could be used in older apartment buildings, to bring fiber to the ground floor and then distribute in the building with the old copper. Again, it's a technology we are keeping an eye on, but at this point we are investing in full fiber to the unit in apartment buildings, because we see that as a future-proof long-term investment which allows for delivery of a consistent service across our entire platform.

Our group spends a lot of time thinking about the technologies, regulatory policy, practical construction issues and service design for broadband, and we're happy to be building more fiber, more places, at a rapidly accelerating pace.

eltonhom wrote:Sonic Fiber is available 1 block West, 1 block North, and 2 blocks East of me. I'm in the middle of the block with no aerial lines. Has Sonic thought about using antennas, for us customers that can't get access, similar to what Monkey Brains is building?

I'm fairly certain we both live on the same street with underground utilities and have similar frustrations :) - Hopefully microtrenching becomes a reality or Sonic finds us as willing participants for experiment microwave tech. I'd happy settle for 100-200 mbps and pay $100 a month if it meant not having to stick with the Big Evil Cable Company

Dane - thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response, it's appreciated!

Now imagine if when PGE put the power underground, they were required to install a certain number of empty tubes, for future services. This need not be free (e.g. the city could pay for it). At the time the street and trenches are open the cost is almost free....

digitalbitstream wrote:Now imagine if when PGE put the power underground, they were required to install a certain number of empty tubes, for future services. This need not be free (e.g. the city could pay for it). At the time the street and trenches are open the cost is almost free....

you mean like they do in those 3rd world countries in Eastern Europe ... yeah that would be something .

Any idea when they will make it legal? I'm on AT&T rn and it is so bad, wanted to wait till fiber came out in my neighborhood to switch though.