Fiber in Southeast Petaluma

[wyeager3]

Sonic construction crews have been active in my neighborhood since November 2022. Other than some applications of tar where the micro-trenches were cut there hasn't been much activity in the last couple months. The "Fiber Status Tool" tells me that it is "unable to display the status information for the requested location". Is there an ETA for customer connections? If not, would you please let us know where Sonic is in the process?

[jtb256]

Hi wyeager3, as someone close to this project (literally) I can say we don't have a firm ETA yet but are getting very close. We are using a new deployment strategy and are quite far along. Sorry I don't have more concrete info; I expect we should have more on this as early as next week.

[wyeager3]

Thanks John! It's great to have an update. I wonder if the new deployment strategy has anything to do with the saw cut trenches and whether it was harder than anticipated to pull the fiber without damaging it. Hopefully the lessons learned pay off in the long run! (I work in a tangentially related construction field and am familiar with the hard lessons that come from innovation. ) You don't owe me an answer but I'd love to know whether this method would be used on future projects or if directional boring (or open trench?) is ultimately a better solution.

[dane]

For conduit placement for fiber, narrow slot-cut methods make a ton of sense. They're far less disruptive, environmentally less impactful and the costs are lower allowing for more widespread deployment. Once conduits are placed, the fiber is easily pushed or blown into the small ducts.

That said, it is a new process for us, and there is a lot of learning going on. Not just with the slot cut and reinstatement, but also curb, gutter and sidewalk crossings, and the path across the yard to the side of the home. But an underground process that is scalable is essential for filling in the gaps in our network today where newer homes mean underground utilities. It's no fun to cover 40% or 50% or even 90% of a City, and to leave out the portion with utilities served underground.

[wyeager3]

Hi Dane, thanks for the response. All lessons are worth learning, even the hard ones. Thanks for making the investment and for not leaving those of us in UG utility neighborhoods behind.

[kamran.asif]

Any updates on this one? I'm located in NE Petaluma and I'm very invested in watching this project expand. I'm hoping to see Sonic in NE Petaluma at some point in the future also!

[bradmaestas]

I live in SE Petaluma near Casa Grande HS and I was excited to see the trucks on my block. I patiently waited for notice that service was going live and just a few days ago, my wife answered a knock at our door from a field seller named Robi.

I called her on a Sunday, thinking I would just leave a message for a callback, but to my surprise she picked up and we had a nice chat. I called her back this Monday and signed up for 10G fiber access. We were given an installation date only a couple weeks out, which was a pleasant surprise. We are so used to having our various appointments scheduled months out due to backlogs.

I am very much looking forward to the upgrade and can't wait for the install!