Los Altos Fiber construction

[roode]

I contacted the Los Altos city manager and it appears to be wrong to say that Los Altos will not permit overhead drops. The issue seems to be that Sonic wished to add new poles in some places. That's what they don't allow. You have to share the existing poles.

[drewcolace]

Thanks for this info! Though this seems to muddy the waters, so to speak. Certainly Sonic was not intending to install a lot of new poles, right? So because of this there is no progress or possibility of progress for Los Altos residents? I could understand certain parts of the city might see some delay as they hash out whatever alternative plan could work. But buildout for areas without this pole issue should be able to continue. I think we need more info from Sonic. I’ll open a ticket to see if Sonic will share more details. I’ll follow up here with any updates.

[roode]

I got some more info from Sonic management about the added poles. They are only in places where the existing pole is unsafe and needs to be replaced anyway. There is PUC process where a different utility can install a temporary bypass pole and then notify PG&E of the issue with the old pole. The bypass pole is automatically removed when PG&E replaces the bad pole.

[drewcolace]

That is great new info. Thanks for sharing!

It also sounds like a reasonable process but I’m sure this is where one has to put on the wading pants to move through the bureaucracy. Something that sounds like it could be resolved in a matter of weeks or a couple months will somehow take the better part of a decade to resolve?? Did your latest conversation with Sonic include any ray of hope for something better than 2031?

[greghogan]

I too am interested in 10g fiber in Los Altos. Does anyone at Sonic have more information about what the issues are, and who in the city we may contact to help facilitate a resolution?

[mikesonic]

I passed on a link to this discussion thread in a second inquiry to Freddie Wheeler of the Los Altos Residents group. Again, her reply was to quote her source as saying: The 2031 date is for completion of a “mass deployment throughout the city.".

I find this disappointing because it does not acknowledge the Sonic Fiber Status Tool's overnight transition from a date in Spring of 2024 to March of 2031. Also, no information about "aerial drops" or "add new poles in some places".

I sense that someone knows the real answers about why the better part of a decade got inserted into the Los Altos project schedule but there doesn't seem to be motivation to share the information.

[roode]

Sonic is working to change these dates back to within this year. It's not clear if progress has been slowed. They have been told that the aerial drops are not a problem if a house already has aerlal drops. AT&T is using aerial drops to deliver their new fiber service in areas they offer it. There is some confusion about the replacement tools still but that ought to clear up.

[drewcolace]

I just saw the AT&T trucks on my street this morning with a lot of cable with them. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were running new fiber on the poles in preparation for new service in a few months.

So, I don’t know if they are working with Sonic on this or if the city’s red tape is a ploy to give AT&T a head start (or whatever preferential treatment you want to call it). Sonic had typically used AT&T lines to offer their (Sonic’s) service. I had thought Sonic was going to run their own fiber. I’m still confused in this regard but hoping that AT&T running fiber now ends up being a good thing for all interested parties.

[roode]

AT&T doesn't have fiber yet in all of Los Altos so it makes sense that they might be working to cover more areas. Nothing to do with Sonic.

[nickkral]

It's been a few months since this thread was updated. I'm still seeing the 2031 date on my status page. Has anyone heard any update on this?