At least the author of the MT ordinance is talking with DPW about it now, with your context. Fingers crossed.
Update on micro-trenching in San Francisco
Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
28 posts
Page 2 of 3
Thank you cap662 and dane for working on this. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.
Any update on this? Is there some way of following along without pestering you capp662? And anything I (or my neighbors) can do to help?
It is an email chain. Here is the last update:
“Yes, I did escalate this to City Engineer’s attention earlier this month, who discussed it our leadership in the Bureau of Engineering. Mr. Ko will be back in office after July 30th and we plan on scheduling a meeting with Mr. Jasper and Sonic in early August. I’ll have our staff reach out to Sonic directly for that scheduling.”
“Yes, I did escalate this to City Engineer’s attention earlier this month, who discussed it our leadership in the Bureau of Engineering. Mr. Ko will be back in office after July 30th and we plan on scheduling a meeting with Mr. Jasper and Sonic in early August. I’ll have our staff reach out to Sonic directly for that scheduling.”
Amazing, thanks for the update.
Small update - SF DPW’s meeting with Sonic is scheduled for 9/4.
I pressed for an update and Dane responded:
So grateful that Dane is actively engaged on this --- and educating the city agency. I sure hope this results in a workable solution for myself and others interested in modern Internet in San Francisco. I'm so fed up with paying 4x the cost for 8/100 the speed.Jason, we had a constructive meeting with a large group of DPW staff, and talked over the physical issues related to their road profiles. In particular, the asphalt over concrete structure, and the resulting impacts of that profile on microtrenching construction.
We have plans for a follow-up meeting involving a larger group from Sonic's plant engineering team to delve more deeply into the specifics of construction in this environment. SF DPW indicated they'd have further info for us on where various profiles exist, as well as some info on mill/overlay schedules. I'm hopeful that from that meeting we may be able to find initial opportunities where we can find a solution that'd work for Sonic as well as SF DPW.
-Dane Jasper
This is great. I'm hopeful as well. Dane or capp662 or anyone else, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know!
I also live in San Francisco (Richmond District). Glad to do anything that would help.
Bob White
Bob White
Here is the recent update from SF DPW:
"Thanks for writing. Public Works’ current microtrenching standards are aligned with those of the California Public Utilities Commission. Because many San Francisco streets have existing utilities that are shallower than telecom companies like Sonic would need to safely install fiber, the ability to realistically underground on those streets requires enhanced coordination when the City is performing replacement of a street’s concrete base (which happens during full street reconstructions as detailed here). My understanding is that Sonic’s fiber lines are best installed below the concrete street base. If there are no existing plans for concrete base reconstruction and existing utilities are too shallow for telecom companies to trench on a given street, that street is not a good current candidate for utility undergrounding.
I believe Sonic and Public Works engineers were going to look at specific streets that could work for enhanced undergrounding coverage, but I have not been involved in those discussions if they’ve taken place. Sonic representatives may have more info on that piece."
... which to me sounds like we're stuck. I was told my street is years away from any road work.
I literally cannot pay for any better Internet, and it's so f***ing frustrating.
"Thanks for writing. Public Works’ current microtrenching standards are aligned with those of the California Public Utilities Commission. Because many San Francisco streets have existing utilities that are shallower than telecom companies like Sonic would need to safely install fiber, the ability to realistically underground on those streets requires enhanced coordination when the City is performing replacement of a street’s concrete base (which happens during full street reconstructions as detailed here). My understanding is that Sonic’s fiber lines are best installed below the concrete street base. If there are no existing plans for concrete base reconstruction and existing utilities are too shallow for telecom companies to trench on a given street, that street is not a good current candidate for utility undergrounding.
I believe Sonic and Public Works engineers were going to look at specific streets that could work for enhanced undergrounding coverage, but I have not been involved in those discussions if they’ve taken place. Sonic representatives may have more info on that piece."
... which to me sounds like we're stuck. I was told my street is years away from any road work.
I literally cannot pay for any better Internet, and it's so f***ing frustrating.
28 posts
Page 2 of 3
