94598 pushed back 6 months from Dec to June 2024...

Internet access discussion, including Fusion, IP Broadband, and Gigabit Fiber!
59 posts Page 6 of 6
by rpineau » Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:58 am
I would agree that "a couple of pints" is always way more than 2 ;) (specially if it's Guinness :) ).
by drbubbles » Fri Sep 06, 2024 6:21 pm
Hi @dane @jerrielm, I would like to write an informal complaint to CPUC about either city of Concord or city of Walnut Creek permitting, or PG&E refusing to promptly replace unsafe poles / erect bypass poles for ~two years. Can you pm me with details of which entity is at fault in my case?
by drbubbles » Sun Oct 20, 2024 3:05 pm
For the 94598 area, does anyone know if there's a local candidate up for election that is an advocate for sorting out the permitting issues?

Any word on progress or will we need to wait for a storm to take out the poles before they'll replace them?
by drbubbles » Sun Jan 12, 2025 10:29 pm
Fiber live date just changed again from Aug 2025 to May 2026... are PG&E just not bothering to replace poles that are unsafe so it isn't possible to give a better estimate?
by miloseaa » Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:17 pm
Sadly mine just got pushed back too. Was June 2025 and is now April 2026. Honestly it’s a joke at this point, as I signed up in June of 2023. :(
by drbubbles » Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:57 pm
I feel your pain! Feb 23rd will be my two year anniversary for signing up :( It switched from Pre-construction to Construction in August 2023.

PG&E are presumably still not forthcoming about their timeline for replacing unsafe poles and the cities of Concord and Walnut Creek are refusing to permit the required temporary bypass poles. I guess Sonic don't know when either will happen so can only push the date back until there's some movement.

It would be good to hear if there's been any feedback at all from either PG&E or the cities of Concord or WC about this. At least we haven't dropped back into Pre-construction...

During the storm a few weeks ago there were a couple of quite loud explosions outside accompanied by power outages, one for several hours. PG&E came to look at the pole in front of the house but didn't appear to do anything to it.
by emp-12 » Wed Jan 15, 2025 2:41 pm
After reading through some of the recent posts on this thread, we wanted to provide an update on the situation in Concord as well as some context as to why simply the presence of Sonic fiber on a bypass pole, while certainly some level of progress, does not necessarily correlate to internet service being turned up immediately. This information is also inclusive of recent updates from our regulatory team and their efforts working this issue as I assure you this is a critical area of concern and focus for Sonic in Concord, Walnut Creek and many other communities in California that we have plans to serve.

As you know, Sonic has been working with the city of Concord and both AT&T and PG&E (joint owners of many of the poles in question impacting our build efforts within Concord) for some time. Without getting into too many specifics, we have accelerated the exploration of our regulatory options to advance our arguments about more timely pole replacement the last 6-9 months. This effort has resulted in more frequent and direct operational discussions with PG&E (and others) with respect to how to better address the “backlog” of poles that have previously been identified as needing replacement but have not yet been remediated or replaced to date. For what it is worth, although this is a broader issue for Sonic, we used the poles identified in our Concord projects as needing replacement as our most critical example of need for improvement in this area with PG&E.

Unfortunately, while there have been some verbal commitments and updates provided to Sonic on pole replacement efforts and plans by PG&E, at this time we don’t have any firm commitments that we can take to the city yet on replacement schedules that will completely free these projects up to move forward as we would like. As you are aware from your own engagement, having that pole replacement schedule committed to by PG&E is the linchpin in moving this entire process forward from the city’s perspective on granting bypass pole permits. Sonic remains committed to these efforts and we continue to look at all our options and reach a final decision point soon. I know it may seem obvious that litigation with the CPUC is the only choice remaining, whether it be via a formal complaint or other means (such as seeking modification to the existing pole attachment rules in California). That very well may still be the case as we agree the existing status quo cannot continue, but doing so comes with a risk of having the short-term goals delayed further as once something formal is filed with the CPUC, the cooperations and collaboration we have been seeing from PG&E (or any entity) will likely dissipate, as they would focus on preparing to defend the merits of their arguments against accelerating or defining pole replacement timelines rather than the issues at hand. Sonic takes none of that lightly when assessing all these options. Rest assured this is an issue that is impacting Sonic and our prospective customers in many communities, not just Concord, so it will remain a critical issue we keep focus on.

There was also mention of seeing Sonic fiber attached on some bypass poles and some frustration with still not seeing any improvement for a go live date for internet service from us in those areas. That is completely understandable when you see that progress “on the ground”. However, what may not be as evident in those locations is that there are still other pole runs within the scope of that same project for a particular fiber distribution area that are impacted by poles we cannot yet attach to as they stand. In order for us to go live for an area, we must complete all the fiber deployment in a given area. If some of those examples of bypass poles with Sonic fiber now attached are recent, that very well may be due to some of the aforementioned collaboration we have had with PG&E in the back half of 2024 to try to drive to a better process for replacing poles. We hope to see that progress continue and accelerate in the coming weeks and months.

We know the lack of tangible updates are frustrating. It is a direct by-product of the underlying disagreements we are currently working through with PG&E (on timing of pole replacements) and the city (on assurances of bypass pole timelines due to said replacements). We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work towards our goal of serving your community with our services.

Thank you,

- Eli Caul

Director of Customer Care
Sonic.net, Inc
by drbubbles » Wed Jan 15, 2025 5:48 pm
Thank you for the detailed response Eli and for taking the time to read through the posts. It is good to hear there's has been at least some feedback from PG&E/AT&T on pole replacement even if it is going slower than hoped. Hopefully your efforts negotiating with the various parties over the last year will start to see that accelerated. If you can, please post back if it is decided to go the litigation route. Thanks again.
by rdpedersen » Sat Feb 01, 2025 1:46 pm
I now see Sonic trucks everywhere in the 94598 area. In fact, some residences appear to be receiving installations, neighbors included (at the very least, Sonic trucks parked in their driveways). However, my status tool still says "planning." We have been on the list for only about a year, though, and it seems that others have been waiting much longer.

I spoke with a planner for the City of Walnut Creek about the Sonic roll-out probably during the summer of last year. He mentioned a lot of the roll-out delays related to personnel changes at both Sonic and PG&E that led to delays in understanding of infrastructure-related actions required before Sonic could move to its next steps. It seems like there is progress, however, as he said that he was not going to allow Sonic to continue with its work in the 94598 area until certain thresholds are met elsewhere in Walnut Creek... the fact that there are now trucks going about very actively in the area suggests that Sonic and PG&E met his criteria for the previous phase.
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