Fiber, Please

[lincolnspector]

If you install fiber in Albany, people will rush to use it.

I'm a happy Sonic.net Albanian, even though my actual speed is is only about 12Mbps, with extremely slow uploads. A lot of people here won't go with Sonic because it's too slow. But $40 a month fiber would bring a lot of people around.

Lincoln

[ngufra]

Over a year ago, Dane wrote we needed 1500 to 2000 more accounts in Albany to start thinking about fiber in Albany.

I am one block away to the exchange on Solano avenue so i get decent speed (very close to 20 Mbps actually); i have converted at least two neighbors to sonic and one across the street is getting his DSL from sonic but sold by lanminds.
I believe AT&T has installed fiber in the area as they stopped by a couple of times trying to sell it to me.

Dane: can we get an update for Albany Fiber?

Thanks

-Francois

[dane]

I can't provide a specific ranking because we need to complete more engineering survey work, but Albany is a strong contender.

[Harry]

Dane, are you able to tell us how many more subscribers you need in Berkeley (or any other city, for that matter) in order to pull the trigger on bringing in fiber? There was a discussion about ISPs in my Nextdoor neighborhood (are you on Nextdoor?) and there's a lot of interest in seeing high-speed broadband come in. I think we can use Nextdoor to drive adoption but it'll work best if we can articulate a concrete goal and measure our progress toward it.

[ngufra]

I forwarded the news about potential fiber in Albany to my neighbors.
One of them told me he had been a sonic customer for over 6 years but moved to Comcast when he could get the 50 Mbps line as the 15 Mbps he was getting from Sonic was not sufficient for him. He said he would be glad to come back to sonic as soon as fiber is a reality.

[andrewthomason]

Dane, if you want to do something to get the Sonic name out there in Albany/Berkeley, consider trying to get a booth at the next Solano Stroll. It's a ginormous street fair; huge numbers of residents of both cities are always in attendance.

[joe.higgins]

Another happy Albany Sonic customer who would really like fibre at a reasonable rate.

-Joe

[joe.higgins]

Another Albany Sonic customer...

I am very happy with Sonic customer service.

The DSL speeds of 6 Mbps down/0.7 Mbps up were great in 2011 when I signed up, but are rather pedestrian now. Uploading a YouTube video and watching Netflix at the same time is impossible.

To exacerbate this, I just visited family in the sleepy suburb of Lucan, Ireland where for about $55/mo. they get a similar package except fiber with 50+ Mbps down/5+ Mbps up (including modem). It is a little sad to live in the Bay Area and feel like I am back to my 1200 baud modem days .

What needs to happen so Albany can catch up on Lucan?

-Joe

[pockyken007]

Fiber is a dream but let's be realistic here with the hurdles sonic had to go through to even remotely start deploying fiber in San Francisco it will take YEARS to cover San Francisco () not to mention other cities unless your local governments work faster than SF ) ... said that I am happy with my FTTN connection from sonic and I shall wait patiently and see when I can get FTTH gigabit connection till then fiber in C.A is a dream achieved by few and wanted by many ... also sonic / Dane you should not focus on existing customers but also potential ones , if the people whoa re now getting DSL speeds were offered with alternative of fiber I bet you they would jump ship in a heartbeat but nobody sane will switch from one alternative to the other ( from other ISP to sonic ) when gains might me marginal at best and they have to deal with a hassle of switching and tech roll outs / interruption in service ect . People like easy breezy installs which are hassle free and they can see net gains ( in this case speed and potentially bill being lower ) ... just my 10 cents

[goetsch]

... just my 10 cents

Hey! I see what you did there....