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San Leandro Commercial Broadband Strategy <br />1. Executive summary <br />1.1. Introduction <br />Access to high speed, reliable links to the Internet and internal networks is a basic, 21st <br />Century utility, as vital to economic development as electricity or water. <br />The essential nature of broadband' service has been recognized at many levels in <br />California: in an executive order from the Governor's office, in bills passed by the <br />Legislature, in reports prepared by a statewide task force and various state agencies and <br />in economic development studies prepared for jurisdictions throughout the state. <br />Studies by the U.S. government and by international organizations uniformly tell the <br />same story about broadband: "it is a key driver of economic growth and national <br />competitiveness, and it can contribute to social and cultural development. 112 <br />1.2. Commercial access assessment <br />In 2011, the City of San Leandro's Office of Business Development worked with local <br />businesses, property owners, entrepreneurs and service providers to assess the current <br />state of broadband access for business and industrial users. This research included two <br />business workshops, an online survey, map analysis and one -on -one meetings. <br />As a result, four specific areas within the City were identified as priorities for <br />broadband improvements due to current substandard service levels or future plans for <br />significant development that could benefit from higher quality service: <br />• Downtown San Leandro <br />• The Davis/Doolittle /Adams Tract area <br />• The 880 Industrial Corridor <br />• The Shoreline <br />In some cases, acceptable commercial broadband access was completely lacking. In <br />other cases, it was unreliable and not of sufficient speed or reliability to support <br />business or industrial users. The City has already applied for federal funding to address <br />some of these problem areas. <br />' For definitions of technical terms, please see the glossary in Appendix F. <br />2 Building broadband: Strategies and policies for the developing world, World Bank, January 2010. <br />16 July 2012 TellusVenture Associates Page <br />