Reso 2012-106 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

San Leandro Commercial Broadband Strategy 2. Commercial Broadband Assessment 2.1. Introduction The purpose of this report is to assess commercial broadband availability in San Leandro and current City of San Leandro policies and initiatives related to broadband, and then make general and specific recommendations for addressing any gaps identified and to guide future development of this utility. Access to broadband service — fast, reliable, high quality links to the Internet and internal networks — is a basic competitive requirement in the 21 st Century economy. Broadband availability is one of the first criteria assessed when businesses consider relocating or expanding. It is considered to be a non - negotiable resource that is necessary for businesses to operate and to keep pace with global competitors. Appendix E contains a list of documents, including municipal case studies, that discuss broadband as an essential utility and consider its vital role in economic development. As an example, the City of Santa Cruz has seen a significant increase in the number of people and businesses added to its downtown economy since an independently -owned dark fiber link was built to Silicon Valley, which provided competition to and a wider range of choices than the services offered by AT &T and Comcast. Several co- working centers have sprung up to support entrepreneurs, freelancers, telecommuters and others. City government has proactively supported construction of fiber connections, worked to put more municipal operations online and included broadband connectivity as a master plan element. Taken together, these policies produced a broadband -ready attitude in the business community and amongst local agencies. In some respects, San Leandro's current initiatives and policies are even more advanced. By extending some and focusing others, the City can gain the same kind of benefit, perhaps to an even greater degree. 3 "Broadband" refers generally to any telecommunications service capable of supporting digital data transmission at high speeds. These services can include and/or support Internet, television, telephone, private data networks and various specialized uses. Broadband service can be delivered in a variety of ways, including telephone lines (e.g. DSL), coaxial cable (e.g. cable modem), fiber optic cable (e.g. Lit San Leandro), wireless cellular /mobile service (e.g. cell phones, tablets, wireless modems), WiFi, point - to -point and point -to- multipoint wireless service (e.g. TelePacific, Etheric) and hybrid networks (XO Communications). Although different organizations use different criteria, the California Public Utilities Commission considers 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speed to be a standard for adequate broadband service availability. Unless otherwise stated, this report uses the CPUC definition. 16 July 2012 Tellus Venture Associates Page 5