[vox] DavisGIG needs your support

[Timothy D Thatcher]

Hey everyone,
DavisGIG, the community project to get municipal-owned gigabit fiber
internet in Davis, suddenly finds itself facing an existential threat.
Attached below is the email that went out to the DavisGIG list today.

What I read is that the city is could sell everybody out by turning
over fiber to a monopoly vendor with an exclusive deal, which would
lock out any competition at all -- and we'd lose all the benefits of a
publicly-owned network. Read the email, pasted below, and make your
own decision, but make it fast - there's a city meeting tomorrow night
at 6:30pm in the community chambers meeting room at city hall, 23
Russell Blvd.

To see the current conversation if you're not already on the DavisGIG
mailing list, visit the list archives at
http://list.omsoft.com/pipermail/davisgig/2019-March/thread.html


-Tim

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2019 16:37:10 -0700
From: Robert Nickerson <rob at omsoft.com>
To: Davis gig <davisgig at list.omsoft.com>
Subject: [Davisgig] DavisGIG is on the ropes and is about to be
        knocked out the next meeting TOMOOR NIGHT 3/27 6:30 pm city chambers
Message-ID: <b5bad580-03e6-ed6e-48d6-df84c7ac2fe5 at omsoft.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"

Hi All

the justification is comcast will start charging now taht the inet is over

Specifically, some City Staff have invited a MAJOR private Fiber carrier
into town, and giving them free use of city conduit to build out in
exchange? for 12 fibers between some city buildings. . the justification
is comcast will start charging now that the inet is overand the comcast
franchise is expired. This will serve as a basis for a residential build
out by wave, generating another physical monopoly on internet, the fiber
based kind. Comcast has a cable infrastructure monopoly, att has a phone
one.


This does not pump broadband money back into the city.

this does not provide lower pricing through competition.

This does not allow business and homes to be securely and privately
connected

this does not give our major School, City, and Public facilities
Internet access for a one time cost.

It does not allow for an entrprenuer to come along and sell a new
product to our marketplace.

this does not see to privacy, net neutrality or digital divide.

Check out this video from a company that makes a software product that
could be one of the ones to run our network.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC-eqnU_eL8

In Ammon Id right now, 100 MBps is $10 per month. Why ? Competition on a
municipal owned fiber plant.

This does not do anything innovative or interesting with a Davis fiber
ecosystem, as it will be under lock and key. Dont get me wrong, I'm
happy to have wave come and? compete on community owned fiber, and
others of course as well .just? Not on an exclusive basis. Once this is
done, there is no other physical infrastructure coming that replaces
fiber. once fiber is built out with a private company, its just all
locked up with them.

This meeting is the MOST IMPORTANT MEETING of this entire process.? If
you still care or do care about making thi, please come and give a
public comment. Or mail one to

sworley at cityofdavis.org and clements at ucdavis.edu

Make no mistake, if this is allowed to proceed, DavisGIG, a community
fiber plant that could unleash all sorts of good things, is dead.

Sorry to be grim, but that is what is going on.

Thanks

RAN
Tim