Archive for January, 2007

At brief meeting with Peter Pennekamp and Rollin Richmond regarding progress in the pushing broadband development in rural areas, I was encouraged by the direct, action oriented disscusion. Some of the items covered included:

• Efforts to streamline state regulations and permitting that would slow down any fiber build out
• The formation of a rural telecom sug-committee that will inform the Task Force
• A report that’s due at the end of February that will offer specific actions at the state level
• Continued discussion on regional cooperation to get the alternate fiber done
• Money for the alternate fiber may be easy to raise

While this is all still at the talking phase, the talk is active and pointed in the right direction. It’s encouraging. The next few months should tell us if anything will come of it.

The fiber outages have certainly raised the profile of our fragile connections to the outside world. But what about the efforts to connect people within the county? Well, there’s some good news and some bad news.

First, the Good News
As mentioned previously, the City of Eureka is slowly adding wireless access. The most recent being the Wharfinger Building where free wireless is available. I am told that the Adorni Center will soon be added. It’s unclear how far the signal will reach at each point. I’d love to hear from anyone who has tested the connection at the Wharfinger. It would be nice if the Adorni Center reaches out to Halvorsen Park, but we’ll see. The City is also close to having an RFP for a planning consultant for a municipal wireless network ready. It’s gratifying that these efforts are being made. I only hope that by the time the network plan is ready, technology will have moved so far ahead the will be obsolete.

In Myrtletown there are plans to expand a small wireless area. The page says the expansion was to take place in 2006, so it’s unclear when it will really happen.

Up in Arcata more hot spots are springing up and Carlson Wireles, recently relocated there, may be pushing that even further. According to this Times-Standard article, “Plans are under way to begin working with students and faculty at Humboldt State University in the spring. Projects with the school include helping to develop Wi-Fi hot spots throughout the city…”

Down in Southern Humboldt 101Netlink is offering broadband wired and wireless access. Since they have their own backhaul over microwave to Ukiah they also were unaffected by the recent AT&T fiber outages. They’re also offering dedicated T1 lines to northern Humboldt. They’re also offering dedicated T1 lines to northern Humboldt. This might be a good idea for businesses where connectivity is critical.

Now for the Bad News
After much discussion and experimentation, the ad hoc group trying to put up a wireless network in Old Town Eureka seems to have languished. I’ve had a router sitting in my office for a few months that even I can’t connect to. I admire the desire and the energy that these volunteers have put in to the project. I wonder if there is really enough will to make it work. I thought they’d beat the City to the mark, but as slow as this project is moving, I have my doubts.

The Orick Wireless Broadband study is now complete, and no surprise, according to Tina Nerat, who worked on the study, the cost of providing reliable backhaul to that village is still too high for the return.

And finally, though DSL and Cable is slowly creeping out from the densely poplulated areas. There are still many pockets fairly close in that still have no broadband possibilities, and may never, at least if the only choices are AT&T and Suddenlink. We have vast areas of the county where broadband is still only a dream.

Two outages in less than a month! This is not good, folks. And the fact that we have still not received a full accounting on the first one just compounds the frustration. There is also no system in place to provide an emergency alert (via radio and TV, of course) which would let us know what’s happening. What is AT&T thinking?

At long last the City of Eureka has added wireless access to the Wharfinger Building. Apparently access to the wireless network will be free and open to anyone who wishes to use it. So, you could take your sack lunch and your laptop and drive down to the waterfront, park in the Wharfinger lot and surf the web while you watch the seagulls and the fishing boats float up and down the bay.

Or, if you happen to be attending an event and you have your new IPhone! you could slip it out during the boring parts and check your email or watch an episode of The Office without anyone hardly noticing.

I don’t make predictions, usually, and I hadn’t made one in public about Apple finally coming out with an IPhone. But I did say this would be the next big product to a few people — in private — really — I did. I figured it had to be something like this when they didn’t produce a new wide screen video IPod last year. And there! Lo and behold! the IPhone which is so much more than a phone. It’s actually that holy grail of devices that combines multiple devices in one: A cell phone, a video IPod (with wide screen), and an Internet communications devices.

This thing looks so sweet and the features and interface appear pretty amazing. I really, really want one. But at $600 for the 8 GB  version (which I would want), and being tied in to Cingular’s GSM network for cell phone service makes me hesitate. I called Edge that handles Cingular to try to get some information from them but they were too busy to answer the phone. And too busy to call me back. When I’d tried an Edge phone before, I could get no service at my home at all. And I understand GSM is sloooow. Anyone using a GSM phone from Cingular here in Humboldt County? I’d love to know your experience.

Ann Johnson-Stromberg in today’s Times-Standard has done a nice job of summarizing the dangers and challenges faced by having all data in and out of the county being carried on a single fiber line. Many of us have been harping on this since the day the fiber was completed, but the progress has been slow. The serious, but thankfully relatively short fiber break that happened last month has finally awakened much of the area to the reality of our situation. Thanks to Ann for keeping this issue out in front of the public.

However, I wish she had put some emphasis on the idea that this second fiber line would be more than just a backup in case of the failure of AT&T’s line. Of course, that would certainly be the case. But, if the current plans for the alternate fiber go through, which envisions an independent corporation building and managing the line, this would mean competition with AT&T. Major players such as Suddenlink and CENIC would be able to choose where to buy middle mile (the line between local vendors and the Internet backbone is called the middle mile) service. This could mean lower prices for all, and potentially new features.

If you would like to read the report that was recently completed regarding the feasibility of this alternate fiber you can download the PDF here.

One of the more vital technological advancements that we can participate in is the work going on in renewable resources. A lot of work has been done recently and those advances can be put to use right now. A new local group (not a lot on the site, yet) dedicated to promoting the use of green technologies is sponsoring a “Plan it Green” conference in Eureka on January 17. From their press release:

Plan It Green presents Humboldt County’s first ever “Building Green Communities” conference. The conference will be held January 17th, 2007 at the Warfinger building in Eureka. The conference is FREE to all participants thanks to the generosity of local businesses.

The first session, “Implementation of Building Codes and Ordinances” will cover the costs and benefits of implementing green standards into local codes and ordinances.

The second session, “Creating a Green Building Rating System for Humboldt County”. will cover; green rating systems, applicability of these rating systems in Humboldt county, and examples of green projects.

The third session, “How Green Buildings Benefit Your Family, Business, And Community” will discuss what makes a building green, how these green buildings improve our community, and case studies of some local green buildings.

The catered dinner is from 5:00pm ­ 6:30pm and is $25, reservations required.

There is contact information on their website.