Oakland – Steve Blum's Blog

New dark fiber networks may soon light up Oakland

4 August 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, community networks, lit san leandro, Oakland, public policy

Shining a little brighter.

The city council in Oakland, California voted last week to negotiate an agreement with a local group to build an interconnected dark fiber system, beginning in two areas at opposite ends of town.

The plan as presented is to start at the San Leandro border, tie into the Lit San Leandro network, and extend connectivity to the nearby commercial and industrial areas around the Oakland Airport. From there, the network would connect to existing fiber that runs along the Bay Area Rapid Transit rail line, bridging to a second dark fiber network to be built in downtown Oakland that’ll light up businesses as well as city facilities.… More

Bay Area cities offer FCC chair a glimpse of the future

27 February 2013 by Steve Blum
alameda, benicia, broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, ebbc, fcc, genachowski, Oakland, palo alto, public policy, regional consortia, san leandro

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sees a gigabit city in San Leandro.

Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) visited San Leandro today, taking a look at the economic progress kindled by the Lit San Leandro project and delivering a keynote speech to local leaders, business people, city staff and proud residents. I’ll have more on his remarks later.

I was fortunate enough to be invited as one of the opening speakers. My assignment was to give some background on efforts in the Bay Area and around California to develop our economy by developing broadband infrastructure:

Here in the Bay Area, we are surrounded by the fattest Internet pipes on the planet.

… More

Best Practices Highlight Wireless Broadband Feasibility Study for the City of Oakland

13 May 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, broadband, broadband stimulus, BTOP, business model, feasibility study, Google broadband, municipal broadband, NTIA, Oakland

Download the Oakland Wireless Feasibility Study

Like nearly every government agency in California, the City of Oakland was faced with increasing demand for public services and a decreasing budget. An evaluation was needed of the potential for wireless technology to make municipal staff more efficient and allow them to stay in the field longer, and to provide Internet service to residents, either directly in their homes and businesses or indirectly through community anchor institutions. This evaluation needed to focus specifically on Oakland’s diverse population, needs and terrain.… More