David Rodeback's Blog

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

A Minor Broadband Update

Here's what little I can add to the American Fork municipal broadband picture this week. Just to prove it really is a slow news day, I also express my hope that a certain city councilman will show up at a future meeting in a kilt.

As I noted previously, proposals for purchase or lease of American Fork's municipal broadband system, AFCNet, and/or related fiber assets, were due last week. If I lacked information about how things are proceeding, I would guess the following:

• City officials are studying the proposals.
• They'll want clarification in some cases, perhaps even additional information in some.
• Things are going a little more slowly than they might otherwise, because it's summer and because the City has been busy with Steel Days.
• City officials are not yet willing to go on the record with any details.

Off-the-record conversations with multiple officials suggest that all of that is true, which is no great surprise, since it is all quite predictable.

I really have only three things to add at this point.

First, one of AFCNet's partisans, Councilman Shirl LeBaron, is reportedly on vacation in Scotland. I hope he'll go for broke and wear a kilt to his first City Council meeting after his return. I suppose a matching thick Scottish brogue is too much to hope for. But I digress.

Second, and more to the point, so far I get the impression that the City does not have a fire sale mentality, which would have them trying to get whatever we can for the system, even if it's not a fair price, just as long as they can get rid of it. I'm somewhat relieved.

Third, I talked to the guys at the ComCast booth at Art Dye Park on the last evening of Steel Days. I hope I never have to switch my Internet access to ComCast. I had trouble getting straight and correct answers on several basic points, and neither knew what I was talking about when I asked if it's possible to get a static IP address with one of their residential packages. (The answer, based on a phone call to ComCast, is that it's not.) Maybe you don't know what an IP address is either, or why I would want or need a static one -- but that's okay, because you're not trying to sell me broadband Internet access.

Comment on this entry
(Readable, relevant, civilized, substantive responses will be posted, regardless of position.)

Copyright 2006 by David Rodeback.
All rights reserved.
Permission is given to publish this article elsewhere on the Web or via e-mail only under these conditions: The article is published intact and unchanged, and is properly credited to the author; and a visible link is included to the article's page at LocalCommentary.com.