Mammoth Lakes already has more bandwidth for some internet service, thanks to the completion of Digital 395 in town. Other communities will benefit too as construction moves toward completion. Today in Bishop, officials from all over the Eastern Sierra planned to sit down and talk about broadband.
The Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium planned to host a forum at the fairgrounds. The event was scheduled to start at 8am. Michael Ort of California Broadband Cooperative, the owner of Digital 395, was asked to be the keynote speaker. He planned to talk about the vision and value of the project which recently gained $10 million more from the State to wrap things up.
Also scheduled to speak about the impacts and opportunities of regional broadband were Inyo Supervisor Linda Arcularius; Bishop Public Works Director Dave Grah; Deanna Campbell of Cerro Coso College; Inyo Superintendent of Schools Terry McAteer; Inyo Library Director Nancy Masters; Susie Cisneros of Bishop Paiute Headstart; and Nate Greenberg, Mono County IT Director.
Service providers like Suddenlink and Schat.net were asked to talk about their side of the subject and local business owners were also asked to participate. Inyo County Administrator Kevin Carunchio planned to tackle broadband and economic development in our region.
Meanwhile, Starlite was completely excluded from the “benefits” of Digital 395. I’m willing to bet there is at least one home-based business here, as well as others who would appreciate the opportunity to connect to something other than satellite service.
Chris:
Is the section California Broadband Cooperative calls I104901 and shows on their map as “engineering complete” the section for the Starlite area?
“There’s still a lot of work to be done in order to extend middle mile bandwidth to businesses and residents via local Internet service providers – Digital 395 is a solely a wholesaler.
When….
Hi- My name is Connie and I am with Suddenlink. If you have any questions regarding our services, please feel free to email me at connie-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com. Thanks!
Suddenlink:
How about a date for the speed increase in Bishop area. Will it be this year?
Connie – how long before we see our speeds increase here in bishop?
Verizon officials did not present any information at the event that I saw. We did hear that Verizon was talking to Digital 395 about leasing some bandwidth. A. Schat was there as a presenter and was asked about new areas. He said that Schatnet would be focusing on upgrading all… Read more »
What about Schatnet service in Lee Vining,Bridgeport etc.?
Schat.net has been serving Lee Vining, Bridgeport, and other outlying areas in that vicinity for some time, and they’ll be offering faster speeds to these customers as soon as they connect to the fiber project.
Yes, but any idea how long before they will be doing that?
The Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium put on an excellent event today and by the way the food was also excellent. Coffee, tea and all sorts of baked goods from Great Basin Bakery in the morning and lunch from Astorga’s…… so good! It was reported that Mammoth Lakes has… Read more »
Yes Philip is correct. There is no conspiracy here. So anyone with suddenlink or Shat.net can expect speeds to increase very soon. I don’t know what Verizon’s plan is as they have their own Fiber and they performed upgrades themselves. I would gather that as customers in Mammoth and other… Read more »
Did you hear anything about what Verizon is going to do for it’s DSL customers? I don’t want to change ISP’s That a big hassle. Change all those email addresses and all the other stuff that uses email as an ID etc. So what did you hear about Verizon’s DSL… Read more »
If you use Outlook or gmail, for example, changing ISPs has no effect on your internet address, and both are free.
Don’t use Outlook or gmail.
I was implying you could open an e-mail account with either and from here on out not have to worry about changing e-mail addresses if you changed ISPs. I have had one of my e-mail addresses for twenty years, through five moves in three counties and untold ISPs. It is… Read more »
Sounds like a good idea. I should have done it before I went to Verizon. Now I kind of stuck — I think.
Will those services let me keep my current email address?
The only mention of Verizon at the conference was that in the past 60 days they have begun talking with Digital 395 about leasing conduit or fibers. Maybe Verizon will try to remain competitive, and if they do it will require better speeds, as competitors like Suddenlink are increasing speeds… Read more »
I received a letter from Suddenlink saying the internet speed around Bishop would be increased in mid July. It sounds to me like everyone involved in this project has dropped the ball on meeting deadlines. It’s interesting how they’ve received another $10 million to finish the project. You have to… Read more »
There was a good reason why Bishop and Mammoth could not get fast internet – it cost $110 million and there was no commercial case for putting in the fiber. Thank President Obama for the foresight to obtain stimulus funds and then spend them where they could provide such benefit… Read more »
Hit the nail on the head. With high speed internet available, small startups in the information industry can move here. It’s a lot cheaper in the Owens Valley than it is in the Silicon Valley. And techies like the outdoors. I know because I used to be one. Many of… Read more »
“The high speed internet is the best thing that has happened to the Owens Valley since 395 was built.”
Might change the wording to “will probably be the best thing”
I think it was in July that someone from Suddenlink came to our house wanting to upsell us to 30 Mbps because the project was finished. The 15 Mbps would now be the basic service. Joke…
So when does it get turned on in Bishop?
We will have to check with Mr. Ort.
BK