Comments on: West Seattle Junction added to Gigabit Squared demonstration project, says mayor in State of the City

By: WSB

WSB — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:12:08 +0000

Update for anybody following this – Looks like my interviews for the followup will be tomorrow (Thursday) so look for the story then. Still interested in your questions – and anybody who for some reason doesn’t want to leave a comment is always welcome to e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com – Tracy

By: cjboffoli

cjboffoli — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:25:02 +0000

CubanRefugee: I’ve been mostly satisfied with Comcast Business Class service as well. But what does that 50 Mbps connection cost you? Many European and Asian broadband customers have service at those speeds for the equivalent of about $30 per month. Americans don’t have enough access to super-fast broadband overall and those that do are getting gouged to have it.

By: Roger Dodger

Roger Dodger — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:04:09 +0000

Either April Fool’s Day is six weeks early or it’s campaign season. I signed up for Gigabit Squared so someday I’d hopefully have an AFFORDABLE alternative to Comcast. But I remember Clearwire and all the others who promised competition, then bailed. (Remember when Paul Allen was going to wire up the town?)

Maybe Gigabit will happen. At least it’s plausible. But light rail to WS? Rail from Ballard to Redmond via the 520 bridge??? Man, where do I get some of what McSchwinn is smoking? (Probably in his campaign manager’s office drawer.)

By: westseattleboi

westseattleboi — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:19:12 +0000

Love the idea of high speed or at least another compedetor for Comcast in the hopes that they might lower the rates. I really want to know more about light rail. To bad the planners won’t likely connect it to the ferry terminal where all the main comuters come from.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:16:43 +0000

I’m also 2 blocks south of the Junction neighborhood zone. And CubanRefugee, I also don’t think Comcast is crap … I’d just like to have some more options.

By: West Seattle Hipster

West Seattle Hipster — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:56:03 +0000

Thanks Mike, best laugh I had all month!

By: CubanRefugee

CubanRefugee — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:31:11 +0000

Same here, miketown. Area 13 goes *right up* to Delridge, but not up the hill to the Pigeon Point neighborhood. It makes me a sad nerd.

I must also be the only person who doesn’t think Comcast is crap, but I do have a business class account with them and a steady 50mbps connection.

By: miketown

miketown — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:55:29 +0000

looks like we’ll be missing it by 2 blocks. :(

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:27:49 +0000

This is great, now we’re almost caught up with Grant County!

By: dcn

dcn — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:13:54 +0000

Higher speed internet is all well and good, but light Rail to West Seattle? Believe it when I see it. If I live that long.

By: WSB

WSB — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:54:53 +0000

A bit more in a mayoral e-mail re: the speech: “Gigabit Squared has secured the funding they need to begin detailed engineering. By April they intend to have an updated business plan. That will include an estimate of how much it will cost to lay fiber to the first 14 neighborhoods, what the service tiers and their costs will be, more precise service boundaries, and when we can start to light this fiber up.”

By: Westseattledood

Westseattledood — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:28:42 +0000

High speed broadband AND rail????

For us??? All in one day??? I

I dunno…campaign season is coming up and I am thinking a couple of timely teases are just that. But it sure would be sweet.

By: cjboffoli

cjboffoli — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:26:17 +0000

Joe: When the story of Seattle’s deal with Gigabit Squared was covered back in December it was reported that their service would start at 20 Mbps and would proceed up to 1 Gbps (bilateral).

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:12:02 +0000

Tracy, ask them about capacity — what sorts of speeds up and down do they project? Will there be caps or limits on total monthly bandwidth? How much, if so?

By: cjboffoli

cjboffoli — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:06:39 +0000

The promise of faster Internet is only the first half of the equation. The other half is pricing. The telecom companies – the robber barrons of our age – have been tremendously successful at manipulating legislation to limit competition and gouge Americans while citizens of other nations are getting much faster and cheaper Broadband services. I’m happy to hear of this development and I’m cautiously optimistic. But I’m still disappointed that this didn’t happen ten years ago when it should have.