Why Lit San Leandro And The Dark Fiber Project Are So Important: Just One Example

Although this is an entertainment use case example, it speaks to some of the underlying problems with most major Internet Service Providers delivering bandwidth to the home, professional offices or small businesses.

They say they provide one level of service at an advertised price, then comes the bait-and-switch via what appears to be purposeful consumer confusion.   

Reed Hastings is the CEO of the highly popular NetFlix streaming movie and television service (and North America's highest evening bandwidth user). He posted this on his Facebook page about how Comcast is "screwing customers" on bandwidth practices:

"Comcast (is) no longer following net neutrality principles.

Comcast should apply caps equally, or not at all.

I spent the weekend enjoying four good internet video apps on my Xbox: Netflix, HBO GO, Xfinity, and Hulu.

When I watch video on my Xbox from three of these four apps, it counts against my Comcast internet cap. When I watch through Comcast’s Xfinity app, however, it does not count against my Comcast internet cap.

For example, if I watch last night’s SNL episode on my Xbox through the Hulu app, it eats up about one gigabyte of my cap, but if I watch that same episode through the Xfinity Xbox app, it doesn’t use up my cap at all.

The same device, the same IP address, the same wifi, the same internet connection, but totally different cap treatment.

In what way is this neutral?"

Mr. Hastings has an excellent point. Comcast's press releases say "net neutral" but the practice of most carriers is anything but "net neutral". 

Doing what Mr. Hastings describes is just awful to the customers since they will have no idea what content, via what device and/or what application will or will not cost them eventually more money per month. For a business (or even a high demand home office), this is completely unacceptable and it is become commonplace on xDSL and cable services (and of course, data plans on cell phones!).

What does this mean to a high bandwidth customer?  If you follow the bandwidth programs of the traditional DSL and cable providers - you will literally not know month-to-month, or even day-to-day, what your bandwidth costs will be.   All because of the purposeful hidden pricing schemes being so often practiced.

The extremely high bandwidth being delivered by Lit San Leandro is the correct high-speed, low-latency, synchronous bandwidth needed by customers in the 21st century.    A professional office (i.e. - dental office or radiological office using HD digital xrays) or a graphic art house or a software developer moving to San Leandro would find it nearly impossible to find the correct and affordable bandwidth without Lit SL. Especially true if consumer-unfriendly games in pricing continue with the major providers.

Bandwidth can be purchased from a variety of different providers yet cost-effective very speed high bandwidth (100s or a 1000 or more megabits per second) which will foster 21st century manufacturing, research, medical and information services isn't as easy as the non-IT layperson would think.  

This is just one example of a myriad of issues with the traditional delivery of bandwidth from telephone and cable companies and high bandwidth users should seriously consider Lit San Leandro as the right business solution.  

I think Lit SL is a terrific business development idea to attract the right kind of technically savvy companies to our city.    New companies which become fixtures in our community, providing well paying careers and prosperity to San Leandro.

San Leandro's choices are
1) Fantastically high speed internet with low latency and a known long term price with Lit San Leandro and the Dark Fiber Co-Op
-or-
2) "Guess what your bill will be" prices with the large providers on networks delivering insufficient lopsided bandwidth and service to meet the needs to new companies.

If I were putting in a business/store front/factory in San Leandro, it most definitely would be near the Dark Fiber Loop and any CIO/CTO looking at serious Internet access needs would probably do the same.

More examples to follow...

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