[Durham INC] Parents for Safe Technology call to action

Sat Jul 30 11:09:57 EDT 2016

In recent years, our local universities and governments formed the North
Carolina Next Generation Networks (NCNGN) coalition, a group intended to
incentivize the entry of new competitive broadband providers to the
region.  This was in the wake of Google Fiber selecting Kansas City KS/MO
over Durham and thousands of other communities.

Our civic and university leaders -- including some very forward-thinking
CIOs, city/county staff, elected officials, and NGO folks like TJCOG --
recognized that next-generation gigabit connectivity would be a significant
asset for quality of life, economic development, and crossing the digital
divide.  NCNGN was importantly part of a broader coalition of university
communities called Gig.U, helmed by Blair Levin, who had served as a former
FCC chair's chief of staff and as the lead of the Obama administration
initiative to develop a National Broadband Plan early in the President's
first term.

When NCNGN and Gig.U were forming, the incumbent telecommunication industry
was dead-set against any kind of massive capital investment to improve
broadband networks, even though the US was badly lagging developed and even
developing nations.  At the same time, lobbyists were pushing back against
municipally-run broadband networks, ignoring successes like Wilson, NC and
Chattanooga and getting some states, including our own, to ban them.
Finally, even disruptive new entrants were clear in noting that there were
significant cost barriers to building gigabit networks.

NCNGN's RFP, which can be publicly viewed online (
http://www.tjcog.org/Data/Sites/1/media/regional-planning/econdev/next-generation/NCNGN_RFP_02012013.pdf),
saw participating communities, including Durham, offer a public-private
partnership opportunity: municipalities would work to reduce barriers to
entry for next generation networks, if carriers would provide gigabit
connectivity to homes as well as other underprovided public goods --
free/heavily discounted broadband for high-need public housing and
community centers among them. The vision was to make available contracted
use of land, conduits, poles, colocation spaces, etc.

The NCNGN effort led to an agreement with AT&T by which the Triangle would
be, I think, the third area in the US to receive AT&T's Gigapower (gigabit
to the home) speeds.  There are some neighborhoods in Durham that already
have gigabit fiber service as a result. Soon after, other carriers
including Frontier, Ting, CenturyLink and others -- including Google Fiber
-- announced their entry to the market. (Durham also, interestingly, moved
to the front of the line for Time Warner Cable's free speed upgrades;
other, less competitive broadband markets still haven't "got their
upgrade.")

As is the norm for these buildouts, Google and many other carriers seek
partnerships to make these networks feasible.  The City Council reviewed a
network hut license agreement back in 2014 (
http://www.durhamnc.gov/agendas_new/2014/cws20140505/9826_MEMO_GOOGLE_FIBER_HUT_LICENSE__349890_576686.PDF).
Here is the City Council memo on the AT&T agreement:
http://www.durhamnc.gov/agendas_new/2014/cma20140505/9822_MEMO_ATT_MASTER_NETWORK_DEVEL_349726_576489.PDF

I would push back against the notion here that these providers are getting
some kind of sweetheart deal.  Indeed, if there is anything that
communities learned in the wake of Kansas City, it was that the creative
levering of existing assets to build gigabit networks is the only way to
overcome the deep, deep capital barrier that otherwise gives telecom
companies and cable companies a de facto monopoly on providing services.

Indeed, both Chattanooga and Wilson were able to be early to the gig party
because they had (a) municipally-owned utilities that (b) owned their own
poles and (c) had a separate business case for deploying fiber for smart
grid management; the ability to leverage that smart grid investment for
broadband has been gamechanging, especially for Chattanooga.  And, the
NCNGN model is being adopted by Greensboro-Burlington-High Point for their
TriGIG efforts; a similar effort in Asheville is under way, I believe.

As Ken notes, there are thousands of acres of parkland in Durham and, as a
Durham resident, they are vitally important to me. So, too, is having
broadband options to provide a better quality of life, new job
opportunities, and -- for the many public housing residents who will be
getting free or low cost Internet service and associated support -- a major
opportunity to bridge the digital divide.  To say nothing of creating
market pressure that will help to keep broadband rates low and avoid things
like data caps.

When I quickly searched my 10-year archive of my own neighborhood listserv
email, I found literally hundreds of threads, translating to thousands of
emails, with complaints, questions, irritation and frustration with
incumbent Internet services in our area.  Anyone who is connected to their
neighborhood likely hears similar services.  Internet services are a luxury
no more; they are critical to participation in economic, civic and social
spheres.

We are looking here not at a carefree, easy sloughing of public assets, but
instead at a deep, systemic, well-known, much-discussed, much-studied
effort to finally improve home Internet service.  I am proud of not just
Durham's elected officials and government, but the broader region's, which
worked together in a way most citizens rarely see, and which have done a
boon to our community.

-- Kevin
(full disclosure -- I worked on the NCNGN effort and am proud to have do
so. I am speaking on my own behalf, not of my employer.)

--
Kevin Davis
ksdavis at gmail.com
919-599-8194

On Sat, Jul 30, 2016 at 10:21 AM, John Dagenhart <jdag at clappresearch.com>
wrote:

> How much did they pay? Companies such as Duke Energy, Pioneer (formerly
> Central Telephone, formerly GTE, formerly Verizon, etc) have located
> facilities on property they have most likely purchased.
>
>
>
> If these facilities are being located on public property, does this set a
> precedent for others in the future?
>
>
>
>
>
> John Dagenhart, PE
>
> President
>
> Dagenhart Consulting Services,PC
>
> 1058 W. Club Blvd., Suite 220B
>
> Durham, NC 27701
>
> Office: 919-908-0227
>
> Cell: 919-247-4236
>
> jdag at dagenhartconsulting.com
>
> or
>
> j.b.dagenhart at ieee.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* INC-list [mailto:inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net] *On
> Behalf Of *Ken Ray
> *Sent:* Friday, July 29, 2016 8:14 AM
> *To:* Josie McNeil <riojosie at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Durham INC] Parents for Safe Technology call to action
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
> I'd just like everyone receiving this not to know that I am one of the
> tens of thousands of people who lobbied both Google and our local
> government to bring Google Fiber to Raleigh/Durham. It is a great honor and
> opportunity to be chosen as one of the first US localities to be chosen for
> this infrastructure.
>
>
>
> The Google Fiber Hut is a 10×30 foot structure with negligible
> environmental impact (compare: most tractor trailers are 13x50 or greater).
> The benefit to the citizenry in gaining 1,000 megabits per second internet
> speed is completely worth the investment of these minuscule portions of
> parkland (Eno River State Park is a 4,200 acres). At least, it is to me and
> my family, friends, business associates, church members and children, and
> especially those impoverished neighbors of ours who will get free internet
> access.
>
>
>
> I voted for Tom Wheeler, and I am glad he is working to bring the world
> standard of internet connectivity to my home, as I urged him to do in my
> name, as my representative.
>
>
>
> I hope all recipients of this note will note that there is no scholarly
> article or study from any reputable American university supporting the
> concept that wireless technology is dangerous (choose the search engine of
> your preference and enter the term "wireless technology is dangerous
> .edu").
>
>
>
> I have a lot of faith in - and hope for - my children and their
> generation. Any leg up they can get is an opportunity I want them to have.
> Access to Google Fiber will be - for them - just as uplifting as being one
> of the first cities to have electricity back in the 1890's.
>
>
>
> I hope this information gives you pause,
>
>
>
> Ken Ray
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 7:25 PM, Josie McNeil <riojosie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> All being placed on park land:
>
>
>
> "See .gov site in earlier post above..."This request seeks approval of
> four additional hut sites required by Google: on the parcel of the City’s
> Birchwood Park located at 3105 Hursey Street, on the parcel of the City’s
> Solite Park located at 4704 Fayetteville Road, on the parcel of the City’s
> West Point on the Eno Park located at 135 Latta Road, and on the parcel of
> the City’s Rock Quarry Park located at 701 Stadium Drive.”
>
>
>
> It was approved by Council.  I do not follow the Council agenda regularly,
> so I was very surprised and upset to see the trees downed on West Point on
> the Eno Durham City Park that adjoins Latta Road.  I have expressed my
> dismay to City Council, more about the loss of parkland than this health
> issue, but I am also very  concerned about Ellen’s point.
>
>
>
> Josie McNeil
>
> VP, Friends of West Point Park
>
> Lochaven Hills Neighborhood
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 28, 2016, at 4:07 PM, Ellen Whitaker <whitaker.guitar at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear neighbors,
>
>
>
> If Tom Wheeler has his way, our neighborhoods could soon be carpeted with
> small powerful antennas broadcasting frequencies well above anything we’ve
> been using thus far with no consideration of possible health consequences.
>
>
>
> Please see the email below to learn how to help protect your health and
> privacy.  Money is being considered before health, as the FCC is
> fast-tracking the roll-out of “5G” wireless technology —despite knowing
> that wireless technology is dangerous. The current head of the FCC, Tom
> Wheeler has ties to the telecommunications industry.  He seems only
> concerned with $, not the public health or privacy.
>
>
>
> Ellen Whitaker
>
> Morehead Hill Neighborhood
>
> Durham, NC
>
>
>
> *____________________________*
>
> *Ellen S. Whitaker*
>
> www.EllenWhitakerGuitar.com <http://www.ellenwhitakerguitar.com/>
>
>
>
> —Sent from a cable-connected computer with the WiFi turned OFF
>
> —Please visit https://www.emfanalysis.com/research/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
> *From: *Andrew McAfee <andrewmcafee1 at mac.com>
>
> *Subject: stop 5 G*
>
> *Date: *July 28, 2016 at 9:07:46 AM EDT
>
> *To: *Undisclosed recipients: ;
>
>
>
> Please take a moment today to send some emails, make some calls, forward
> this information.
>
>
>
> http://www.parentsforsafetechnology.org/stop-5g-spectrum-frontiers.html
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
>
> Andrew McAfee
>
> andrew at RaleighES.info
>
> 919.787.3022
>
> www.RaleighES.info <http://www.raleighes.info/>
>
>
>
> Sent from a cabled computer with the WiFi turned off.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Durham INC Mailing List
> inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net
> http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/listinfo/inc-list
>
>
>
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