3rd Annual East Bay Broadband Summit — Retrospective

By Office of Innovation
In Uncategorized
Feb 4th, 2015
2 Comments
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The City of San Leandro and Lit San Leandro were literally on center stage speaking to a packed room at yesterday’s 2015 East Bay Broadband Summit.  Mayor Cutter and the Mayors of Oakland and Brentwood, moderated by the Mayor of El Cerrito, engaged in a lively discussion regarding several topics related to broadband progress in each of their cities.

For those of you who couldn’t join us, the questions and Mayor Cutter’s responses are summarized here and will be continued over the next three blog posts.

What is your city doing to encourage improved broadband infrastructure?

Phase I:  Lit San Leandro is born!

  • In 2011, the San Leandro City Council approved a ground-breaking public-private partnership with OSIsoft Founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick Kennedy, to create an 11.5 mile, 10 gigabits per second (gbps) commercial fiber optic loop called Lit San Leandro.
  • With speeds 2,000 times faster than the average residential internet connection, this infrastructure upgrade is providing San Leandro businesses with access to cutting edge technology and communication tools.
  • Lit San Leandro is also successfully attracting next generation manufacturers to fill existing, underutilized industrial space (e.g., The Gate).
  • To date, over 3 million sf of commercial building space has been connected to the network, representing almost 200 existing and new businesses.

Phase II:  EDA Expansion

  • The U.S. Department of Commerce/Economic Development Agency said “yes” to the City’s request for a $2.12 million matching grant to build an additional 7.5 miles of conduit infrastructure. Construction will be completed first quarter of 2015.
  • Over 60 new San Leandro businesses have signed letters of intent to connect to Lit San Leandro once expansion is complete.

Broadband Connection Program

  • The City of San Leandro provides matching funds (in the form of a forgivable loan) of up to $10,000 to reduce the cost of connecting a commercial or industrial building to broadband infrastructure. The program includes, but is not limited to, connection to the Lit San Leandro fiber optic network. Projects are evaluated based on their ability to stimulate high-tech business activity, innovation, and job creation.

Connecting Schools to Fiber

  • In early January 2015, the City Council approved a License Agreement with San Leandro Unified School District. The License provides the District with access to several City-owned fiber strands that will connect each District site with dedicated, synchronous , 10 gbps access to the internet.
  • Providing gigabit speed connections directly to all school facilities will provide students, their teachers and education staff with a state of the art tool for accessing web-based technology and applications, leading to the creation of skilled, innovative entrepreneurs and workforce, supporting project-based learning and promoting sustainable, connected economic development.

Regional Collaboration

AC Transit will provide the cities of San Leandro and Oakland with 144 fiber optic strands each, fully installed, upon completion of the Bus Rapid Transit line connecting Downtown Oakland to the San Leandro BART station via E. 14th Street. This new fiber optic infrastructure will provide both cities with a unique economic development tool, and the opportunity to collaborate on economic development projects to benefit both cities.

To be continued!

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2 Responses to “3rd Annual East Bay Broadband Summit — Retrospective”

  1. […] post is continued from last week’s post, summarizing Mayor Cutter’s responses at a Mayoral panel discussion at the 3rd annual East […]

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