HUGE news from Gilbert. Superfast fiber optic internet coming to greater downtown

[Honky Tonk]

In all due regard to that poster, I wonder if he knows the issues involved.

This isn't roads or street lights where everyone wants the best possible infrastructure including the best roads, snow removal, lighting services attainable should be available to as many as possible.

Extremely high speed Internet isn't something that most want. Would a person having a hard time making his utility bills want to PAY EXTRA for super speed Internet? Probably not.

Exactly, Besides the privileged areas of Downtown and Midtown, the rest of are barefoot and poor. Why most of us don't even know what the internet is, let alone that new-fangled "high speed" stuff. Carry on.

[emu steve]

Exactly, Besides the privileged areas of Downtown and Midtown, the rest of are barefoot and poor. Why most of us don't even know what the internet is, let alone that new-fangled "high speed" stuff. Carry on.

Straw man alert...

Don't most [[or all) areas of the city of Detroit have MORE speed then they could imagine using?

This is like a 5-star hotel or Starbucks.

Is there a market for one all over the city? Or is this a niche for which there is a limited market?

Again, I'm saying, and my telecomm knowledge is limited, but this appears geared at commercial [[and large commercial at that) market and not Mr./Mrs. Smith living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood somewhere in Detroit streaming with Chromecast or Hoku.

BTW, my provider [[and I'm not in MI) offers 5, 50, 100, 150 Mbps.

[hewettbr]

Without getting into comments which could be inflammatory, but what percentage of folks in Detroit have broadband coverage?

If the percentage is relatively modest, the question of super high speed Internet becomes almost mute.

And piggybacking off our your [[48307) comments: If 15 MBPS meets your needs, does half of the city of Detroit need speeds much, much faster???? Curious how much of a market there is for 100 MBPS [[and if those residential folks are paying for more broadband then they will ever use?).

I really consider this whole issue essential a commercial IT issue, not Mr/Mrs. Smith streaming using Hoku or Chromecast...

BTW, the telecomm issues, and I don't know them, are, for example, will this expansion of broadband capacity lead to a reduction in rates for all users, both commercial and residential?

I think that if the prices are competitive [[like google fiber) then its a no brainer. Having faster internet is going to be necessary in the future if you want to keep up. Yes, it is not necessary for most people living in and around the city but it makes sense if you can get a better product for an equal or lesser price [[speculation as i do not know the pricing). this may also allow customers to ditch cable and use strives like sling tv, netflix or hulu which could save them money as well. I have a 15mbps connection and it struggles while streaming and i do not believe 15 is standard from most providers. I know ATT's basic is under 5 and is absolutely terrible

[Scottathew]

And piggybacking off our your [[48307) comments: If 15 MBPS meets your needs, does half of the city of Detroit need speeds much, much faster???? Curious how much of a market there is for 100 MBPS [[and if those residential folks are paying for more broadband then they will ever use?).

I would be curious to know that, but Comcast would never release that kind of data. I would imagine that speeds around 100 MB\s are available throughout most of Detroit via Comcast.

My supervisor at work says he has to have his 100 MB\s connection because what if every member of his house [[he, his wife, a 3 year old, and a 5 year old) want to stream HD video at the same time...

My response to him was that I don't want every member of my family watching 4 different programs at once, and even if they tried that quality degradation would acceptable to me in that scenario if it meant cheaping it out.

He pays over $100 a month for just internet through Comcast [[he has Dish for video) and I pay $20 a month for my 15 MB\s connection from WOW.

I guess my family does things differently, every night we have board game time. On weekdays, the kids are only allowed to watch television between 7:00pm and 8:00pm. During the summer we spend most evenings outdoors biking, walking, etc...

Don't get me wrong, 1 GB\s would be cool, but I would not be willing to pay anything for it.

[SpartanDawg]

The greatest benefit is going to be competition against Comcast. They are quite possibly the worst company in America and they can get away with treating their customers like shit because in most markets they have a monopoly. I've heard countless times when fiber optic ISPs enter markets they drastically lower their prices and offer higher speeds at discounts to ensure nobody leaves them

[Funaho]

The greatest benefit is going to be competition against Comcast. They are quite possibly the worst company in America and they can get away with treating their customers like shit because in most markets they have a monopoly. I've heard countless times when fiber optic ISPs enter markets they drastically lower their prices and offer higher speeds at discounts to ensure nobody leaves them

This. I have Comcast in SW Detroit [[50 down/10 up service), and although the connection is fine most of the time heaven help you if you need customer service. Last Wednesday they changed something in their routing and now NONE of our employees in the metro area who have Comcast can connect to our office network anymore [[office is NOT on Comcast, btw). Regular support was unhelpful and sometimes rude [[they hung up on at least two people here), they ignore us on Twitter, deleted our request for help on FB, and only this afternoon did their NOC [[network operations center) finally respond to us...though they STILL haven't fixed it. Sucks being on pager duty when you can't log in remotely...I ended up having to buy a VPN connection out of Virginia just to be able to do my job.

[emu steve]

This. I have Comcast in SW Detroit [[50 down/10 up service), and although the connection is fine most of the time heaven help you if you need customer service. Last Wednesday they changed something in their routing and now NONE of our employees in the metro area who have Comcast can connect to our office network anymore [[office is NOT on Comcast, btw). Regular support was unhelpful and sometimes rude [[they hung up on at least two people here), they ignore us on Twitter, deleted our request for help on FB, and only this afternoon did their NOC [[network operations center) finally respond to us...though they STILL haven't fixed it. Sucks being on pager duty when you can't log in remotely...I ended up having to buy a VPN connection out of Virginia just to be able to do my job.

I guess your comment is probably a good synopsis of the problem:

Problems aren't so much speed but technical and the ISP be willing to pay their techs [[recruit good techs) for essentially what is called Tier I support.

[drjeff]

If it's ONLY downtown, that means Gilbert is driving a wedge between the downtown area and the rest of the city. Why not just separate from Detroit and call it gilbertville?
Or -- "to hell with those N*rs"

I was unaware that there were zero black people living downtown. Thanks for the info.

[SpartanDawg]

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...a-second-stage

lots of details in this Crains article today


"In addition to the upcoming rollout of gigabit-speed Internet, which made headlines last week, Rock Ventures' new company, Rocket Fiber LLC, also wants to:

• Open a retail electronics store in downtown Detroit.
• Launch a training center to help bridge the digital divide by teaching computer and Internet literacy.
• Become another provider of cable television in the city. Rocket Fiber is preparing a proposed cable-franchise agreement for approval by the Detroit City Council. No city, state or federal approvals are needed to provide the internet service"

"Rocket Fiber plans in several months to move into about 5,000 square feet of space at 1505 Woodward, one of Dan Gilbert's buildings, after the building's reconstruction is finished.

The electronics store and training center may share a location with each other or be in separate buildings"

"Rocket Fiber hopes to begin offering residential Internet in the central business district in the fourth quarter this year for $70 a month. Prices for and online high-definition TV have not been finalized."


"In 2016, the next phase will extend the fiber-optic cable through Midtown, with a combination of underground installation and above-ground installation on telephone poles, according to Hudson. "



very exciting stuff!

[detroitbob]

Comcast has announced its intent to give up most of Michigan except for the Benton Harbor area as part of the concessions go get the Time Warner deal approved, so, they would spin this area off to another operator...this is not just Detroit, all of Michigan except for the indicated area.

[RO_Resident]

Comcast has announced its intent to give up most of Michigan except for the Benton Harbor area as part of the concessions go get the Time Warner deal approved, so, they would spin this area off to another operator...this is not just Detroit, all of Michigan except for the indicated area.

The bastard child of the Comcast and Charter merger is GreatLand Communications. They will be taking over cable operations from the areas dropped by Comcast.

[emu steve]

Latest information on this exciting project:

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ails/24775315/