Mendocino County and Fiber Internet
On Friday July 28th, 2023 AT&T Network Technicians Daniel and Steve visited the Comptche Broadband Committee to present the preliminary network design for Comptche’s fiber network upgrade. Nearly a four inch thick stack of 11” by 17” blueprints, the design was an impressive sight. Engineer Steve was funny in that he repeated many times “This is not our usual kind of upgrade.”
Work on the upgrade has already begun, with a new cabinet already installed in the Comptche exchange and another coming this week. Construction really starts in earnest in September, with an anticipated completion date of first quarter 2024. Contrary to previous indications, the existing fiber trunk to the coast will be used and no new trunk lines laid down. AT&T is able to keep the existing trunk by upgrading the equipment used to drive the line at 10Gbps per optical fiber.
Laying down over 80,000 feet of new optical fiber, the upgrade will provide a guaranteed 1Gbps symmetrical bandwidth from Docker Hill and Surprise Valley beyond Tunzi Ranch (or towards Big River Laguna) in the west then to Larson Grade in the east, and all the way south down Flynn Creek Rd to Wolfey Gulch. If you live in this area and have/had copper telephone service, you almost certainly will be eligible for fiber service. AT&T actually will not be removing our existing copper network; however, if they must perform maintenance on your copper service you may see your line switched over to fiber.
AT&T has national pricing, so the rate Comptche residents will be charged for service will be the same as anyone
else. This chart here gives the current price structure. Broadband at this pricing will save Comptche residents
over a quarter of a million dollars a year over current broadband providers.
You can read the resolution approved by the CPUC and the Advice Letter that requires AT&T to bring fiber to the home for Comptche.
About the Comptche Broadband Committee
The Comptche Broadband Committee (CBC) was formed in 2007 by Randy MacDonald and Belinda Pollack to bring DSL to Comptche. Since then, CBC has been a tireless watchdog of all of our telecommunications providers and promoter of choice in Comptche’s digital communication market.
Help Us Fulfill Our Mission
Advocacy in California’s telecommunications arena is complicated and expensive. The CBC is a completely volunteer effort. Please consider giving whatever you can to help CBC continue its mission of ensuring we have modern telecomm in our homes and businesses.
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Contact the Comptche Broadband Committee
You can reach the Comptche Broadband Committee (CBC)
by emailing contact@comptchebits.org or mailing us at:
Comptche Broadband Committee
PO Box 292
Comptche, CA 95427