December 2008AT&T To Provide Fiber Optic Technology To Potrero HillBy Edward LortzYears after RCN/Astound wired a small part of Potrero Hill, and Comcast installed high speed cable, the Hill will soon have comprehensive access to fiber optic technology. AT&T announced the expansion of its fiber optic network to Potrero Hill last month at a meeting attended by several dozen residents held at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. AT&T hopes to begin installing the new system by the end of next year, with a completion date of 2010. At the gathering Shiyama Clunie, AT&T external affairs manager, described the U-verse service as an integrated communications and entertainment package that will feature more than 75 high definition television channels, digital video recording (DVR), high speed internet, and digital phone services. The DVR technology will allow up to eight television sets to record as many as four shows simultaneously from one box. Clunie stated that Potrero Hill is one of 180 infrastructure projects that the company is undertaking throughout the state. Under the projects AT&T will run fiber optic cable over existing poles to new street level boxes. The small wires, referred to as “fiber to the node,” should be almost unnoticeable. The new street boxes, which will be 50 inches wide, 26 inches deep and 48 inches tall, will be installed within 150 feet of the roughly 30 existing serving area interface boxes that are located between Cesar Chavez, 16th Street, Potrero Avenue, and Third Street. Each box, which will service up to 400 homes, will be placed about 18 inches from the curb and out of the flow of sidewalk traffic. Clunie stated that in addition to working with the San Francisco Planning Department and Department of Public Works, AT&T will send three notices – two more than required by the City – to homes located near the new boxes before they’re installed, requesting public input. AT&T has retained a landscape firm to help assess options for landscaping around the boxes, and an anti-graffiti team will be available on short notice. Meeting participants were most concerned about when boxes and utility wires would be placed underground, the schedule for installing the fiber optic infrastructure, and when the resulting services would be available. In response, AT&T noted that undergrounding prompts a number of challenges, included related to ventilation and maintenance and repair access. There are no immediate plans for additional electric utility undergrounding in the community. |
This Month's StoriesAugust 1970 View Covers Assaults, Drugs & Religion Library Reopening Prompts Increase in Business on 20th Street Corridor Patri’s Masthead a Reminder of Potrero’s Labor History Potrero Hill’s Street Names Tell California’s History Potrero Hill Crime Statistics Demystified Forty Things I Love About Potrero Hill The Fantasticks Still Thrill After 25 Years at SF Playhouse Business Blooms for Potrero Hill Mosaic Artist Locally Produced Honey All the Buzz On-going FeaturesPublisher's View: 40th Anniversary
 |