Receive a Staff presentation and hold discussion on Community Broadband and provide direction to the City Manager.
Item 01: Community Broadband
- Thread starter COSM_Admin
- Start date
- Status
MBaker
Council Member
Do we have any signage for our free public wifi areas?
The presentation identifies us as "39th" in access, what does that mean?
Says the average speed for San Marcos is 127mbps, but can we know people on fiber really skew that number, can we see the range or percent of people at different rates?
Has there been any feedback regarding the School's program? What is the satisfaction with the $10/month plan from Grande and the AT&T hotspots? What issues did they have with distribution? How many people do we assume went unserved? Do those programs consider the number of users per household and maintain the 25mbps download and 3mbps upload?
Seems like Staff supports partnering with an established provider. How long would that RFP take? Could it specify only fiber expansion?
The presentation identifies us as "39th" in access, what does that mean?
Says the average speed for San Marcos is 127mbps, but can we know people on fiber really skew that number, can we see the range or percent of people at different rates?
Has there been any feedback regarding the School's program? What is the satisfaction with the $10/month plan from Grande and the AT&T hotspots? What issues did they have with distribution? How many people do we assume went unserved? Do those programs consider the number of users per household and maintain the 25mbps download and 3mbps upload?
Seems like Staff supports partnering with an established provider. How long would that RFP take? Could it specify only fiber expansion?
Responses to Council Member Baker, provided by Director of IT, Mike Sturm:
Do we have any signage for our free public Wi-Fi areas? The Public Library promotes public Wi-Fi on their website, Facebook, Instagram, mailouts and have posted posters on the walls within the Library. We have not posted signs in other facilities or parks indicating public Wi-Fi is available for free.
The presentation identifies us as "39th" in access, what does that mean?
The statement related to ‘39th most connected City in the Texas’ refers to the availability of services and the number of internet providers San Marcos residents can select service from.
Says the average speed for San Marcos is 127mbps, but can we know people on fiber really skew that number, can we see the range or percent of people at different rates? The sources of data that we analyzed, did not provide this level of information.
Has there been any feedback regarding the School's program? What is the satisfaction with the $10/month plan from Grande and the AT&T hotspots? What issues did they have with distribution? How many people do we assume went unserved? Do those programs consider the number of users per household and maintain the 25mbps download and 3mbps upload? Based on the information we received from the School District; they did not perform a satisfaction survey. The School District’s practice for FY 20-21 school year provided one hotspot per family that requested the technology. Once that need was met, the School District offer families with multiple kids the option to have a secondary hotpot. For the school year 21-22, the School District is asking families to sign up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. If families need additional technology or do not want to sign up, the School District has applied for a grant through the Emergency Connectivity Program. The grant closed on August 13, 2021, and the School District has not received approval of their grant application. If approved, the school district will purchase technology and services for hotspots to provide to students.
Seems like Staff supports partnering with an established provider. How long would that RFP take? Could it specify only fiber expansion? Based off the information collected and the current coverage within San Marcos, staff is supportive in partnering with local providers to improve affordability, accessibility, and reliability. The length of the RFP process would depend on the Purchasing Department’s workload (4-8 months). The solicitation could include a preference in fiber connectivity.
Responses to Mayor Hughson, provided by Mike Sturm, Director of IT:
Is the general information presented in the first slides limited to inside the city limits? The data on the first slides are based on our zip code, which extends outside of our city limits.
I've seen the maps and can tell what is in and out of city limits. Attached are two sets of maps with enhanced city limit borders.
For Rise Broadband, shouldn't "Line of site Wireless" be "Line of SIGHT Wireless" ?? Yes, the correct spelling is ‘sight’.
Do we have any signage for our free public Wi-Fi areas? The Public Library promotes public Wi-Fi on their website, Facebook, Instagram, mailouts and have posted posters on the walls within the Library. We have not posted signs in other facilities or parks indicating public Wi-Fi is available for free.
The presentation identifies us as "39th" in access, what does that mean?
The statement related to ‘39th most connected City in the Texas’ refers to the availability of services and the number of internet providers San Marcos residents can select service from.
Says the average speed for San Marcos is 127mbps, but can we know people on fiber really skew that number, can we see the range or percent of people at different rates? The sources of data that we analyzed, did not provide this level of information.
Has there been any feedback regarding the School's program? What is the satisfaction with the $10/month plan from Grande and the AT&T hotspots? What issues did they have with distribution? How many people do we assume went unserved? Do those programs consider the number of users per household and maintain the 25mbps download and 3mbps upload? Based on the information we received from the School District; they did not perform a satisfaction survey. The School District’s practice for FY 20-21 school year provided one hotspot per family that requested the technology. Once that need was met, the School District offer families with multiple kids the option to have a secondary hotpot. For the school year 21-22, the School District is asking families to sign up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. If families need additional technology or do not want to sign up, the School District has applied for a grant through the Emergency Connectivity Program. The grant closed on August 13, 2021, and the School District has not received approval of their grant application. If approved, the school district will purchase technology and services for hotspots to provide to students.
Seems like Staff supports partnering with an established provider. How long would that RFP take? Could it specify only fiber expansion? Based off the information collected and the current coverage within San Marcos, staff is supportive in partnering with local providers to improve affordability, accessibility, and reliability. The length of the RFP process would depend on the Purchasing Department’s workload (4-8 months). The solicitation could include a preference in fiber connectivity.
Responses to Mayor Hughson, provided by Mike Sturm, Director of IT:
Is the general information presented in the first slides limited to inside the city limits? The data on the first slides are based on our zip code, which extends outside of our city limits.
I've seen the maps and can tell what is in and out of city limits. Attached are two sets of maps with enhanced city limit borders.
For Rise Broadband, shouldn't "Line of site Wireless" be "Line of SIGHT Wireless" ?? Yes, the correct spelling is ‘sight’.
- Status