Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

[seanrichardryan]

Yellow? Yellow is usually gas. The fiber is run in and orangy-red tubing.

[Wedgeguy]

Maybe with all of the new construction that had to increase the diameter of the gas line to handle the new demand. I guess I just assumed because they only did a few spots that it was fiber. To replace gas I'd think they would have to dig a new trench to lay the line. I just remember the few spots they dug wen they put fiber in front of my house.

[David Greene]

Maybe with all of the new construction that had to increase the diameter of the gas line to handle the new demand. I guess I just assumed because they only did a few spots that it was fiber. To replace gas I'd think they would have to dig a new trench to lay the line. I just remember the few spots they dug wen they put fiber in front of my house.

They do gas the same way now. We just had our gas meter moved outside which required them to run new a line clear across the front yard. We only have a couple of horrendous-looking dirt patches rather than a continuous swath of grassless goodness running across the yard.

[travis]

Just a quick followup to this conversation;

We are just a couple weeks away from bringing the rest of Zone 2 live, Lyndale Ave, 1st Ave, Stevens Ave, and blocks south of 28th.

Construction in the south end of Zone 4 has started, starting Monday we will have all our crews dedicated to Zone 4 for the rest of the summer.

Interesting to see our ranking on Google Video Quality Report; http://www.google.com/get/videoqualityreport/ change location to Minneapolis, MN and click on "US Internet FTTP"

Response has been overwhelming, thanks to everyone for your continued support.

-Travis Carter
[US Internet Corp]

[mnjimn]

Imagine how awesome it would've been if the city invested in USI Fiber instead of the current wireless system. I'm sure it would've cost tons more but I can't stop fantasying about having a true high speed alternative to compete with cable. You guys who have this available are very lucky.

[mattaudio]

At least my my neighborhood, DSL is faster than cable and has been that way for 5+ years. I just flip between the two based on promotions. A bit is a bit is a bit.

[kirby96]

Got my fiber hookup turned on this past weekend (38th and Harriet). It is pretty slick.

[versitalex]

I live on Lyndale Avenue close to 37th Street and it is frustrating to know that people just across the alley from me have cheap fiber service. I wonder if this might expand to Lyndale next year.

[travis]

Versitalex, if weather holds up for us this summer we plan to build out the first 6-12 blocks of Lyndale south of 31st, this would include your property.

Thanks.

-Travis

[zlkahn]

Versitalex, I feel your pain. On the 3500 block of Blaisdell Ave S and have have friends one block over who are all hooked up to Minneapolis Fiber.

Travis, any plans to expand coverage on Blaisdell Ave (right now you guys stop at Lake St.)?

[travis]

Zlkahn, I am currently planning on the 2015 fiber season to include Blaisdell Ave S from Lake Street south.

Thanks.

-Travis

[versitalex]

Oh man! I am giddy. Thanks for the info Travis!

P.S. Why am I awake?

[MKB]

That is great news - I'm so excited about finally getting it here (3400 block of Blaisdell). Thanks so much for updating the thread, Travis - you made my whole day!

[FreeGeekTwinCities]

The city has an exclusive contract with USI till 2016, we have a lot more leverage once that contract is up. As far as I'm concerned what we ought to do is invest in conduit and rent it to potential ISPs and/or strike some deal with xcel to be able to string fiber on their poles. This service should not be tied to one vendor, rather we need to reduce start up costs and foster competition in the fiber market. Fiber itself is cheap, laying it without conduit or poles is not.

To be clear, I think USi fiber is wonderful and I love their customer support vs any other ISP around, but their main product is and will continue to be wireless. Signing a 10 year exclusive contract with USI in 2006 was a short sighted move for the city because though it seemed reasonable at the time wifi just can't provide the bandwidth and the reliability that fiber could and we have come to want over the following decade (or the majority thereof).

[MNdible]

In retrospect, Minneapolis did better than just about everybody else that was jumping into this game around the same time. You can say that they didn't properly read the tea leaves, but the alternatives didn't work out much better (and usually much worse).

Short of the few who won the Google Fiber lottery, we've done better than most.

[nickmgray]

I know the city signed a 10 year contract with them for a city-wide WiFi network, but I don't think there was anything in that deal which restricts other companies from building out a fiber network.

Honestly, I'm wondering why electric companies across the country are not jumping into the high speed internet game on their own. Why doesn't Xcel use its current electric poles to deploy fiber across the twin cities. If a USI Wireless successfully, why can't Xcel?

[travis]

I am hoping history will show how choosing USI was a smart decision for the City of Minneapolis and it's residents when they went out for bid for a wireless network, couple points to consider;

USI actually deployed and continues to operate a wireless network, most cities failed including our neighbor St. Louis Park. Now I admit WIFI is not a perfect technology and we are working on improvements all the time, but, over 10000+ homes are active and using it currently.

USI has deployed a fiber to the home network that 13000+ households in Minneapolis can access today. Most other cities are dreaming of Google coming into town and saving the day. This was not required by the contract with the City, USI has funded the deployment and will continue too.

Now a couple logistical points you need to understand in the City;

The poles are owned by; The City of Minneapolis, Centurylink, Comcast, and Xcel, you would be hard pressed to find a single alley in Minneapolis that does not have at least two of these providers poles, so you need to have a contract in place with each one to gain access. Now if you have a contract, now there needs to be room, we have measured over 300 poles in the City and there is no room on the poles for a new provider to come into town. We spent many years trying to gain access to the poles without any luck, to be honest, outside of Xcel and the City, the other poles are unusable, so it is impossible to create an aerial network on existing poles. On top of it all the City has a moratorium on any additional aerial networks being deployed. So the cards are stacked against anyone trying to deploy an aerial network in the City.

So USI has deployed underground in the boulevards, this is very labor intensive, costly, and slow process, but, we are making strides each year.

I guess the moral of the story is, by the City choosing USI, the City has an operational wireless network (unique), a expanding fiber to the home network (unique), and the commitment of a couple guys who grew up in South Minneapolis to keep expanding the technology year after year here in our home town.

Thanks for all the support.

-Travis / USI

[thatchio]

We had USI Wireless down at 58th and Irving S but there was some disturbance signal in the area that caused inconsistent service. The USI wireless techs were wonderful but couldn't solve the problem so it was suggested we bail, which we did. Great customer service I thought, versus keeping us hoping it'd work out. Someday hopefully the fiber will come down here. In the interim, CenturyLink is reliable and fairly inexpensive compared with Comcast, who has horrible customer service.

[LakeCharles]

We have USI wireless and love it. Works just fine, it's super cheap, and we don't have to deal with Comcast.

[Longfellow]

Can you give any estimate for when fiber might start to be built out to other parts of the city? In particular I'm interested in the Longfellow neighborhood near Minnehaha Avenue.

Thanks!