Frequently Asked Questions SANTA FE

RANCHO Frequently Asked Questions SANTA FE

Q: How are you going to educate the community about this project? A: In addition to the website and posting answers to the FAQ’s, we are working with Hotwire Communications to host (1) community Q&A and demonstration session(s), (2) set up full-time location in the Ranch for community members to come ask questions and meet the Hotwire team, and (3) distribute an informational packet to hand out to members’ homes.

Q: Will the RSF network connect to my home? A: If your home is within the Covenant, you can get connected.

Q: Where would the network be built? Who owns it? A: The network will be built within RSF and connect every home, business and community organization that chooses to connect to a common fiber-optic backbone. The preliminary design for the network utilizes existing roadways. The network will be 100% underground, and construction of the network will focus on minimizing any disruption to the local environment and residents.

Q: What if I’m happy with my current service provider? A: If you are happy with your current service providers, you can continue using their services.

Q: Almost every single Internet provider has bad customer reviews online. How can I be confident that Hotwire Communications will provide good service? A: Not only does our deal help RSF control the pricing and additional uses of the network, it allows us to ensure high quality customer service. Unlike traditional providers who are not accountable to community representatives, our agreement with Hotwire Communications includes a robust “Service-level Agreement” that will ensure quality customer support. Therefore, not only will Hotwire have to answer to you, they will also be accountable to the full Board. This is a key benefit of the community actually owning the network.

Q: Will Hotwire Communication also provided TV and phone services in its partnership with RSF? A: Yes. At your option, if you want Hotwire Communications to bring you additional services like television and home phone, those will be provided over the network and residents will be able to choose what services they would like to purchase. If you are happy with your current service providers, you can stay with them.

Q: Can I connect my home to the network without paying for monthly services? A: If you pay to connect your home to the network you do not need to pay for monthly services unless you want Internet or other services delivered to your home. You may, however, be required to pay a modest monthly payment for maintenance and upkeep of the network.

Q: Can I pay for the 10GB connection so that my house is ready for it, but opt to only receive 1GB? A: Yes. The 10GB connection fee covers the additional cost of equipment necessary to deliver the faster speeds. You do not, however, have to pay for those speeds to be delivered each month.

Q: Will this fix the cell phone issues we have in RSF? A: Not directly; however, the fiber network will provide the infrastructure necessary to support better and more innovative Wi-Fi and cellular technology. Because RSF owns the infrastructure, the cost to bring better service to the Ranch will be less.

CONTINUED > Q: Other companies have fiber running through various parts of the Ranch, why can’t we use that? A: Although multiple providers have fiber around RSF, most of the fiber is not usable to provide fiber to the home services because it was not designed for this purpose. Fiber used to connect cell phone towers and other wireless systems does not have many of the unique elements needed to delver services via Fiber-To-The-Home technology.

Q: Did you talk to any residential or business service provides like Cox, Cox Business, AT&T, Orion, or anyone else? A: The RSF Technology Committee solicited information from all local providers and issued the RFQP to them as well as the greater broadband industry and broadband associations.

Q: There is fiber optic cable running down my street but I can’t get it. WHY? A: Unless the cable is part of the network that was designed to provide telecom service via Fiber-To-The-Home, existing fiber cable is unlikely to have the access points and equipment needed to provide quality services.

Q: Why can’t we get Internet for less than $129/month? A: This network is bringing Internet that is delivered by a 100% Fiber-To-The-Home network. Surprisingly, this monthly cost to consumers will be quite competitive with much more densely populated communities for comparable connectivity. More importantly, RSF’s ownership to the network and 50% revenue share with Hotwire allows the Association to remain in control of the pricing and quality of service. Should the network produce sufficient revenue to repay the Association’s up-front investment, the Association at that point could choose to lower rates.

Q: How long will it take until I can get service? A: Hotwire Communications has committed to a nine (9) month construction schedule after we get all permits, including in particular local county permits. We hope we can get county permits quickly but that can take as long as 3-9 months. When completed, this high-speed Internet connection will catapult Rancho Santa Fe from among the worst Internet-connected communities in the USA to one of the best in the world.

Q: What is the $525 connection fee? A: The $525 connection fee is paid to connect your home to the network via fiber-optic cabling that runs to your house from the street.

Q: Why is the connection fee higher for dedicated 1 gigabit and 10 gigabit service? A: The connection fee is higher because special equipment is needed to provide equal upload and download speeds. Dedicated 1 gigabit service means that your download and upload speeds are both configured for 1 gigabit. The same is true for 10 gigabit service.

Q: Why is broadband so important to RSF? A: As society transitions to the digital world, access to the Internet and its multitude of applications becomes increasingly more important. Where it was once just a complement to our physical lives, the virtual world had become a crucial part of what we do every day. Online applications for business, health, education, security, and entertainment have all become integrated into our daily lives. These applications and new ones continue to grow. To function, they must be carried across high-speed, reliable broadband infrastructure, which we can think of as the highway system for the electronic world. If the community’s infrastructure doe not keep pace with these changes, then it will have negative impacts not only on our quality of life, but on home values as well.

Q: What kind of broadband does RSF have today? A: RSF has access to DSL Internet and cable satellite television services today for resident and businesses. Some fiber-optic broadband is available to a few businesses and residents, but these services are not widely available to the majority of the community.

CONTINUED > Most services provide 1-5 Mbps (megabits per second) of bandwidth and many residents have reported only getting a fraction of those speeds. Normal Internet usage is difficult or impossible in the Ranch. The new Internet service will operate at 5 to 100 times faster than what is currently available.

Q: How much bandwidth does RSF need? Do we really need Internet that is this fast? A: The amount of bandwidth we need grows every year. The largest growth has been for video – “over the top” – or Internet-based video and other online video streaming. This trend is expected to continue at least for the rest of this decade. Video requires not only extra bandwidth, but also extra reliability. Homes are equipped with more devices, tablets, laptops and smartphones, all which use bandwidth. They are also being equipped with Internet- connected sensors that enable homeowners to remotely control key functions of their homes, such as lighting, temperature, irrigation and access. This trend is becoming more prominent as technologies such as Nest, Dropcam and others evolve and are used widely by homeowners. Business applications also have become more bandwidth-intensive and need good reliability to function correctly.

Q: Can’t RSF’s existing infrastructure be upgraded by its providers? A: Copper, which is used to transport broadband systems such as DSL and cable, cannot carry as much capacity as fiber-optic. Copper can support high bandwidth for only a few hundred yards, being a distance sensitive technology. The longer a signal travels on copper, the more the bandwidth degrades and the less data that is available. Providers in RSF can increase the bandwidth in their local network through upgrades, however, these are not long-term solutions to the bandwidth problem because they only provide marginally higher bandwidth. In addition, the condition of these existing networks is unknown and upgrades may not result in significantly higher performance if these networks are not physically capable of transporting higher bandwidths.

Q: What about wireless? I hear it can provide high-speed broadband. A: Many wireless broadband systems are shared technologies whereby each user on the system shares bandwidth among other users. Cellular, 3G, 4G and LTE systems are similar. In these cases, users do not receive guaranteed bandwidth for their use if a few users are consuming all of the bandwidth, other users will not receive any. Wireless point-to-point, or microwave systems do have the ability to provide guaranteed bandwidth in some instances and are widely used in areas where fiber-optic is infeasible. The carrying capacity of these wireless systems, however, is far less than a Fiber-To-The-Home network.

Q: What exactly makes fiber “future proof”? A: The equipment used to send light signals over glass fiber continues to improve. Equipping an existing fiber network with new electronics and with lasers can vastly increase available bandwidth without changing the fiber itself. Fiber is the only technology that scales to meet the current and future demands of users.

Q: Why don’t we underground other utilities at the same time? A: Undergrounding existing utilities is a major undertaking that would need to be led by third parties including as an example the relevant utility companies. It brings into consideration substantially more costs than the entire fiber project, as well as regulatory considerations. What we have contemplated is including an additional conduit when we lay the fiber so that Rancho Santa Fe provides an infrastructure that will be of benefit to those types of conversations down the line.

Q: I’ve reached some online reviews that give me concerns about Hotwire Communications. Have you considered those concerns and done due diligence to address them? A: The RSF tech committee negotiated the deal so that RSF not only owns the network, but has a Service-level Agreement (SLA) that requires Hotwire Communications to provide high-quality customer service.

As with almost all other Internet service providers, it is only the ones who have bad experiences that go online to express them (see the links on the next page)

CONTINUED > The RSF deal is also unique because it is a brand new 100% Fiber-To-The-Home network. Unlike some old networks built on deteriorating infrastructures that Hotwire Communications manages, RSF will be built on brand-new, latest, and best technology in the world. AT&T, for example, gets complaints themselves for not investing in upgrading their infrastructure and this also cause interrupted services.

This deal is a big one in the industry for a number of reasons, especially because of the ownership and control RSF has maintained over the network.

As you will see from the links below, San Diego’s incumbent Internet Service Providers suffer from unhappy customer reviews, but unlike in our deal, there is no way for the community to enforce quality service.

ATT on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/at-and-t-u-verse-san-diego-2 Time Warner on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/time-warner-cable-san-diego-2 Cox Communications on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cox-communications-residential-services-san-diego

Here are the reviews on Consumer Affairs for AT&T: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/att_wireless.htm

Finally, if you haven’t already, we suggest that you read the Union Tribute article (http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/07/internet-like-google-fiber-public-ownership/) covering the deal we have negotiated.