In an increasingly connected world and a tech-savvy city, independent internet service providers (ISPs) are the ones leading the way to ultra-high-speed connectivity. Sonic, one of California’s largest independent providers, will begin this summer to roll out Gigabit fiber in the Mission and surrounding neighborhoods.
Sonic, an ISP based in Santa Rosa, Calif., which already offers other types of internet service to around 3.7 million people around California, announced that it would begin rolling offering gigabit connections. Gigabit refers to connections that can download 1000 megabits of data per second. The service will be available in mid-May in parts of the Mission. On average, speed testing service Ookla reports, Americans get about 50 megabits per second.
It’s not the first promise of gigabit in the area, but it delivering service has proven challenging for other providers because of San Francisco’s restrictions on digging to lay cable.
Google made promises in 2013 to roll out fiber in cities around the country, but backed off its plans in San Francisco and other cities last year after a round of layoffs. MonkeyBrains, a Mission-based ISP serving the neighborhood, has circumnavigated the challenges of fiber to offer not-quite-gigabit, but still extremely high speeds via a system of rooftop-mounted antennae.
While it already offers fiber connections in the Sunset, Sonic has chosen its new rollout areas based on utility locations. In the planned coverage areas, fiber optic cables can be installed overhead, instead of dug into the ground, which is restricted in San Francisco.
But independent ISPs promise much more than speed. While large providers often track their customers’ browsing habits in order to target advertising to them, many small providers including Sonic minimize tracking as a matter of principle. Companies like Comcast say that they won’t sell consumers’ data but aren’t restricted from tracking it. (Sonic’s specific privacy and tracking promises can be found here and compared with Comcast’s here.)
Small providers have also been strong advocates for ‘net neutrality,’ a term referring to rules that prevent providers from favoring some websites with connectivity while throttling connections to others. Companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast have supported rollbacks of those rules.
Once fully rolled out, a process that will take a few months, Sonic’s fiber service will be available in the Mission, Noe Valley, the Castro, Dolores Heights, Glen Park, Potrero Hill, and Sunnyside. Curious residents in the market for a new internet provider can check availability of the service here.
followed the link and the promised speed is 1/2 of what i currently get with wave via cable for less money (we’re paying $55/month). am i missing something? are they ramping up speed later after the roll out or is this more hype than promise?
Current service available now is not gigabit. I signed up for gigabit and they have an estimated Aug 18 install date here at Shotwell and 25th for $58/mo with first six months free. So pre-order is available but you’ll have to wait while they get the infrastructure in place but I’m super stoked.