CITY OF FORT BRAGG
Incorporated August 5, 1889
416 N. Franklin Street
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Phone: (707) 961-2823
Fax: (707) 961-2802
https://www.city.fortbragg.com/
March 11, 2024
California Public Utilities Commission
Public Advisor's Office
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
Dear Decision-Makers:
Primarily in the interest of Public Safety, and secondarily in the interest of continued support of everyday life activities by the ubiquitous presence of affordable and local landline communication infrastructure, The City of Fort Bragg strongly opposes AT&T’s Applications A.23-03-002 and A.23-03-003.
If these applications were to be approved, many of our city residents would have no reliable and affordable communication methods to access emergency services. The same dangerous situation would apply to residents in nearby Mendocino County areas that depend on AT&T’s landline communication infrastructure in Fort Bragg.
We understand that cellular and satellite services are the primary alternative communication methods being suggested as alternatives. Please understand that neither of these are viable / dependable alternatives in our area:
Lack of Access: Due to terrain and / or trees, many locations have access to neither cellular or satellite service.
Non-affordability: Both cellular and satellite are simply unaffordable for many residents.
Unreliability due to power: During emergencies, both cellular and satellite alternatives are subject to outages due to power outages. The majority of residents do not have generators to keep personal cellular and satellite equipment functional. Cellular towers are also subject to downtime during extended power outages.
Unreliability due to call routing: Both cellular and satellite calling depends on equipment out of the local area. A call with a local source (e.g., a home) and destination (e.g., Police Department) must still be switched / routed through equipment located far, far from here that will be unreachable during many emergency situations.
The City of Fort Bragg must respectfully and strongly Oppose AT&T’s Applications A.23-03-002 and A.23-03-003.
If despite justifiably wide-spread opposition these applications are approved, we strongly request that as a condition of approval the CPUC require (1) that Fiber-to-the-Premise be implemented first for all customer premises in any area where landlines will no longer be supported, and (2) that there be an absolute requirement that local calls can continue to be switched / routed locally (rather than being routed through equipment far away that will be unreachable during many emergency situations).
Sincerely,
Bernie Norvell Jason Godeke
Mayor Vice Mayor
Teresa K. Albin-Smith Lindy Peters Marcia Rafanan Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember
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