Los Altos Hills OKs deal to get Internet access

The digital divide is alive and well in Los Altos Hills, where swanky homes lack the high-speed Internet access that is common in less economically privileged parts of the Bay Area.

Town Council members, including four who work in the technology sector, did something to change that recently, approving a contract with Comcast. In exchange for a new franchise to offer cable service in the town, Comcast agreed to build more cable lines, giving an estimated 300 new households access to high-speed Internet.

Homes along private roads won't have access but can receive cost estimates if, and only if, more than 50 percent of the homeowners on the street request it. Councilman Breene Kerr asked if town leaders could require access on larger private roads without charging customers "exorbitant" rates. Comcast officials said no.

"We're not jacking up the price," said Comcast government relations director Kathi Noe. "We just need to recover our costs on private streets."

The town's unpredictable, rolling terrain makes it hard for homes to receive satellite or wireless Internet signals. And it costs a lot for telecommunications companies to build DSL, ISDN or cable lines that go to the dispersed population.

But now, Comcast will build more lines and give the town grants of $60,000 and $80,000 for TV equipment to broadcast town meetings and forums on a public access channel.

About a third of the town's roughly 3,000 households are already Comcast customers with access to high-speed Internet service, Noe said.

For some of the same reasons it is hard to provide high-speed Internet access, the town has trouble creating a town-wide sewer system and providing reliable cell-phone service.

"It's just not fiscally feasible for some of these companies to build the infrastructure needed to make things better," said Councilman Dean Warshawsky. "But we're trying our best and getting closer to doing it."

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