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Why can't Darwin, California have broadband internet?
 
MULTIPLE T1 lines come into town, but no ISP will install the stupid $1,000 switch for DSL!
 

THE MADNESS CONTINUES!
VERIZON SAYS IT "DOESN'T DO" DSL
Is a fake Verizon installing
DSL across the U.S.?

March 5, 2010 — A Verizon source says "VERIZON DOESN'T DO THAT" when asked why Verizon won't install a T1 and a switch for broadband in Darwin, California, near Death Valley.

Read more about
Darwin's fascinating
broadband quest

2000Verizon says no 56k for Darwin; 28.8 is all you get.
2008 — Despite Verizon saying DSL is impossible, residents discover DSL is not only possible but easily installed.
2009Darwin PO gets broadband internet via T1 despite Verizon saying T1 installation is nearly impossible.
Feb. 19, 2010 — The day that will live forever in Darwin history: County meets with Darwin residents and vows assistance in obtaining broadband.
March 5, 2010Verizon says no broadband for Darwin yet again as they install another T1 line which could be used for broadband.

Could all the DSL lines crisscrossing Southern California have been installed by a company posing as Verizon, but not really Verizon?

What makes this statement even more mind-numbingly crazy is that the Verizon source said this while yet another T1 line was being installed in Darwin — yet another T1 line that could be used for broadband internet.

You will find it hard to sleep after reading the latest chapter of corporate double-talk. Read more here.


INYO COUNTY VOWS SUPPORT;
BUT CATCH 22 COULD PREVENT AID

February 19, 2010 — Although Inyo County vowed support for Darwin's broadband quest, a catch 22 could prevent actual county aid.

No, that isn't a typo: If Verizon ever offers to install DSL broadband in Darwin then grant money could not be used to aid broadband installation or in any way defray costs.

Great, huh? You gotta love it.

No, it's not Inyo County's fault. They really do want to help Darwin in its quest for Broadband. But the federal "last mile" grant is worded so that it only offers funds to communities without broadband.

The progress page:
Bringing broadband
to Darwin, California

All Darwin essentially needs now is for Verizon to install a switch, routing DSL through existing phone lines to residents' homes. But Verizon makes it sound more difficult than making a 747 from peach pits. Read the latest (and the back story) in the always spellbinding blog of Darwin's noble quest for high-speed internet access.

So why doesn't Darwin kick back with a cold one and wait for the grant to come through? Well, the grant isn't a sure thing. And more importantly, even if Darwin qualifies for the grant, money is still at least two years away. Add actual construction of a broadband system for Darwin to the picture, and a grant-financed broadband solution for Darwin could be two to five years distant — very distant.

Good news and bad
But the good news is that Inyo County is on board to do what they can to help Darwin get broadband to alleviate the suffering of those with horribly slow internet connections in this tiny isolated burg, a mere fly-speck on a map of California, a few miles from the border of Death Valley National Park.

Read more about the first good news in 10 years in Darwin's seemingly neverending fight for broadband.

Copyright © 2010 by the unofficial "Bring Broadband to Darwin" (BBD) ad hoc committee. No part may be copied without EXPRESS written permission, except in traditional journalistic reportage. This site may represent the views of some Darwin residents, but in no way is an official site maintained or condoned by Darwin townsite, its residents or Inyo County.