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2 <br />City Council Special Meeting Minutes <br />August 23, 2023 <br />Gautam Agrawal, M.D., Los Altos Hills Community Fiber (LAHCF), gave a <br />presentation. Johann Schmidt, LAHCF, provided further information about <br />community broadband. <br /> <br />Ellen Kamei, External Affairs, AT&T, provided a presentation. <br /> <br />Vardin Amari, Tarana Wireless, provided a presentation. <br /> <br />Tedi Vriheas, Vice President of Eternal Affairs, AT&T, and Diana Brown, <br />Director of Construction and Engineering at AT&T, replied to questions from the <br />Council. <br /> <br />Vardin Amari, Tarana Wireless, responded to questions from the Council. <br /> <br />The Council asked questions of the presenters and received answers. <br /> <br />Public Comment <br /> <br />Hendrik Dahluamp, Los Altos Hills, said he is confused by the numbers by AT&T. <br /> <br />Rajiv Bhateja, Los Altos Hills, said we need to think about today’s issues and <br />tomorrow’s issues. About 800 homes are not happy with their Internet <br />service. Starlink covers all homes in LAH at about $250 per month. Rather than <br />invest in expensive solutions, we should just use Starlink. Going forward, before we <br />sink tens of millions into a fiber solution, we need to think about how technology will <br />evolve. <br /> <br />Lennies M. Gutierrez, Comcast, mentioned that even for a current provider, it does <br />cost money to invest in infrastructure. She offered to return at another time to make a <br />Comcast presentation. <br /> <br />Jay Snable, Los Altos Hills, the needs in various parts of town are different. There <br />are 600 inquiries in to LAHCF and many pockets of town that have no service. On his <br />own project, he spent less than $8,000 to bring fiber to his house. <br /> <br />Daniel Dulitz, Palo Alto, President, Adobe Creek Networks, LAHCF’s sister <br />organization in Palo Alto. They evaluated wireless technologies before trying a fiber <br />solution. They found it to be possible by copying the model of LAHCF. They have a <br />process/roadmap on how to move forward. Clearly define goals and make these <br />available to all competitors. Issue a proposal to which all competitors can <br />respond. Please be clear on what you want to buy. Retain local control. <br /> <br />Johann Schmidt, Los Altos Hills, commented on Starlink, saying it really isn’t <br />available to everyone in LAH as it requires a good line of sight. Its performance is <br />inconsistent. <br />