FCC Chairman Genachowski to Visit San Leandro - Time Change to 2:30 p.m., February 27

Feb. 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Mayor Stephen Cassidy (http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/cityhall/council/mayor_stephen_cassidy/default.asp) announced today that Federal Communications Commission  Chairman Julius Genachowski (https://www.fcc.gov/leadership/julius-genachowski) will visit the City of San Leandro (http://www.sanleandro.org/) on Wednesday, February 27, 2:30 p.m. to acknowledge the unique public/private partnership that created San Leandro’s fiber optic network, known as Lit San Leandro (http://www.litsanleandro.com/) (www.litsanleandro.com).  The network became operational last year, providing businesses speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, or 2,000 times faster than the average U.S. internet connection.

“By offering virtually unlimited internet connectivity in the center of the San Francisco Bay Area, Lit San Leandro is assisting companies become industry leaders and strengthening America's ability to compete in the global marketplace,” stated Mayor Cassidy.  “San Leandrans share Chairman Genachowski’s understanding of the critical importance of high-speed broadband to our economy.  We applaud and are grateful to Chairman Genachowski for promoting private investment in broadband networks and removing barriers to broadband build-out across our nation.”

·         At the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting last month, Chairman Genachowski challenged the attendees to create at least one gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015.  In a press release announcing the Gigabit City Challenge (http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2...), Chairman Genachowski said, “American economic history teaches a clear lesson about infrastructure.  If we build it, innovation will come.”

·         The City of San Leandro has established itself as a City that welcomes innovation.  In 2012, San Leandro was awarded a $2.1m Federal Economic Development Administration grant to expand the original 11 mile network to 18 miles.  In 2013, the City hired its first Chief Innovation Officer (http://sanleandro.patch.com/articles/meet-san-leandro-s-e...), only the third municipal CIO in the country and first in the East Bay.  These actions position the City, with its stock of large-scale industrial sites, to expand its existing cluster of digital and clean tech businesses and create sustainable jobs through attraction of companies in Advanced Manufacturing sectors.

·         Both Lit San Leandro and the City of San Leandro are partners in US Ignite (http://us-ignite.org/what-is-us-ignite/), a federal economic development initiative announced by President Obama last June.  Nearly 100 partners—including more than 25 cities as well as corporate and non-profit entities—have joined with more than 60 national research universities to form this new public-private partnership.  The new US Ignite Partnership (www.us-ignite.org) is creating a national network of communities and campuses with ultra-fast, programmable broadband services, operating at speeds of 1 gigabit per second and higher.  This network will become a test-bed for designing and deploying next-generation applications to support national priorities areas such as education, healthcare, energy, and advanced manufacturing. The San Leandro Story (http://us-ignite.org/san-leandro-story/) is featured on the US Ignite web site.

·         In January 2013 the City of San Leandro welcomed US Ignite members (http://us-ignite.org/2013/02/ignitecamp-%E2%80%9Cimagining-what%E2%80%99s-possible%E2%80%9D-in-san-leandro-ca/)  from the White House Office of Science and Technology and over 60 other public, private and educational US Ignite organizations to the San Leandro Marina Inn for US Ignite’s first 2-day IgniteCamp for app developers – “Imagining What’s Possible” – to explore the opportunities of fast fiber and app development.  

FCC Chairman Genachowski recognizes the City of San Leandro answering the call to deploy ultra-fast gigabit speed communities in cities across the country.  In a February 15th press release (http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0215/DOC-318975A1.pdf), the Chairman stated: “As we’ve recognized in law and policy for many years, public-private partnerships are also essential for driving broadband deployment. Public-private partnerships like the Connect America Fund, which drives universal broadband deployment, and municipal and public -private projects like those in Chattanooga, Tennessee (http://chattanoogagig.com/) and San Leandro, California (http://www.sanleandro.org/) are also vital components of our national broadband strategy. Our Gigabit City Challenge and the important work of Gig.U (http://www.gig-u.org/) to drive ultra -fast broadband centers for innovation can also benefit from innovative local approaches to broadband infrastructure.”

Chairman Genachowski will be the featured speaker at this event on February 27, 2:30 p.m. at the City of San Leandro Library (http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/library/), Andrew Carnegie Lecture Hall, located at 300 Estudillo Ave., San Leandro, CA.  This event will include brief presentations from City and Lit San Leandro representatives that will be web streamed live.  As the San Leandro Library is connected to the Lit San Leandro network, there will be a brief demonstration of the network’s capacity and impact.  The event will be web streamed courtesy of OSIsoft (http://www.osisoft.com/), an international software company headquartered in San Leandro.  To view the event live, go to http://www.enterprisevideo.tv/viewerportal/osisoft/home.vp# (http://www.enterprisevideo.tv/viewerportal/osisoft/home.vp) .  

ABOUT CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI

Sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in June 2009, Julius Genachowski has focused the agency on unleashing the opportunities of wired and wireless broadband – pursuing policies to promote investment and job creation, drive innovation, foster competition, and empower consumers. Under Genachowski’s leadership, the FCC has been a model for excellence in government, named the most improved agency in the federal government, and one of Wired magazine’s “Top Seven Disruptors”.

Prior to his FCC appointment, Genachowski spent more than a decade working in the technology and media industries as an executive, investor, and board member. He was Chief of Business Operations and General Counsel at IAC/InterActiveCorp; Special Advisor at the private equity firm General Atlantic; and co-founder of the technology incubator LaunchBox Digital. Genachowski received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991 and is a 1985 graduate of Columbia College.

For more information, call Deborah Acosta at (510) 577-3353.

About San Leandro

A dynamic and diverse community of 86,000 residents located in the center of the San Francisco Bay Area, San Leandro maintains a safe, small town feel, while offering a wide range of shopping, dining, recreation, miles of shoreline, and easy access to regional parks and nature areas.  San Leandro businesses enjoy multiple advantages including close proximity to the Oakland International Airport and Port of Oakland, two major freeways, two BART stations, and access to a large and well-educated workforce.  Through a public-private partnership known as Lit San Leandro (www.LitSanLeandro.com), a fiber optic network circles San Leandro’s industrial and commercial core offering businesses virtually unlimited internet connectivity.

Visit www.sanleandro.org.  To receive City press releases, meeting agendas or other notifications by email, sign up at www.sanleandro.org/portal.