said by sashwa:Yes, we do or at least did have a choice between Comcast and AP&T. Comcast was here first as far as I know.
According to one article the decision to build the system was made 10 years ago because Alameda was unhappy with both TCI and AT&T Broadband. So the Alameda city leaders were right that AT&T didn't know how to run a cable company in 1998 but wrong with their long term prediction of the market.