Internet Service

[Lawrence Duckworth]

It pisses me off that rural areas get better faster Internet than urban areas all paid for with tax dollars. A portion of rural Minnesota has fiber optic Internet installed by the local phone company using over $100 million in tax dollars. There is a Boy Scout camp I work with that is eight miles from the nearest paved road. They still have fiber optic Internet. The last couple of miles are run across their property to the administrative offices at taxpayer expense.

My urban house will be lucky to have fiber optic to the house by the year 2100. My Internet is plenty fast on the download side, but really slow on the upload side.

In 2015 our rural co-op electric company was awarded some of that shovel ready money to run fiber optic lines. We were just finishing up our lill retirement home when they ran the fiber down the road and up to the house free. The monthly charge is less than 60 bucks....all-n-all a pretty sweet deal.

[Curt Harms]

We were just finally able to get fiber optic to our house because the state Police have a tower about an 1/8 of a mile from us and NPR radio tower a little closer to us with Verizon cell on the tower paid the bulk of the cost to get the new service brought down the road. Still cost us $900 to get it brought to the house approximately 700 feet. The average cost to install fiber optic cable in Illinois is right at $23,000 per mile or about $4.50 per foot. But at least with fiber optic we are getting 500mb upload and download speeds and if we wanted we could get 1gb up and down, which is better than the 3mb on the DSL we had or the over air at 20mb.

Installed, that price doesn't seem too bad though I'm certain Verizon pays well under retail prices. Here's a spool 984 feet long.

https://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-Direct...ps%2C74&sr=8-6

I was home when Verizon pulled our cable. I didn't see how they went under the sidewalk but the rest was just a Vermeer vibratory plow I think it was called. It took less than 2 hours but that just got the cable to the house. Another guy pulled the cable into the house, terminated it (the tricky part IMO) and installed the ONT (Optical Network Terminal), functions like a modem but it's not a modem. Apparently the installation of fiber costs somewhat more than copper but the annual maintenance cost is considerably less so over time it's cheaper than copper. It's also immune to electrical interference.

[ChrisA Edwards]

AT&T pulled FO cable to our house about 3 years ago. I backed out of my driveway and saw the AT&T truck and a couple of guys working around the pole opposite my house. They said they were running fibber optic cable and it would be about 3 months before we could connect to it. Three months passed and we got notice it was available, so we made an appointment. They came and ran the line under the road and trenched it to my house. A tech came and made the inside house connections. Didn’t pay a dime for any of this.

1Gb service.

[Jack Frederick]

I have gotten to know the AT&T guys who spend much of their time at the pole out front. IN speaking with them they told me of a neighborhood in the Fresno area who banded together sending letters to PUC complaining of slow internet. Their efforts paid off and the company ran the fiber to the neighborhood. I mentioned this to a number of my neighbors and they thought it a good idea for me to do. I said, “Not me, US.” Starlink is working out very well for us.

[Curt Harms]

In 2015 our rural co-op electric company was awarded some of that shovel ready money to run fiber optic lines. We were just finishing up our lill retirement home when they ran the fiber down the road and up to the house free. The monthly charge is less than 60 bucks....all-n-all a pretty sweet deal.

I've read other stories like your, Lawrence. The previous FCC head, Agit Pai was in big telecom's pocket. Big telecom doesn't like local co-ops like yours, they'd rather wire the lucrative areas and let the rest go without so the FCC was not helpful - and that's being kind.

[Dave Fritz]

It's a human condition to be angry at those getting government subsidies when you're not, but if you get it, well, it's great. Rarely do we see the big picture and what's good for the country. Politicians of all parties use this human flaw all the time to get people worked up and angry. Anger is a powerful motivator. History shows it's been going on for a long time, the topics have changed but the behavior hasn't.

[Brian Elfert]

It's a human condition to be angry at those getting government subsidies when you're not, but if you get it, well, it's great. Rarely do we see the big picture and what's good for the country. Politicians of all parties use this human flaw all the time to get people worked up and angry. Anger is a powerful motivator. History shows it's been going on for a long time, the topics have changed but the behavior hasn't.

If you choose to live in the middle of nowhere why should you expect to have the same services at the same cost as those who live in a city? Can I move to the middle of nowhere and then demand that taxpayers build a strip mall with all the services I need next door and then also have taxpayers pay to run city water and sewer to my house. I want all the services of city living while living in a nice rural area.

[Dave Fritz]

If you choose to live in the middle of nowhere why should you expect to have the same services at the same cost as those who live in a city? Can I move to the middle of nowhere and then demand that taxpayers build a strip mall with all the services I need next door and then also have taxpayers pay to run city water and sewer to my house. I want all the services of city living while living in a nice rural area.

I'm sure some city folks felt the same when REA brought electricity to rural areas of the country. That's worked out pretty good for the USA.

[Curt Harms]

I think up until recently 'modern' telecom services - cable TV, high speed internet - were viewed as luxuries. Why should the government/I pay for your luxuries? I'm not sure HSI is a luxury anymore, with remote school and work from home due to the pandemic.

[Frederick Skelly]

If you choose to live in the middle of nowhere why should you expect to have the same services at the same cost as those who live in a city? Can I move to the middle of nowhere and then demand that taxpayers build a strip mall with all the services I need next door and then also have taxpayers pay to run city water and sewer to my house. I want all the services of city living while living in a nice rural area.

I agree with Dave and Curt.

I'd be pretty reluctant to call electricity a luxury in 2022, or even 1940. REA was a real blessing for people.

FWIW, I recently asked my internet provider why the taxes on my connection are lower than cell phones, etc. They claimed that remote work and school drove the change - "the government" (fed?, state? local?) no longer view internet as a luxury.

[Now I dont want to go too far down this path because it becomes political. But an argument can be made that having some kind of telephone service shouldnt be taxed because it isnt really a luxury any more - parents need to stay in touch with kids, elderly people needing help, etc.]