[Hidden-tech] Help Wired West Bring Broadband to your Community

[Reva Reck]

Al,

I stand corrected. I didn't realize the cable companies had to do some rural
buildouts.

 

You ask "Do you foresee any interconnect issues for the last mile that might
arise from the same concerns people have about providers using the MBI
middle mile?" I'm not sure I understand your question, because I may not be
hearing the same concerns from people that you are. The main concerns about
providers using the MBI middle mile that I've heard have had to do with
pricing of connections at the Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs). The
price being charged to providers relative to what providers can charge
towns, makes for a small margin. This would not really affect WiredWest once
our network is built out, because we'd be buying high bandwidth from MBI at
only a few locations and the pricing for that kind of operation is more
favoriable.  Before our network is built out, WiredWest intends to provide
services to some CAIs on the MBI network, and it will affect us there, but
that's not the main focus of our business.



 

From: Al Williams [mailto:palwilliams at northamptontv.org] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 12:48 PM
To: Reva Reck
Cc: Kiernan Gulick-Sherrill; Hidden-Tech Discussions
Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] Help Wired West Bring Broadband to your Community

 

Reva,

My working knowledge is indeed that cable companies did indeed have to build
out to areas that they could not entirely self-select. That is not the same
as mandating ubiquitous connection.

Thank you for your correction of my all too sweeping statement regarding
Wired West. 
And I agree that FTTP inherently supports what I would call next generation
community media, not television. And the priority for everyone, in or out of
those 123 communities and more, should be those connections.

Best,

Al

On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Reva Reck <reva at revareck.com> wrote:

Actually, to my knowledge cable tv was not required to serve anyone they
didn't want to - otherwise all rural towns in Western Mass would have cable,
and the vast majority do not. The phone company was required to connect
everyone, which is why we have phone service (more or less).

 

Also, WiredWest is building it's own network, which will connect to the MBI
middle mile, but could also connect to other existing fiber resources if
necessary. So WiredWest will NOT "depend on those providers that use this
fiber."

 

I think a fiber to the home network, by its very nature, supports the
development of next generation community TV.  Setting aside a portion of
profits for this should certainly be considered, although as a startup with
a large capital outlay to pay off, it will be a while before WiredWest will
be doing more than breaking even.

 

 

From: Al Williams [mailto:palwilliams at northamptontv.org] 
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 11:17 AM
To: Kiernan Gulick-Sherrill
Cc: Reva Reck; Hidden-Tech Discussions
Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] Help Wired West Bring Broadband to your Community

 

Kiernan, all,

Just FYI, as this can commonly be misunderstood, the reason we have single
provider situations in Western Mass is due to the cost benefit analysis' of
providers.
There are plenty of townships and municipalities in MA with 2 or 3 options -
mostly located in the 495 corridor where density and affluence are gathered.
Broadband deployment has been allowed to play by an entirely different set
of rules than one of the last big buildouts - cable TV - which was required
to serve rural as well as urban demographics by the federal government.
Also, one of the areas in which people have concern is regarding the
willingness of providers to use the MBI middle mile. I am not implying
anything either way about it, just that the concern exists for some people
who vocalize it regularly at MBI sessions. The Wired West last mile will
depend on those providers that use this fiber.

As an add on, I'd like to throw out the thought experiment that any
grassroots or municipal internet system consider setting aside a percentage
of all provider revenue on those lines for next generation community media.
Currently only television revenues from MVPD's generate public funds for use
of public rights of way. That may very well change when the
Telecommunications Act is revisited - for better or worse.
But I think it is a sound economic, public, and cultural investment.
For full disclosure I am the Executive Director of Northampton Community
Television <http://www.northamptontv.org>  and Paradise City Press
<http://www.paradisecitypress.org>  and I also serve on the national board
of the Alliance for Community Media <http://www.allcommunitymedia.org> .

Feel free to contact me if you ever feel the desire to knock around these
topics.

Thanks,

Al



On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 10:03 PM, Kiernan Gulick-Sherrill
<greenearthcomputer at gmail.com> wrote:

   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
   ** If you did, we all thank you.


What is the current opinion and plan from wired west in regards to the towns
that are already served by Comcast/Charter/verizon, but are limited to that
corporate ownership as their only option?  Will it be expanding to offer
services in towns like Sunderland, etc?




Kiernan Gulick-Sherrill
Green Earth Computers
www.greenearthpc.us <http://www.greenearthpc.us/> 
kiernan at greenearthpc.us
413-282-TECH

Follow Me:  <http://www.facebook.com/greenearthpc>   


 

Member: Business Networking International (BNI)
Mill River Chapter: visit http://millriverbni.com

 

PPlease consider the environment before printing this e-mail

 

 

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 12:36 PM, Reva Reck <reva at revareck.com> wrote:

   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
   ** If you did, we all thank you.

 

Thank you, Daniel for letting hidden-techies know about this. I would just
like to clarify that WiredWest is looking for people to IN WIREDWEST TOWNS
to sign the support form, which basically says that you're interested in
getting service from WiredWest when the network is built. There is a map of
WiredWest towns on our website -
http://wired-west.net/participating-towns/regional-map/

 

Whether or not you live in a WiredWest town, you can support WiredWest, and
the economic development it will fuel in western Mass., by reaching out to
your friends who live in one of our towns, volunteering, or donating seed
money to the cause.  

 

Fiber to the People!  - Reva

  

 

From: lieberman.daniel52 at gmail.com [mailto:lieberman.daniel52 at gmail.com] On
Behalf Of Daniel Lieberman
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 8:24 AM
To: Hidden-Tech Discussions
Subject: Help Wired West Bring Broadband to your Community

 

Over 40 towns have come together to build a high speed broadband network to
connect all of Western Massachusetts to the world. If you live in Western
Mass, please fill out the form to help Wired West bring broad band to your
community.

 

If you're not sure what Wired West is about, or if your community is one of
the towns in the network, please visit http://wired-west.net/ for more
information, or feel free to contact me.

 

If you're interested in bringing broadband to your community, completing
this form helps demonstrate the need for the WiredWest network in your town.
The more support generated, the sooner we can build the network in your
area.

 

https://hugo.jf-olm.com/~wiretnet/card.php

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Daniel Lieberman

Shelburne Delegate to Wired West.

413 489 1818

 


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-- 
P. Al Williams
Executive Director
Northampton Community Television
www.northamptontv.org

 <http://www.facebook.com/greenearthpc> 


-- 
P. Al Williams
Executive Director
Northampton Community Television
www.northamptontv.org

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