Cornish Connect - Send your comments about getting high speed Internet in Cornish
This page is for discussion about town issues
High Speed Internet in Cornish - 2008
May 22
A MESSAGE FROM MARY BETH HEISKELL & CHRIS MANN:
We recently signed on to high speed internet with Comcast. We received a letter that these services were now available to us due to the "recent extension of our cable lines past your home." After signing on and my additional inquiries, I learned that, apparently, these services have been available to us for months
(I remember the cable lines being put in over a year ago) but because of territorial disputes between phone companies and then a medical leave of comcast personnel they were prevented from sending notification out sooner... Not sure if we were notified
b/c we had made past inquiries or just because of our address...Regardless, we are very pleased with the new and affordable service.
The local contact if you are interested in trying to acquire this service for yourself is:
Mathew Lambert
800-392-2250 or 603-448-9512
mathew_lambert@cable.comcast.com
May 14
A MESSAGE FROM REMKO SCHARROO:
Dear DSL seekers,
I would like to provide an update on the situation regarding high-speed internet service in the Townhouse Road corridor and Cornish in general. As mentioned earlier, I had good hopes that the facility ("Central Office" or CO) that was erected on Townhouse Road near the bottom of Dingleton Hill Road was soon going to provide broadband connectivity through your phone line (DSL) to anyone in its vicinity. Served by the CO would be Mill Village, Root Hill Road, Sunset Drive,
Tandybrook Road, Town House Road until about the school, and Dingleton Hill Road.
After my initial query to FairPoint I was soon contacted by Alan Guimont, DSL Coordinator for FairPoint. He kindly informed me that at the moment "Cornish is not on the primary list of facilities that will
be upgraded". However, he stressed the commitment of FairPoint to deliver high-speed internet to at least 75% of its customers within 18 months, increasing to 85% in 24 months.
Thus, we have to let FairPoint know that we are its customer base. Indeed, the DSL Coordinator even encouraged me to urge all of you to contact him directly (by e-mail or phone) to help him build up a
database of most underserved regions, and to help ourselves by putting "Cornish on the map".
Anybody who is interested in obtaining a DSL connection (without any obligation) should therefore contact Alan Guimont at the location below. Definitely those who live in the area mentioned above, but also
others. A simple e-mail or phone call stating your interest will help us all. Mention you are from Cornish and supply your phone number (which helps locate you on the map).
Al Guimont, FairPoint Communications, DSL Coordinator
South Portland, ME
Phone: 1-888-648-3066
E-mail: aguilmont@fairpoint.com
Again, there is no obligation to making the inquiry. So even if you are not really interested, but think it may be useful in the future, or for your neighbors, drop a line. I got very helpful responses from Alan, so let us be optimistic.
May 15
I would like to provide an update on the situation regarding high-speed internet service in the Townhouse Road corridor and Cornish in general. As mentioned earlier, I had good hopes that the facility ("Central Office" or CO) that was erected on Townhouse Road near the bottom of Dingleton Hill Road was soon going to provide broadband connectivity through your phone line (DSL) to anyone in its vicinity. Served by the CO would be Mill Village, Root Hill Road, Sunset Drive,
Tandybrook Road, Town House Road until about the school, and Dingleton Hill Road.
After my initial query to FairPoint I was soon contacted by Alan Guimont, DSL Coordinator for FairPoint. He kindly informed me that at the moment "Cornish is not on the primary list of facilities that will
be upgraded". However, he stressed the commitment of FairPoint to deliver high-speed internet to at least 75% of its customers within 18 months, increasing to 85% in 24 months.
Thus, we have to let FairPoint know that we are its customer base. Indeed, the DSL Coordinator even encouraged me to urge all of you to contact him directly (by e-mail or phone) to help him build up a
database of most underserved regions, and to help ourselves by putting "Cornish on the map".
Anybody who is interested in obtaining a DSL connection (without any obligation) should therefore contact Alan Guimont at the location below. Definitely those who live in the area mentioned above, but also
others. A simple e-mail or phone call stating your interest will help us all. Mention you are from Cornish and supply your phone number (which helps locate you on the map).
Al Guimont, FairPoint Communications, DSL Coordinator
South Portland, ME
Phone: 1-888-648-3066
E-mail: aguimont@fairpoint.com (corrected email address)
Again, there is no obligation to making the inquiry. So even if you are not really interested, but think it may be useful in the future, or for your neighbors, drop a line. I got very helpful responses from Alan, so let us be optimistic.
Remko Scharroo
---------------------------------
February 26
A MESSAGE BELOW FROM JOHN DRYFHOUT re: COMCAST
This note is to Cornish's elected representatives and senator -- and is
worthy of more extensive dispersal - perhaps to your good friends at
the NH Utilities Commission or whatever other organizations and bureaus
that treat with this sort of thing.
Recently I responded to advertisements by Comcast that I could receive
bundled package of TV cable, and Internet High Speed through their
firm. I responded to the on-line site and received a cheery
message that indeed my address in zip code 03745 would qualify. I
should call the next day to COMCAST and arrange my installation and
order my new modem to be there when the installation would take place.
When I called COMCAST offices the next day - the young woman who talked
with me said that they would have to send out one of their reps to
survey the area where I lived to give me an estimate etc. I said
but our internet site said I would be able to have the installation -
oh she said the internet contractor and our base operation are
different - etc. etc. etc.
On Saturday Feb 23 I received a letter from the home of Henry Cannon,
Project Coordinator of Comcast, of Springfield, VT. (802 885-8522)
In their "Modest Proposal" they could bring Comcast to my address at a
cost of $45,488.53 (you bet!) and they would gladly absorb the first
$1,400 of that cost as a "residential subscriber."
Where is that 10 subscriber minimum to Comcast that guarantees coverage
and installation in their Cornish contract to do business in the town
-- that Selectman Stu Hodgeman tells us is the rule? How is it
that folks along East Rd in Cornish 03746 have this service available
without the Modest Proposal attached?
Meanwhile in the Valley News on Friday February 22, 2008 there was this cheery note:
NEWS: Private Firm Tolerant Of Internet Initiative
Officials at the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network said
yesterday that two more Upper Valley towns could join the 15 already
identified as potential partners in the proposed project, which aims to
bring high-speed Internet access to a wide swathe of eastern Vermont.
I guess my reason for sending you this little memo is -- WHY?
WHY? isn't New Hampshire available to this cozy little group of now 17
Upper Valley communities. Why? is it that East Central Community
Fiber Network - can't extend its wholesome and (by far much less
expensive) service pack to our side of the river? They have
COMCAST in their midst - and Verizon - as well as several smaller
entities that can provide the same services -- yet they are able to
offer these 17 towns on the Vermont side - the platinum of High Speed
Internet and Phone etc. - FIBER OPTICS - and do so without charging
individual homeowners $45,488.53 (with $1400 charge absorbed in that
price)!
What is it about the land of "Live Free or Die" that prevents good
proposals from consideration and allows Comcast's Modest Proposal to
flourish?
John Dryfhout
13 Whitten Road
Cornish, NH 03745
tele: 603-675-9380
February 29
COMCAST MESSAGE REPLIES:
-from Stu Hodgeman
The rule is : 15 houses per mile before Comcast will consider running a line.
Stu Hodgeman
----------------------------------------
-from Remko Scharroo
Hi All,
Here's a reaction to John Dryfhout's qualms about obtaining high
speed internet connection to his house. I'm afraid John's not the
only one in this boat. I have been shopping around for
ground-based high speed connections with several provides
out of Windsor or Claremont and each came to similar
exorbitant pricings. It is a fact: the Cornish customer base seems
to those providers too large a risk to take. Hence, they will
charge the first costumer the installation cost of several tens of
thousands of dollars and then happily string on from there to
neighbors of the first installation. They are then basically using
YOUR wires to run THEIR business. All without any risk to them
(except for the $1400 John was quoting). I'm pretty sure that is
completely illegal, but as petty little customer you have little
say.
Of course, as John points out: wouldn't it be great if townships
would pay for such installation so that everybody gets wired up?
But alas, in this system of ours, we have shelved off almost
all public services to commerce. And lo and behold: commerce is
not interested in such little franchise as Cornish is. There is
simply too little money in it. You get what you pay for. And
that's when communities have to act and get back a little bit of
public service under their own control. I've read about several
towns across the state that have taken it into their own hands to
provide affordable high speed internet connections. Some are
wired, some have set up wireless towers to reach local customers.
In Cornish we might have an opportunity to get DSL to everybody.
DSL stands to Digital Subscriber Line. This is basically
high-speed internet running over your phone line. Installation is
relatively inexpensive (as it uses existing wires), but requires
you to be within some 2 miles from the nearest "Central Office"
(CO). This is basically a box that connects the copper phone lines
to optical fiber lines. One CO is in Windsor, serving most of
Route 12A, and another has recently been installed on Town House
Road near the bottom of Dingleton Hill
Road to serve the cell tower that is still not operative. The next
nearest CO is in Meriden.
Last summer Verizon claimed that CO would be running by the end of
the summer. That's half a year ago, and Verizon has since, as we
know, abandoned this region altogether and is selling its network
to an upstart company called Fair Point Communications. The legal
wrangling has just finished today. The states of Vermont and Maine
and the FCC already approved the take over, but New Hampshire
wanted (rightly)
more assurances. This state was particularly worried that Fair
Point isn't financially viable enough to buy the network and then
run it.
Fair Point says it is particularly committed to expanding its high-
speed network. Hence, as soon as they start operating in Cornish,
I'll be one of the first to keep on pinging on Fair Point to get
this DSL connection established. Of course, the more customers
commit to DSL service (we're talking in the neighborhood of $30 a
month), the better chances we have of getting this service to our
community.
This is to say that I gladly volunteer to spearhead a campaign to
get DSL at least to the Town House Road corridor, if not
throughout Cornish. I'm sure the aptly called
ConnectCornish@aol.com e-mail group can be used to gather up some
steam behind this effort.
Regards,
Remko
Patrick Pinkson-Burke
------------------------------------------
March 2
MESSAGE FROM Terrie Scott:
In Consider This,
Mr. Dryfhout notes that the Cornish Elementary School has been
designated as In Need of Improvement. This is not true.
This link to the DOE website, which opens as an Excel file, clearly
states that Cornish made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) in 2007 - the
latest designation - and has every year to date.
http://www.ed.state.nh.us/education/doe/organization/
curriculum/Assessment/AYP/2007/district_summary_final.xls
(Cornish is Line 45 on the chart)
---
MORE COMCAST/INTERNET REPLIES:
MESSAGE FROM Nancy Wightman:
I hope it is OK to reply here... I was listening to VPR yesterday and
they were talking about this. Someone from Valley.net called in and
said they were working in VT to put in fiber-optics and that it was a
non-profit effort. What do you technocrats make of that? That's as
helpful as I can be. It sounds like a state program or maybe a county
program.
---
MESSAGE FROM Rachel Donegan:
Check out http://www.valley.net/ and click on EC Fibernet. There is a
movement underway (currently only in central VT) to get fiber optics
into rural communities. I don't know much about it, but it looks like
the way to go. It sounds to me more grass-roots and less giant
corporation, so control would be more local and presumably customer
service would be better, too. I'm sure a large scale push could get it
into NH, too.
---
MESSAGE FROM Robert Jaarsma:
To add to Remco Scharro’s comments, do we know the exact status of the
CO on Townhouse Road? The line workers told me last August, it was
merely a matter of hook-up and should be done by September.
To me this appears the top priority for Fairpoint to act on and give us
trust in Fairpoint that they can deliver what they promised.
I was at an informational meeting Fairpoint had last year in White
River Junction and met some of their “top dogs”, Walter E. Leach jr.
Exec. Director Corporate Development (wleach@fairpoint.com) , Audrey
Prior Director State Regulatory&Legislative Affairs (
aprior@fairpoint.com), Bruce Ballantine, Engineering New England
(BBallantine@fairpoint.com) , and others. If need be, we can start an
email barrage, if nothing happens!
Almost all of us on Dingleton Hill Rd are in need and within two miles
of this CO. I am sure more of us can start acting and asking
Fairpoint.
---
MESSAGE FROM Patrick Pinkson-Burke:
For some reason, I’ve been able to get Verizon DSL for the past 2-3
years. I’m on Root Hill Rd about 1/3 mile from Townhouse
Road. My neighbors have tried to get it, but were told they are
too far (even though they are closer than me). Cable has
been less than 1/5 mile from my house for the last 30 years, and there
are over fifteen homes within 1⁄2 mile of the village, but Comcast told
us they would never run cable up our road. So much for their
promises.
---
MESSAGE FROM Sara Brockunier:
First let me say this - I worked for the City of Tampa Office of Cable
Communication for 15 years - we were the office who worked on the
franchise for several cable companies who wanted to have their service
within the city limits of Tampa, Florida. I am sure that all
governing entities have franchises with providers of cable/internet
service in their particular areas.
What I am hearing you say is that Comcast (or probably any other cable
provider) wishes to charge an outrageous price to install cable in
areas that are not saturated with people...and they are probably well
within their rights - depending on the following:
1) your city, town, government entity works out a franchise agreement with the local cable provider
2) this franchise agreement states what the cable company will provide,
to who, and their rates, channels, premium charges, internet costs, etc.
3) your government entity then tells your cable company whether or not
this franchise agreement is okay or they bicker around and make changes
until they are both in agreement.
4) they then sign off on the franchise agreement and the cable company and governing entity is bound by the cable franchise.
My advice to you who are questioning the costs of having these
installations is that you read the cable franchise agreement and see
what you can expect.
Basically, The governing entity is the one responsible for what the
cable company provides as they are the people who either accept or
reject a franchise.
If a new provider is coming into your area - I would really want to
look at what the "Franchise" says they are to provide and contact the
governing agency to express your thoughts on what you want or expect
from a cable/internet provider.
Also, you might want to see if there is another company that
"overbuilds" in your area - in other words - a company that is
"allowed" into your area even though they are not the primary provider.