The Tompkins County Broadband Committee will meet on Tuesday February 28, 2012. (see Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Lansing NY, there will be a meeting about the Tompkins County broadband issue.   http://www.lansingstar.com/news-page/8173-broadband-internet-access.)

It is pretty clear that murmurs around town, from the Tompkins County Human Services Coalition list serve to the conversation I heard on the other side of my wall at work, that people need rural broadband and are fed up with the problem of the last mile.

But what to do about it, so many blog posts later, it is obvious that the local citizenry must unite and come up with a problem solving solution that perhaps jumps out of the conventional system.

I drew this diagram last year, it is my perception of the system.  The entities in the two outer rings, the New York State Public Service Commission and the FCC, limit  the power local municipalities and customers in waiting have with Time Warner Cable.

(See the link at the top of my blog for more details on how the power of local municipalities is limited., http://itsaboutthestory.wordpress.com/getting-rural-broadband-on-and-on-and-on-summary-as-of-feb-2012/

Our local municipalities in Tompkins County are viewed in the diagram as standing alone but connected to customers in waiting in their particular township/muni.  The power municipalities might exert is lessened, in my opinion, by their isolation as depicted here. The Tompkins County Broadband Committee has recommended that municipalities join together and work on a franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable that fits all of their needs.

The direct relationship with Time Warner Cable and the customer in waiting is, in my mind, dictated by all the indirect relationships shown on the diagram.  What I think really needs to happen, is for citizens to unite with the support of municipalities to solve the rural broadband problem by employing sound, proven problem solving techniques.  I’m sure that some have been employed to date and I am going to the meeting next Tuesday night to find our more about what has been done.

But what I know, is that what has been done, has not solved the problem and reminds of my treadmill to nowhere.  I feel like there is no recourse for me over here on Rt 34B, lying within one mile of links to both Time Warner Cable and from what I now understand is  a DSL line, hanging in the middle of the road, a walk up the west hill away.

Found an interesting site on my way to this post, looks like a good bit of information:  http://davidmakar.com/broadband/

@claireaperez@gmail.com

The shadow knows

Dear itsaboutthestory.wordpress.com

I knew it all along, why did you not ask the question and why did you not ask it sooner?  Your are a Communications instructor, you know that after face-to-face communication, one of the richest channels of connecting is via the phone.

If only you had listened to that voice within sooner.  You would realize what a battle you are in and that pounding and pounding against a shut door, does not open a door.

It may just be so much easier to go to McDonalds to load up your pictures, download your TV shows, and Skype your friend.  Even better, if you get a job that involves the internet, you could  rent a room one mile to the left or one mile to the right of your home, hop in your car and work from there.

Because, my dear, if you had asked sooner, you would have discovered that the neighbor up the road had a husband and that 8 years ago, the husband obtained 2000 to 3000 signatures from community members wanting Time Warner Cable.  No one could get Time Warner to budge on providing their service to her home.  Why it is ridiculous she said, they have it all around us…Cobb and Sheldon, we are surrounded.   Her  husband  passed, the petition is long gone, but she sure would like Time Warner Cable.

You would have discovered that the wire, dangling in the middle of Route 34B, to your east about 1/4 of a mile, is an abandoned Verizon DSL project with, it is rumored, fiber optic wire.  It is a connection Verizon just doesn’t find feasbile to make at this time…something about too many municipalities working together.  They told one neighbor they were putting their efforts down Jersey way and could he please stop calling them.

This same neighbor, not the one across the pond mentioned in earlier blogs, another one, is hampered in his work by the lack of a strong internet.  That makes four households  who could be contributing more to the economic stimulus.

Well… it is time to wrap this up.  Remember, like the old radio show, the information is sometimes dangling right before your eyes, but you have to ask the right questions of the right people because that is how you find out who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Signed,

The Shadow

@claireaperez@gmail.com

The last mile, well actually it is the last .6miles.  here it is my YouTube video of my 10 minute walk up the road….the number of homes that would benefit are seen as I walk up the hill .6 miles to the Time Warner Connection.  Aren’t we all sick of this storyline, probably no one as much as me, and my husband, Radames,  my first reader.  But hey…this is what we live with here, 10 miles away from one of the greatest universities in the world, Cornell University.

As I mentioned yesterday, a fellow blogger wrote that I had received the proverbial pat on the head.  I ain’t a pat on the head kinda girl…nope, if this doesn’t focus on the ludicrousness of our situation, I will simply upload my narration because that will certainly put the nail in the coffin.

All while I have written away about my frustration with high-speed access, or lack there of, I learned many things from a variety of people.

I learned, such as, that in the neighboring town, a man was able to get Time Warner Cable to wire his entire 1700 foot driveway for free.

I learned from a government official in this same neighboring town, that many “knowledgable people” were working on creating a solution to the county’s franchise problems with Time Warner Cable.

I learned from a politician in the village of Dryden (I live in the town) that they did not need to worry about the county franchise agreement, because ,after all, they have their own franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable.

I learned from a viewer that the real issue told to him by TWC was that, hey, The Town of Dryden does not want to work with us, why should we work with the Town of Dryden.

This one thing, my journey for high-speed rural broadband, has given me a glimpse into an economic and government web that needs untangling.

I was finally able to convert this movie to something uploadable…In order for this to happen on Hughes.net*,  I had to wake up at 2pm in the middle of my REM sleep and then dream, no joke, that the mob is after me and my husband because, I revealed a scene they just did not want the public to see. I woke up laughing and happy to see my video was set.

*from 2am to 7 am we can use the internet like normal people do with Hughes.net, I often wonder, why they do not make this technology avaialbe 24/7.?

The point is, as ludicrous as my home made video may seem, it is shaky as I walk up the road with boots that makes it all look like I am video taping on horseback.  There is no way to get around the ludicrousness of this situation.  Read my top post for all the intellectual, factual, knowledge I accoumulated over the last 9 months to see the rational behind this blog.

And now a poem for today,

Time Warner and the process of getting rural broadband has taught me a lot

This country whose freedom makes so much possible, has also a little guy forgot

I may get the cable, I may not, but the proverbial pat on the head

Will always make my blood boil and make me see red

One person, one moment, that is all I need

I still believe we rural broadband citizens could give this whole darn system a heed.

A simple YouTube video, boring for some

May show, in 12 minutes that I just can not settle for all this ho hum.

In my mind it all seems so DUMB…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQbFJIV2GM 

<iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/JDQbFJIV2GM” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

©claireaperez@gmail.com

Valentine’s Day

I enjoy Valentine’s Day.  For many years I have reached back to the first grader within and bought pretty thin papers on which to make white, pink, and red cards.  A happy color combination for a day to celebrate LOVE.

I heard recently that you will be retiring soon.  I am sad, like many of your fans.

But, I know how it is, the aging thing, you get tired.  I’m getting up there myself but I still have quite a few years until retirement and that is what brings me to this request.  I really do not think I’m up to the Saturday night spot, all that creativity in a week might be just a bit much for me to produce.

like ships

The gig of yours I want is the morning show, The Writer’s Almanac.  I want to say:  ”Good morning, today is February 9th, it is the birthday of….”

I like to research, I like to write, and this would be a great gig for me (oh, and I’m a big talker too).   I’ve two puppies, well I guess they will be dogs when you retire, and I like a little extra time with my husband.  I have some good qualifications you might be interested in:  I helped a famous scientist with his memoirs and I was a social studies teacher for ten years.  I like poetry and history and love all things about writing.  But I regret to say I may not have just the right credentials:  I have two Masters Degrees, one in Education and the other in Communications.  But alas, I do not have a PhD. and I do not have an MFA.  I know those are often the admission tickets to a job like yours but hey, I thought I’d give it a shot.

As those darling young folks say:  You rock Garrison.  I know I could not replace you, but I could fill your spot for a little while.  All best, and here is a poem  for today…

written about life, but more specifically, life in Ithaca, NY.  A great place to live if you do not like to fly…the world comes to you, but it also moves on.  Inspired by the accompanying painting and for dear friends, some  long over the horizon and others  at the liminal edge.

‘Just passing through, Ithaca.’

ships moor together three

bask in sunshine, sway & dip on moving water

hang, frozen on a peg of space & time

until the journey ends

& as they look forward & backward

their births in sight

until a new port, a blind horizon, moves them farther

and farther out of each other’s sight.

@claireaperez@gmail.com

puppies are looking up

there he was, sitting behind the glass with his 2 brothers.  He was wearing a red collar and my husband, a very observant man, said…”he is the one, look how alert he is?”  36 hours later he said, after we first arrived home with Moby and his brother, Macadew, that “maybe the little black dog will have to go, he is very hyper.”  The dog, Moby, is fine, we were just tired.

Since bringing him home, Mody has been a joy to watch.  A little puppy, he will suddenly stop and sit upright and just slowly move his head left and right scanning the scene.  He sits regally in his red collar and once in a while tips his head back and his nose up to smell.  I like his attitude, calm, observant, not much commentary (barking ) unless something unusual hits an eardrum.

I chuckle  when they, Moby and Macadew, look out at the back yard. It’s all new and wondrous to them and in our anthropomorphic minds, we hear them saying:  Wow, someday soon, all this running space will be ours, chasing rabbits, lying under the trees on a sunny day.

We think of Phoebe often, our beautiful boxer , who died too young.  A cause never ascertained, I have managed with the help of  friends to see that dogs will be dogs and we can’t protect them from all the forces that face them, just like people.

But what I’m learning now is that a  good healthy day, is a good healthy day, sit quietly and watch and be grateful.

©claireaperez@gmail.com

The town as well as the Tompkins County Council of Government are working with Time Warner Cable to improve service but they need data and so please take a moment to participate.

Thanks,

claireaperez@gmail.com

Since 2009, I have asked Time Warner Cable (TWC) to connect us to their service.  TWC provides efficient high-speed wired broadband internet service to Tompkins County residents.  We live .6 miles from their last connection and I requested they give us the price of a broadband build out.    Last May I started writing a blog about the process  to achieve this price quote or to find  a service more efficient than our current service, Hughes.net.  Hughes.net is a satellite service that downloads at a speed of  225 kbps and uploads at a speed of  153 kbps.  This contrasts with Time Warner Cable’s wired  internet service which downloads at a speed of   2073 kbps and uploads at a speed of  366 kbps .*source:  broadband meter readings

I spent hours researching, writing, and talking to people about my rural broadband journey.  I read many pieces and I did not encounter my frustrations mapped out by an US citizen attempting to get high-speed internet service.  I read accounts of personal and group incidences, but none captured the frustration I felt when I found a perpetual dead-end to that cable wire a 7-minute walk from my home.

The sources of my reading and research included government documents; web pages related to rural broadband; conversations with representatives from TWC and my local and state government; emails and comments on my blog or about rural broadband; and information provided in periodicals and newspapers.  The Lansing Star and a popular local blogger, Simon St. Laurent,  livingindryden.com , both wrote favorably about my blog and that led to greater traffic to it.

I searched and selected sources that either would answer questions about connecting to high-speed internet  (preferably TWC) or piqued my interest.  I discovered data, which led me to the conclusion that without intervention from a lawyer or a higher government authority, my husband and I will not get high-speed internet.  In late October 2011, after a face-to-face meeting with Tom Doheny, our local Time Warner Cable representative, I stopped researching and blogging about the high-speed journey.

In conversations, I mentioned my blog.  The web address appears on the bottom of my Gmail, which I used for email correspondence with members of local government and readers.  My Gmail is claireaperez@gmail.com and my blog, which covers many topics, http://itsaboutthestory.worpress.com is easily accessed and the posts are under  Broadband: Rural.

Where the Rural Broadband Journey and specifically Time Warner Cable stands now

(in my world)

I am not done with Time Warner Cable.   I think they are  unreasonable: they do not abide by the franchise agreement now in place with the Town of Dryden.  It appears that 11 to 14 houses in .6 miles is a reasonable request for a build out. The New York State Public Service Commission states that 35 (but more recently, it has been practice to have 20) homes are necessary in one full mile for a free build-out from Time Warner Cable, we have about one half of these single family residences.

This is the argument Jason Leifer, our Town of Dryden Deputy Supervisor, will make to TWC.   In addition, my neighbors and I are, by law, entitled to a quote of how much it will cost us to build out if we want to pay for it( see http://wp.me/PVlDG-hN). I will visit my neighbors and tell them what I have learned and enlist their support in contacting government leaders and the New York State Public Service Commission to access TWC.

Tired of getting nowhere,  I feel there is so much material I could write a 10000 word paper.  Much more than a blog or short article.  Below is some data I find pertinent at the moment with some summary conclusions.

““““““

I have an updated list of statistics which I will post below and on the Fact Sheet.

A look at personal costs of communication…

• $99       Advertised cost for TWC bundle of services
• $244     Perez cost per month for Communication services:  Hughes.Net=60; Direct TV=60; Phone:=110; Netflix=14
• $1000  Total cost of Time Warner Cable bundle of services/year
• $2928  Total cost of Perez Communication Services per year
• $1928   Amount we would save or spend if the money did not go to communications
• 25%       The forecasted growth of jobs depending on broadband and information and communication technologies from 2008 to 2018, 2.5 times faster than the average across all occupations & industries.   *Source:  The Bureau of Labor Statistics

As the data points out, our household could save $1928 per month in communication services if we connect to Time Warner Cable.  Money that would multiply through  the economy in diverse industries.

There are other economic interests we have in high-speed broadband service. My skill set will allow me to   be part of the 25% growth rate forecast. My husband has a LAN and is a gamer and the lack of high-speed internet slows him down. Finally, we almost lost a tenant, a PhD student in artificial intelligence at Cornell University, when he could not get high-speed service at our rental last July.  We do not want this to happen in the future.

Others on our street also have an economic interest in high speed.  A business interest next door would enjoy the efficiency of high-speed internet access.

Estimates from Time Warner Cable, over the years, for a build out

The following are estimates given in  letters from TWC about the cost of a build out to our address.  Each letter states something like the last one received in January 2012:

“We have undertaken an engineering analysis to determine the feasibility of  extending our cable infrastructure from its current location to your location. While your area does not meet the minimum line extension agreement outlined in our franchise agreement with your municipality, the NYSPSC (New York State Public Service Commission) has a prescribed formula that calculates the costs.”

$18,260  plus  $5294  is the amount Time Warner Cable estimates we would pay to build out from their last connection .6 miles to the west of our home, if the neighbors wanted to join in, it would be $18,260 divided by the number interested;

the $5294   cost is for an “underground lateral extension of 1,100 feet off of the      proposed line extension. Should you provide the trench and 2 feet conduit necessary for this lateral, and then the additional contribution required  from you for this long lateral extension is approximately $5,294.”

I have no idea what they mean by  this number.

$53,927.00:  the estimate Time Warner quoted us last spring, 2011, to expand service .6 miles to our home with the potential to serve over 11 households, they make  clear this is an estimate only

$48,927: the estimate Time Warner quoted our tenants at the same address, their letter was  dated three days earlier.

$20,000:quote in 2009 from TWC to connect us

$7500:      quote in 2005 from TWC to connect us

The conclusions of this data are that the estimated costs of connecting my home to Time Warner Cable vary significantly. When I have placed calls to TWC  about what the real cost would be, I have been inundated with bits of data (the cost of pole rental and NYSEG and Verizon charges, for example), but never the real cost that my neighbors and I would need to pay for Time Warner Cable to build out to us.

 I have connected with TWC representatives over fifteen times in two years and the most direct answer about the real cost of connection was from Tom Dohney when I stopped at his office in October , 2011. He is our local representative from Time Warner Cable and his office is located in Ithaca, NY.

 I asked, how much will it really cost to connect us to cable? He went off on a tangent several times.  He mentioned the need for TWC to profit and something about capitalism.  If I go to my manager and ask to hook you up, he will laugh at me, the gist of his response.

‘Would we ask the pharmaceutical industry not to make money on drugs?  What about food, would we end up giving that a way? ‘

On the way out of his office, I said “I just want you to show me the money, show me the money.”

“That, Ms. Perez, I’m afraid that is one thing I’m not going to able to appease you on.”      

In fact, it is Time Warner Cable’s legal obligation to do just that.  Below is the section of law about my right and the right of my neighbors to know how much it will cost to connect us to TWC. It seems reasonable that I should also be given access to the numbers that coordinate with the various parts of the formula.

Fifteen interactions with Time Warner Cable over 2 years and still, despite many attempts, no clear answer. The variability in dollars quoted suggest obfuscation on their part.

Section 895.5. Requirements for construction of cable television plant and provision of cable television services Public Service Commission passed a law

(2) That cable television service will not be denied to potential subscribers located in line extension areas who are willing to contribute to the cost of construction in accordance with the following formula:

  (C/ LE) – (CA/ P)= SC

Data:  Government’s role

• $20,000,000,000         Amount set aside by the US government to wire 1/3 of our country not connected to high-speed internet.

• $40,000,000,000       Australian investment in digital broadband *  The World                                              in 2011, The Economist

• $160,000,000.             funds received by New York State from the federal                                            government to expand high-speed broadband access   the NY State 2010 Annual Broadband Report,  

• $6,3oo,ooo                      amount New York State  won in federal stimulus grant                                                 money to draw a map of broadband availability in   the state. source:    http://stopthecap.com/2010/09/29/ny-gets-broadband-mapping-grant-6-3-million-is-a-lot-of-scratch-for-a-map/

• 8:  the number of high-speed and satellite services available on my road according to the New york state broadband map as of Jan 1 2012, Time warner Cable is listed as an available provider service\file:///Users/claireaperez/Documents/New%20York%20State%20Broadband%20Map.webarchive

• 8 PLUS, PLUS:  Number of government groups, agencies and branches that impact my cable situation

• Town of Dryden:  holds a Franchise Agreement with Time Warner Cable that dates back to 1984
• Tompkins County Broadband Committee:  Recommended each town in Tompkins County send a representative to collaborate on a franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable
• Tompkins County Council of Governments:  Meeting to discuss TWC Franchise Agreement with all towns
• New York State Public Service Commission:  charged with regulating the video cable services in New York State and by default, Time Warner Cable’s delivery of internet service.  They have stated in 2 phone calls that they do not regulate the internet industry and can not help me with that portion of my problem. 
• David Salway:  David Salway works in State Government, as the Director of the Broadband Program Office.
• Federal Communications Commisssion
• US Congress
• President Obama

I have consulted local representatives and the New York State Public Service Commission.  The laws and policies in place, give some support to my Time Warner Cable/ high-speed broadband problem. I am now sending this information to higher officials in both New York State and the US. 

Here is a sample of what can be done:

The local government can negotiate a franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable that allows for the regulation of the number of homes TWC must service to operate in the Town.  However, as noted above, this has not been renewed since 1988.  An agreement was close in 2005, but ultimately Time Warner Cable has the upper hand in the negotiations.  Every time it has come up for renegotiation, the two parties disagree.  Per the New York Sate Public Service Commission, any franchise agreement with video cable services that extends beyond six months of the old agreement is automatically renewed.  The lack of incentive to maintain a municipality’s business points to an organization invested in maintaining the status quo. This leaves the party with the least leverage with less power, in our case the Town of Dryden.

Miscellaneous Statistics to Ponder

• New York State received $160,000,000 in financial awards to connect rural residents and ,yet the current broadband map indicates large, unconnected patches.
• $4.8 billion  TWC Revenues for the first quarter of 2011; increased 5.0% from the first quarter  of 2010 
• Quote from Glenn Britt, CEOof  TWC, on “Our free cash flow remains very strong generated more than $600 million in the third quarter and almost $2.4 billion year up-to-date  through September” 
• $6,130,000
Time Warner Cable Total Lobbying Expenditures 2011http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000881&year=2011
• $1.1 million dollars:  The amount TWC spent to expand in Maine…50 miles of fiber optic coaxial cable with potential to serve nearly 1200 customers
• 1.1 million dollars:   the amount Time Warner would need to cable a little over 12 miles in Tompkins  County Groton/Dryden area according to the Spring 2011 estimate they gave us

This set of data indicates to me that if Time Warner Cable could offer fifty miles of service for $1.1 million dollars in Maine, they could offer more than 12 miles of service at the quote we were given last year. The  gross revenues, that their CEO sounds so confident, indicates that it would be possible, given the high percentage of homes we have that almost comply with the franchise minimum, to connect us to high-speed internet.

Conclusion

My husband shared an article with me from The Economist that Australia, with about the same land mass as the United States, is planning a comprehensive plan to cover their whole country with wired broadband service.  A vision and a plan.  That is what seems to be missing from all the data I have accumulated.

The US is putting money into broadband, but not enough.  The US does not have a comprehensive holistic plan of how we shall wire our country.  Now that the USF funds will target the effort, it might be a good idea to organize a universal plan that benefits everyone.  Some will argue that it is too costly, but perhaps a targeted, coordinated effort might be a good idea and save money.  I was surprised when I revisited the NY State broadband map to see that unlike 6 months ago, they now show my address as having access to Time Warner Cable, which it does not.  But what surprised me more was that the federal government gave NY state  $6.3 million in federal stimulus grant money to draw a map of broadband availability in the state.  

I think to myself, If TWC could wire 50 miles in Maine with $1 million, could they wire 250 miles here with the $6.3 million dollars that the state of New York is using to create a map which is not accurate?Would that not be more of an alignment of goals and finance distribution?

The US, I believe, is ebbing toward a very bad economic place.  The book Who Moved My Cheese comes to mind, a company thought it’s cheese so good, it didn’t have to worry about change and competition.    Yes, I think of this book when I realize I am 10 miles away from Cornell University, almost lost a tenant getting his PhD in artificial intelligence because of our slow internet speed, how much energy it has taken to examine my rural broadband problem, and of my friend visiting Costa Rica.

We Skype occasionally, I look around town for a hot spot, the closest of which is about 10 miles away: my friend hops off a surf board, walks 100 yards to his porch, sits down, palm trees in the background, and let’s his wi-fi beam him up.  The size of his town, about 2000 people.

Beam me up Time Warner Cable and to all the politicians out there, as President Bush said in the 80s, It is the Vision Thing.  We need one, not just for high-speed rural broadband, but also for the nation.

©claireaperez@gmail.com

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 60 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

1.  Who knew that after you get your car inspected in NY,  you are supposed to go back for a free torque so your tires don’t fall off?

2. Who knew that the minute you turned 5o, your feet would start to really hurt?

3.  Who knew that an industrial-strength, stainless steel cooking sheet was only $11 more than a flimsy aluminum one?

4. Who knew that in addition to submitting to your insurance company, you have to make sure that the doctor’s office submits to Medicare?

5. Who knew that your beautiful, healthy 4 1/2-year-old dog could start coughing and die 36 hours later from an uncontrollable seizure, the cause of which you will never know?

6. Who knew that  the walk to the Time Warner Cable connection is actually 10 minutes when wearing snow boots? YouTube video in the making, stay tuned.

7.  Who knew that while we were all going to work every day, policies and laws were set down that if our Groton school budget gets voted down, it is automatically replaced by the contingency budget that can be just a little less; if the cable franchise agreement is not renegotiated within 6 months of the old one, the old one goes back into effect; and if a land owner in NY State signed a fracking agreement that expired in 5 years, it is automatically renewed?

8. Who knew that behind every picture in the magazines County Living and Martha Stewart Living, hours of work were expended?

9. Who knew that at 7 when my teacher wrote, “Claire continues to talk incessantly,” I would find an outlet for all those words in an electronic blog?

10. Who knew that Price William’s sister-in-law, Pippa, would be the name of the Mother of our two puppies who managed to start to heal our broken hearts?

©claireaperez@gmail.com

Macadew