High Speed Internet

Tonight I’ve written a letter to the editor (which I have not sent in yet) that I wanted to also post on here first. Dad has purchased a new computer and for 2 weeks now we have been trying to get him set up on the internet. He has dial up now but he can only connect at 28,000kbs because the phone lines coming down to the house are so old and out of date. Everything from the pole to the house is brand new, the problem lies with the trash that is coming down from the main road. I’ve been looking into satellite internet provides to try and get him hooked up on high speed but that is very frustrating because I am still unsure what is available and what isn’t. Speednet is looking like it might be the only good option for him. It doesn’t cost any more on a monthly basis than any other typical high speed connection does. The problem though is getting the equipment set up and running. That is the expensive part. Anyhow, researching all that tonight got me going so I wrote the letter below to express my frustration with this backward ass county.

Dear Editor,

 

Regarding the article concerning tall Internet towers in Leelanau County (November 15 Enterprise), I’d like to express my sincere hope that our county officials are indeed addressing the issue of internet access in LeelanauCounty. I moved here 5 years ago after spending 30 years visiting family and friends in Leelanau, now I’ve made Leelanau my home. Year after year, I have watched the county grow up. That is disappointing to some but to others this growing up process has addressed some major needed improvements including a 911 system, natural gas lines, and safe paved roads. It’s taken Leelanau remarkably long to ‘catch up’ considering its close proximity to the more urban area of Traverse City. In any other part of the state, being just 20 miles outside of a city would be considered a suburb, one would expect to have the same amenities as you might find in a city like high speed internet. 20 miles is not very far.

 

 

The fact that our communications utility companies snub residents consistently when we inquire about upgrades to their infrastructure to offer these 21st century services suggests to me that our county officials are not doing enough to persuade those private companies to develop a new market. There are incentives our government can offer these utilities to make their trouble worth their time. Charter and AT&T are by no means under any obligation to provide service of any sort to anyone in Leelanau. They will only do so when it’s profitable to them and when they have an incentive to do so. That is reality, that is business. What we must do as residents of Leelanau is let our officials know what we want. There are many of us who want or need these types of services for business and for pleasure. I am convinced that the reason Leelanau lacks a year around economy is because the technology infrastructure is so weak. I am convinced that there are so few young families here because the tools of the 21st century are not available.

 

 

With the advent of an 88 foot tower now having been legally constructed to solve a problem of access, it presents Leelanau County with an opportunity to really address the problem and correct it. This was an example of a resident doing what needed to be done to resolve a problem our county has been lax in addressing, that of high speed internet access. Our officials should be looking at those companies out there who want to expand their business in this market. Speednet is one such company; certainly AT&T and Charter are options as well. Why should they offer their services in Leelanau? What’s in it for them? More importantly, what’s in it for us? Can we persuade these companies to upgrade their existing technology to provide the enhanced internet service using infrastructure that is already in place or are we all going to construct 88 foot towers that currently lie well beyond the regulatory powers of our county government? The internet has evolved way beyond dial up.In another 5 years, dial-up internet will be a thing of the past. I think it’s important for our county officials to hear that those of us who want these services are indeed willing to pay for them as is evidenced by the construction of what I’m sure was a very costly tower . Technology comes with a price tag; those of us who have grown up with it understand this. Leelanau must keep up with these changes and we as residents must demand that that they keep up with these changes. It is time that Leelanau stop reacting to issues and start recognizing change as it approaches so it can be dealt with head on. I’d like to implore our county officials to address this issue and resolve it sooner rather than later.

 

I’m going to sit on this now for a couple days and then edit it future if needed. Then I’m going to send it off to the Leelanau Enterprise hopefully for publication. I’ve got to shorten it down quite a bit in order to get them to publish it. We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned.