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Comments on news posted 2014-01-20 08:33:05: The East Buchanan Telephone Cooperative began imposing some rather low caps on their DSL service as of this year. ..

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jserty14
@openskytelcom.net

jserty14

Anon

Umm Yeahhh...

That sounds reasonable. Maybe even a little on the cheap side.

Toguro
join:2003-10-23
Rockford, IL

Toguro

Member

Cap

If 70% use 15GB or less why doesn't the caps start at 15GB instead of 5GB? These caps are designed to get money out of as many customers as possible.
IanR
join:2001-03-22
Fort Mill, SC

1 recommendation

IanR

Member

Piracy by ISP

Good to know that some ISPs carry our downright Piracy on their customers....

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

Whats next?

The future will have people pay for each individual site like a TV channel?

Its happening, don't think VZ, AT&T, and Comcast are not watching developments of the little guys.

The only thing that could prevent this is the immense potential lobbying power of internet based organizations, potentially being able to outschmooze Big Telecom.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

There is probably *some* truth here...

"EBTC blames their rate hikes on a reduction in FCC USF funding"

Silly little phone company. Didn't they know that the USF is really meant for at&t and verizon?

This is what the Universal Slush Fund is supposed to help with.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

This is a...

... a coop, the ultimate in self funded "muni" telecom projects.

Providing very affordable basic services to members in extremely rural Iowa, for the last 50 years, exactly the purpose they were founded for over 110 years ago, under the control of a board elected by the members ie every home/property owner in the service area.

»www.google.com/maps/prev ··· 84&fid=7

and the EBTC history
»www.eastbuchanan.com/abo ··· m#last10
True
join:2013-08-08

True

Member

Lets see

FTC complaint for price gouging. Most likely loss of businesses who now move to some place with more sane prices.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

All too Familiar

I have family that has EBTC as their ISP. NO WAY in hell could you hit 5gb of usage. Unreliable, SLOW and pathetic. Rural America gets hosed when it comes to high speed Internet access.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband to True

Member

to True

Re: Lets see

Things are different with at Coop phone company.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 edit

1 recommendation

tshirt to ArrayList

Premium Member

to ArrayList

Re: All too Familiar

said by ArrayList:

EBTC as their ISP

EBTC has everything from ancient copper to 1990's cable and basic wireless and is slowly (self funded pay as you go) improving service for existing customers.
This is ratepayer driven telecom, no big, EVIL outside investors to drive up prices by building things the average customer doesn't want to pay for. .

Sarick
It's Only Logical
Premium Member
join:2003-06-03
USA

Sarick to Toguro

Premium Member

to Toguro

Re: Cap

15gb

In this day in age 15gb is like running floppy disc. I am on a low speed DSL 3 mega whatever a sec and In a month I can hit about 80gb. Nothing illegal no piracy or what not.

PS3, PS4, Netflix.

Those of us who use PSN know that a single $39 online game can exceed 5gb.

Right now the net is still not tapped. Once it does get more people who actuially USE the internet these prices will be like the telcos where before nationwide calling. IE: 10 - 25 cent a minute charges.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 edit

1 recommendation

tshirt to True

Premium Member

to True

Re: Lets see

said by True:

Most likely loss of businesses who now move to some place with more sane prices.

Most of the business there are farms and farm related supplies.
the price and availability of land means it is unlikely the will move, the price they really care about is what the can get for the crop, and as coop members if they wanted to pay for a higher levels of service they could vote for it, but they don't.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to tshirt

Premium Member

to tshirt

Re: All too Familiar

the average customer of today is what's killing the innovation of tomorrow.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

1 recommendation

SimbaSeven to tshirt

Member

to tshirt

Re: This is a...

Don't blame co-ops. This is a flat out price gouging that is border-lining insanity.
tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL

tkdslr to Sarick

Member

to Sarick

Re: Cap

80GB a month, I don't have that luxury, I use about 1GB a week.

I keep Video's to a minimum, Flash mostly disabled(flash block), No Script, to stop rouge web pages/adverts, ad block plus, etc. PC updates shut off, No PSx or Netflix. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a couple of youtube vid's when I get near the end of my billing cycle and I've still got a GB or two of 4G data access remaining(use it or loose it).

Now approaching 2 years like this(saved >$1200) , so I've learned to live within my data budget and do without.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

All Co-ops are not the same

I just did a search and I can't find one that is gouging like this.

»www.northerntel.net/serv ··· net.html
»www.rangeweb.net
»home.logantele.com/servi ··· speednet
»www.ftc-i.net/internet/plans/ (they even offer direct Ethernet connectivity)
»www.shtc.net/dsl.php

I could list more. These are all coops, and a couple (northerntel and Range) are here in Montana. I even checked with Range Telephone in Broadus (tiny town in the middle of nowhere) and they offer 10/1 and 4/4 DSL service there without caps. They were even willing to work with me on my wireless ISP idea.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 recommendation

tshirt to SimbaSeven

Premium Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: This is a...

said by SimbaSeven:

Don't blame co-ops. This is a flat out price gouging that is border-lining insanity

I didn't, but you just did. The customers/owners paid $15 to join and all the other funding comes from the rates they charge customers for sevices.
Those high overages are intend to pay the costs of speed and capacity improvements for internet services without loading those cost on to the basic services or borrowing money to subsidize a faster buildout.
The customer/owners aren't gouging themselves or each other, just demonstrating what debit free muni looks like.

3 of the 4 towns this serves are2 blocks by 4 blocks, the 4th is 3 by 5 (has a doctor office and bank) the rest is corn, soy beans, potatoes and a house or 2 per mile.
so rural google streetview only covers the main "grid" roads 5 miles apart. Density really does matter.
radioguy
join:2008-02-10
Lake Zurich, IL

radioguy

Member

Cows

They know all about cows, out there in Iowa. Beef cows, Milk cows, and Cash cows.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

1 edit

SimbaSeven to tshirt

Member

to tshirt

Re: This is a...

5 GB of usage for $25 a month, 25 GB of usage for $100 a month, and 100 GB (the very maximum allotment you can order) will run you $300 a month. Each additional 1 GB will cost users $5.

That is price gouging, plain and simple. What's preventing their customers from going with an LTE provider?

I never said ALL coops were bad. I'd like this one to justify this ridiculous pricing model. Plus, the lines are already in place. It's not like they're installing new ones.

Truthfully, wireless (PtMP) would be a better choice for these areas instead of wireline.

EDIT: It just surprises me that Broadus, MT has reasonable and decent internet (10/1 or 4/4).
Millenium
join:2013-10-30

Millenium

Member

Expensive

I probably use 50-60 GB per month with Netflix. And they want $300 per month for that?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

1 recommendation

tshirt to ArrayList

Premium Member

to ArrayList

Re: All too Familiar

said by ArrayList:

the average customer of today is what's killing the innovation of tomorrow.

Bunch of hicks!
obviously too stupid to know what they want/can afford.
guess we'll have to put them down, right?
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

1 recommendation

TBBroadband to SimbaSeven

Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: This is a...

And who are those LTE providers going to use for Fiber? The local Coop? Or microwave. That is about their choices and when the coop owns the towers? If they had options for cellular service they wouldn't have built their own towers in 99/00 and be part of the iWireless network with TMO.
TBBroadband

TBBroadband to SimbaSeven

Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: All Co-ops are not the same

Here is one that has FTTH but has the prices to match:

»www.smta.cc/dsl.htm

That area has one option for TV/Internet/Phone- The local telco unless they get DirecTV or Dish.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to SimbaSeven

Premium Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: This is a...

said by SimbaSeven:

What's preventing their customers from going with an LTE provider?

Nothing (in fact they mention "Full-Service wireless" costs twice what their bundled (home phone, wireless from the few towers they own and dialup/dsl or cable service (depends on area) services.

I think the point is the recognize they can't compete on Wide Area services, but if farmer john and his farm hands rarely leave the 50 squre mile area they have what they MUST have cheap, and they aren't taking on big debt to rebuild/overbuild the existing plant to try and compete with LTE mobile or fixed wireless. (this is a really flat area, either could provide better, cheaper high-speed services for the few that need it)
Basic phone services is their mission, everything else is extra.

w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Springfield, OR

2 edits

w0g

Member

totally outrageous profiteering

ISPs used to charge $10-$20 per month for unlimited usage.

Then they bumped prices to $40-$50 for broadband, never lowering their rates past that point. Now they want to cap service and charge overages, or charge $300 for basic service.

This has nothing to do with cost of service and more to do with outrageous profiteering and price fixing for a basic commodity, mostly brought on by lack of competition and poor regulatory action that allowed and promoted monopolies.

I really don't think any of this should cost more than $10-$20 bucks a month, because all that extra cost does is go to increase per share holder profit, allowing over inflated stock value and more to leach off the same source of money for profit.. it does absolutely nothing for the public because it just drains their wallets and helps keep them poor.

anon_anon
@comcast.net

anon_anon

Anon

When a wired ISP has the same cap as wireless...

It's a sign that particular wired ISP has no idea how to run themselves, nor do they understand the role of the internet in modern society. I think local cultural values may be playing a role. The board members may all be going to the same church and listening to a preacher who thinks that internet is the tool of the devil and is only used for pornography, or they are pissed off at the young whipper snappers with smartphones, who use such morally decadent services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, hence the punitive rates for internet access as an attempt to control the local culture.

Our resident industry shills on this forum might claim this as an example of how co-op funded broadband is inevitably destined for failure. A comparison to credit unions come to mind. Just because one credit union serving a small town sucks does it necessarily mean all credit unions suck and are unsustainable, nor do we have to scrap/outlaw the rest of them and let a town go without a bank until Bank of America decides its profitable enough to do business in that community.

WHT
join:2010-03-26
Rosston, TX

WHT

Member

Copperless

An interesting case of an old copper technology based system - that depended on USF for support - what could be trumped by a WISP.

»Wireless Service Providers

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList to tshirt

Premium Member

to tshirt

Re: All too Familiar

put them down? nah. Educate and inspire, yeah. People didn't see the point of using electricity when it first came out. Before that they lived in the dark after the sun went down. They just haven't seen the light yet.
AmericanMan
Premium Member
join:2013-12-28
united state

AmericanMan to tkdslr

Premium Member

to tkdslr

Re: Cap

Unfortunately, by blocking PC Updates, you may be leaving your computer open to security holes. Why not download updates at the library and install them on your computers at home? That's what I do sometimes if the updates are too large.
Cobra11M
join:2010-12-23
Mineral Wells, TX

Cobra11M

Member

agreed!, they release patches, and new versions of .net and so on for a purpose.. if your not installing that and just browsing the web with say java 6... then you are very vulnerable, heck even browsing the web with internet explorer 8 isn't a good idea
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