Comments On: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt by Fiona Morgan

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

ct — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:04:27 -0500

There is a legitimate technological problem here, and it's expensive to solve. Unlike voice, DSL is limited to about three miles over copper wire.
Posted by ct

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

Goaglen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:58:11 -0500

I have DSL from Embarq. While I appreciate Internet connections speeds which do not allow me to take naps while downloading, I do not like the strong arm tactics to 'bundle' services.
Posted by Goaglen

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

Scott Every — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:49:42 -0500

@Sortova: Actually, the county has access to plenty of towers(water and 2-way radio) so wireless broadband is a very good option for much of the county. The FCC has also opened up large chunks of specturm in 5.4ghz and 3.65ghz which can be used to backhaul data in lieu of fiber connects.
Posted by Scott Every

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

therealmjfox — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:33:31 -0500

Another insidious economic development factor sometimes overlooked is the effect on the value of homes without broadband. I think more and more buyers (if there are any left) are going to be verifying that they can get broadband internet before buying a house, and places without it are going to be tough to sell.
Posted by therealmjfox

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

Fiona Morgan, Indy staff writer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:08:48 -0500

@Whistle, I don't know the answer to your question. I'll see if I can find out.
Posted by Fiona Morgan, Indy staff writer

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

Whistle — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:24:45 -0500

We have no access to broadband and need it for business so we actually paid to have a T1 line brought in. Our local phone company is Verizon but who wanted $600 a month for it!
Posted by Whistle

Re: Chatham's information highway is made of dirt

Sortova — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:24:57 -0500

I've been in Chatham for almost 10 years now and it wasn't until a little over a year ago that we got access to DSL. It took one of my neighbors working with Embarq to make it happen, and it involved getting 50 of our area residents to sign a petition that they would sign up for DSL if it became available.

There really are no other options.
Posted by Sortova