Today's Ithaca Journal covers an issue that's a problem for much of Dryden: the challenge of rural Internet. Michael Ludgate, who lives near the Caroline-Dryden line, reports that:
he does most photo and music work on a high-speed connection at his business, Ludgate Farms. At home, his only option has been dial-up. Several months ago, when Frontier, his phone company, advertised broadband through the phone line, he promptly ordered it. After Frontier examined the line, he learned it wouldn't work.
I'm lucky to have RoadRunner service here, especially because the last time I checked, DSL isn't an option at my house. (If I didn't have RoadRunner, I couldn't live here and do my job, and this blog wouldn't likely have happened either. I'm amazed by Mary Ann Sumner's perseverance with blogging over dialup, and I'm sure there are others.)
The article notes that Clarity Connect is working on radio Internet for the area, and there's already a comment on Time-Warner's pickiness in serving Dryden. (I suspect Time-Warner's complaining about the franchise contract is an excuse, as the contract they proposed a while ago doesn't change the status quo in the least, and the Town has practically no say in it anyway.) A companion article looks at Governor Spitzer's hopes for addressing this.
There are also updates on two recent crime stories, with the robbery going to the grand jury and the three-year-old victim in the abuse case finally moving from critical to fair condition.
Posted by simon at January 13, 2007 10:33 AM in Ithaca Journal , communications , crime
Michael Ludgate might be surprised to learn that we had the same answer from Frontier, but we persevered and got DSL from them anyway, and it works fine. The signal doesn't just stop on a dime, as they would have you believe. It breaks up gradually over distance. Our service is perhaps a bit slower than that of people closer to the source, but it's broadband, and it works. Frontier and Verizon just don't want to deal with it. Our best bet is for the town to work with Time Warner.