Who could use a little good news today?
Putting the genie back in the bottle
One of the issues that have plagued the Village is fast and full coverage of internet access. Considering that 50 years ago, when the Village was initially engineered, the internet was not even a glimmer in Bill Gates’ eye yet, we are doing better than could be expected.
With the Covid-19 virus all around us, most internet providers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) have done something they’ve resisted for the last 30 years… unlimited data caps!
The internet providers claimed for years that if everyone had access to unlimited data, it would crash the network. Well, enter March 2020 when the internet providers have turned off all of the data caps to ensure that people working at home don’t run up enormous bills. Not removing the data caps could result in bad public relations for internet providers. As a matter of fact, BroadbandNow shows that internet health is… well… frankly, excellent.
It appears to me that no internet providers have crashed nor there have not been widespread outages, and the end of the world has not occurred on the internet.
That said, putting the “internet data caps” genie back in the bottle will prove nigh on to impossible. Now that we realize the internet will not crash there is tons of dark fiber laying in the ground, that’s the technical term for unused bandwidth; it would be hard for anyone to petition the FTC with a valid discussion that they were charging for data to limit internet traffic and protect the internet bandwidth.
While this is not earth-shattering good news, it will be a welcome relief for millions of cable cutters and high data users who have been paying a premium for what the FTC openly admits is some of the most expensive internet on the planet.
You would think the place where the internet was invented would have a better monthly price than is currently offered. Click here to view the chart and read the article titled, “The Cost of Mobile Internet Around The World” at Statistica.
Wash your hands and use all the data you want.
Dennis
Dennis Simpson
Licensed by AR State Police #E11-083 Security
p: 501.350.0227 | 32 Sierra Drive | Hot Springs Village, AR | 71909
Raymond Narug
03/22/2020 — 12:25 pm
Suddenlink, never had limited access. Phone, TV and internet. Yet Suddenlink is via cable. Glad we bought property with cable access.
Brenda
04/18/2020 — 2:50 pm
Suddenlink does not have unlimited data unless you buy the 400 MBPS which comes with unlimited data. The regular 100 MBPS speed with 250 GB of data is usually fine but isn’t enough now that we’re quarantined and streaming a lot! Option, pay more money$
Dan
03/22/2020 — 1:22 pm
We wanted Sudden Link but they say they will never have service to us simply because all cables or wiring have to be burred underground and it is too much trouble to did in rock to supply where we live on the mountain
Chipmunk
03/22/2020 — 3:09 pm
I think you will find, if you look into it, that fiber cable can be strung aerially as well as buried. So can coax, etc. Just the other day I saw a Suddenlink guy up on a utility pole here in the Village. You probably have aerial power/utility poles going up the mountain.
Frank Shears aka Bubba
03/22/2020 — 4:47 pm
Great article Cheryl. Thank you Dennis for providing it. The subject is one of my “hot buttons” and you explained the situation quite well. There are a few areas in the Village that are on a rocky ridge and do have underground coax. My home does and we live along the top of a rocky ridge. But after about 1990 or so they quit installing new rocky areas.
I wonder when Verizon is going to officially announce 5G availability here in the Village. They started installing the hardware on all their cell towers here in HSV as well as surrounding communities last year. It might take a lot of customers away from Suddenlink if the 5G works as well as advertised.
Thank you for posting this.
Chipmunk
03/22/2020 — 5:39 pm
5G will be good but only if you live in very close proximity to a tower. Range is far less than regular cellular and 4G. Dennis, chime in on this and confirm or dispute please.
Jim Langford
03/23/2020 — 10:40 am
Chipmunk, I think you are correct. I saw a piece on 5G a couple of weeks ago which stated short range repeaters will be needed for it to work properly. I am no expert and just repeating what I saw.
Jim
Kirk Denger
03/23/2020 — 5:48 am
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HSVP C
03/23/2020 — 8:22 am
First of all, Kirk. Your statement is a lie and a misrepresentation. Most posts go through quickly.
Our website does not exist as a place for you to spew your hatefulness and immaturity. You are a guest here. Just remember, Kirk, you have a teenage daughter and other children and if they don’t see this now, they may very well see in the near future what you post.
I apologize that you were not able to post as quickly as you wanted, Kirk. This is because you have incessantly trolled the site and our spam filter catches your posts. I may not always be available to approve your posts as quickly as you like. Contrary to what you think, my life doesn’t revolve around serving you. Is this the kind of pettiness, impatience, negativity, and hatefulness you are going to exhibit if you are elected to the Board of Directors? What a sad day to think that such a bitter and impatient man will be on our Board. – Cheryl Dowden
Kirk Denger
03/23/2020 — 1:42 pm
You are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Karen Daigle Lundberg
03/23/2020 — 6:51 pm
Thank you very much, Cheryl Dowden, for telling Kirk Denger just how it is. I am so tired of his belittling remarks about the Villagers, yet expecting them to vote for him. He may be elected, but I will never trust him as a Board member. He is such a fool, he doesn’t even realize how badly he is embarrassing himself. Go ahead, Kirk, keep showing people the real Kirk, and I will get such pleasure in seeing you kicked off the Board for the way you treat the property owners.
Frank
03/24/2020 — 5:47 am
5 G is a long, long way from ever being functional in HSV.
Years.