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TMCNet: Communities to lose free intranet

[July 17, 2010]

Communities to lose free intranet

Jul 17, 2010 (The Akron Beacon Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A number of Akron-area communities have been riding the information superhighway for free for 27 years, but the free ride is about to end.

The communities of Bath, Copley and Richfield have never had to pay for the so-called I-Net service -- a fiber-optic connection -- that linked computers and phones inside various schools and government buildings. The intranet connections were free thanks to franchise agreements penned with cable services in the 1980s.


The service also connects the Revere and Copley-Fairlawn schools. It even allows various police departments to share police data as well as access to remote cameras set up in the business district in Montrose.

The service is also linked to the government's phone systems, providing a backup should there be an outage.

Time Warner Cable has notified the communities that a recent change enacted by state legislators allows it to begin billing for access. State lawmakers say the new law was a way to open the door for competition for cable services in the state.

The billing is to begin Nov. 1.

"It really doesn't cost Time Warner anything right now," said Copley Township IT specialist Dave Sattler. "We own all of the equipment and take care of all the maintenance, unless the actual fiber cable line is down.

"All cable will have to do is collect the money." The exact amount Time Warner will bill for access to its lines is still being negotiated.

"People pay for water, sewer, electricity, gas and phones without complaining. Like any other business, we want to be treated like everybody else. It is a cost-based service," said Bill Jasso of Time Warner Cable.

The cable company already gives free video and Internet services for the classroom.

The intranet services will now be billed.

"If schools want broadband services for administrative business, they pay a special discounted monthly rate for it," Jasso said. "Same goes for safety forces . . . free video to the fire and police stations -- broadband for administrative business is paid for. Just like all their other utilities." Township and village administrators say if that's the plan, they like the idea that schools will still be able to receive some benefits. But they say it will still mean schools are going to have to begin paying for the administrative side of their operations.

Jasso said the emphasis is more on government and it is not Time Warner's policy to offer free services to government. Akron and Summit County have similar network services, but they already pay for them.

"The I-Nets were something that Adelphia Cable used as a sweetener to get contract renewals," Jasso said. "We inherited those franchise contracts when we purchased the cable company in 2006." Copley Township Administrator Peggy Spraggins said the old franchise agreement also called for 3 percent of the cable fees to go to local government. That, too, is gone.

Bath Township Administrator Bill Snow said there are 27 buildings among the three communities using the system.

"I asked the cable company to give us an additional year to find another solution or until we can redefine which buildings we might want to keep on the system," Snow said. "But no additional time was given to us.

"My concern is simply public safety." Snow said the communities are weighing their options and want to find some competitive quotes. They are looking for other companies that can produce the same fiber capability for a reasonable price.

Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.

To see more of the Akron Beacon Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ohio.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).

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