Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Shared Internet Access

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

 Pat Little <patl [at] halcyon.com>
is the author of the message below. 
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> 
--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Here's how we got our high speed internet access at Jackson Place Cohousing
in Seattle. During construction, we (the development LLC) were approached by
a local cable company, called Millennium, that offered to install TV cable
to all units for free in return for us (the developer) providing our
customers with Millennium leaflets when we sold the units. Well, of course,
we didn't quite fit their normal commercial model and we explained that we
were not only the developer but also the folks who would occupy the units.
We eventually worked out a deal and signed contracts with them for:

 - free installation of TV cable wiring to all units (1 outlet per floor)
and the common house living room.
 - free installation of internet data cable to all units (1 jack per floor)
and the common house office.
 - residents contract individually with Millennium for cable TV (I don't
think we get any special discounts). This is an exclusive arrangement for 10
years.
 - we buy internet access for the whole community at the rate of $18/month
per unit. This is a 5-year contract.

So, that's a pretty good rate for cable internet which would normally run
$50 a month or so. But now, for the really good bit. They gave us (27
households) an entire 'node' which is typically spread over maybe 500 to
1000 homes. We have phenomenal speed. And I work at home and am typically
the only one online during the day. So I have a node all to myself!

Another benefit is we pay for basic cable TV for our common living room, so
members can watch TV socially or record shows, and get a good clean signal.
Multi-path is pretty bad in Seattle so the cable is much better than rabbit
ears.

Hope this helps. Good luck,

Pat Little
Jackson Place Cohousing
Seattle


> -----Original Message-----
> From: cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org 
> [mailto:cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org]On Behalf Of Michael
> Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2003 4:20 PM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: [C-L]_Shared Internet Access
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, all! I'm researching shared high speed internet access for our 
> community. I'm wondering how many communities are doing 
> something like 
> this? I'm particularly curious if people have had problems with large 
> providers like Comcast or Qwest considering it illegal to share their 
> services this way? Any experiences or pearls of wisdom you 
> wish to share 
> will be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Warmly,
> Michael
> Wild Sage Cohousing
> Boulder, CO
> www.wildsagecohousing.org
> 
> Still some units for sale and move-in is only three months 
> away! Woohoo!
> 



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