ARLA/CLUSTER: Os verdadeiros custos da internet barata por PLC

[Carlos Mourato]

E os numeros não enganam.


City decides to shut off Internet service by June 30
By Keith Walker <kwalker  manassasjm.com>
Published: November 18, 2009
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If Manassas Councilman Jonathan L. Way had his druthers, he'd shut down the
city's low-cost Internet service as soon as possible, because it's costing
the city more than $100,000 a month.

In 2003, the city introduced broadband over power lines, or BPL, to bring
low-cost Internet access to city residents. Since then, the city has spent
$1.6 million on the project, Way said.

The service has continued to shed customers while expenses have continued to
rise.

"I think we need to get out of BPL forthwith," Way said Tuesday at a city
council special meeting. "It's not a good product. The whole business is not
financially sound and it never has been."

Forecasts by the utilities commission show that the service is likely to
lose between $100,771 and $171,353, or an average of $151,825 each year over
the next nine years.

Way said that's money the city could ill afford to lose. He said the service
"should go and be over and done with."

Some of the initial cost of bringing the service to city residents and
businesses included money to lay the infrastructure to include Internet
signal over the power lines, said Michael C. Moon, the city's director of
utilities.

With the $24.95-a-month service averaging fewer than 600 residential
customers and roughly 50 business customers a month, there was not enough
money coming in for salaries, maintenance and recouping the initial
investment.

"It's costing a little more to maintain the system than we projected in the
budget," Moon said. "The original projections were that the customer base
would be double this."

Councilman Mark Wolfe agreed with Way and wanted the shutdown of the system
to be completed by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Councilmen Marc T. Aveni and Andrew L. "Andy" Harrover want to follow the
City of Manassas Utility Commission's proposal that the decision to shut
down the system be completed by the end of the fiscal year.

Harrover and Aveni want to let the service die a natural death as it goes
through the budget process and ultimately gets cut from the budget.

Way said that waiting until the end of the fiscal year to make the decision
would cost more money because the city couldn't just turn it off the service
overnight once the decision is made.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.

__._,_.___
-- 
Best 73 from: regards from: CT4RK Carlos Mourato - Sines - Portugal

Save the Radio Spectrum! Eliminate Broadband over Power Line. Salve o
espectro electromagnético!. Não use a rede electrica para transmitir dados.
Os "homeplugs power line" e a tecnologia "power line" causa fortes
interferencias noutro serviços sem voce se aperceber. Diga não à tecnologia
power line. Proteja o ambiente
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