City-owned Internet service provider Gustavus Community Network (GCN) has replaced its satellite Internet connection with a T1 circuit from AT&T Alascom. The new circuit costs the same as the old satellite connection but is at least 50% faster. GCN is celebrating the upgrade by halving prices for additional bandwidth and offering new flat-rate pricing plans.

Internet Upgrade

The new Internet access uses the same AT&T terrestrial microwave system as all our long-distance phone calls. Because it does not go through a satellite, the delay known as “latency” is over 90% lower, making web browsing seem much faster. Even dial-up users should notice a difference. In addition, overall downloads are 50% faster , uploads are 400% faster and the service is dedicated to us, not shared like the satellite connection. This means the full bandwidth is always available and we can use it as heavily as we want. The next T1 circuit will cost less than the first so GCN can now offer faster plans with more data at lower prices.

New Prices

Most GCN subscribers (82%) will see their prices stay the same or go lower compared to what they paid in June, 2009. Setup, reconnect, and equipment lease fees have been eliminated. However, seasonal users will pay 20% more on their basic service and 14 light users of broadband will pay up to $12/month more for new equipment and professional operations and maintenance.

• 57% of GCN customers now pay $25/month for basic dial-up service and will see no change in their bills.
• 18% of GCN customers, light broadband users providing their own equipment and now paying $32 to $46/month, will see their rates rise to $44 to $46/month.
• 25% of GCN customers are heavier users (both dial-up and broadband) and will see their bills fall by up to $63/month.

Comparison of old and new monthly rates for year-round customers

There is no change to short-term (daily and hourly) rates, except a weekly plan has been introduced. For details, see GCN Pricing.

Not counting setup fees or the library, total GCN billing will be $261 lower (about 9% less) if use stays what it was in June. As of July 1 the library pays an extra $200/month for a faster “Flat 960” plan and it's our expectation that the remaining $61 gap will be closed by increased use now that rates are lower and service is faster and more locations are within range of wireless broadband.

New Plans

GCN introduces flat-rate plans with fixed monthly prices for various Internet speeds. In addition, the “basic dial-up” plan has been renamed to “lifeline” to reflect the fact that it can be used wirelessly (where available) as well as over telephone lines.

• The basic price for year-round lifeline service remains the same $25 that dial-up was. Also unchanged are the hours and data included and the $0.10 charge for extra dial-up hours over 100 per month. Extra data is now half the price it was. Lifeline speed on wireless is 50% to 400% faster than dial-up connections but only 10% as fast as basic broadband and only includes half the data.
• Basic broadband rates have gone up $12/month for year-round service (from $32 for users providing their own equipment to $44) to help pay for new equipment and to professionalize operations and maintenance, but the basic broadband plan now includes double the data (formerly a $10 value) and...
• Additional data for all plans is half the price that it was (down from $.02 per megabyte to $.01).
• All plans now include the equipment necessary to connect to GCN, if any. There are no more equipment lease fees or purchases required. GCN owns and maintains any provided equipment at no additional charge. Installation fees may still apply in some situations.
• Setup and reconnect fees have been eliminated but new and lapsed users will pay 20% more than year-round users on basic service for their first 6 months. All existing users, including those who signed up less than six months ago, have paid setup or reconnect feesand will get the discounted year-round rate as long as their accounts remain active. Higher fees for seasonal users help cover the cost of equipment left idle most of the year. New users will automatically receive year-round discounts beginning with their seventh month of continuous service.
• New plans are now available, including new flat-rate plans! Usage-based plans remain the fastest and cheapest option for most users but continuous downloaders and those seeking a predictable monthly bill will appreciate the new fixed-price options.

See GCN pricing for more information. E-mail help@gustavus.ak.us or call GCN Administrator Corvid Computing at 697-2810 to change plans.

Disruptions

We have lately been dealing with a series of disruptions to GCN service.

Broadband customers in the Salmon River meadow area have experienced several months of intermittent outages due to failure of the aging Salmon River Turbocell base station. These outages did not affect City Hall, the clinic, the library, or dial-up users. GCN plans to replace the Turbocell network with a new wireless mesh network in September to eliminate this problem.

Lately we have had repeated lockups of one or the other of the SHDSL modems connecting City Hall to the Gustavus Public Library. The longest of these lasted for 20 hours – almost all of August 23 – and another lasted 12 on August 25. Several outages since then have been less than 15 minutes because Corvid Computing is actively monitoring the connection. These outages affect City Hall and the clinic as well as the Salmon River Turbocell network. These SHDSL modems have been extremely reliable until now. They will be replaced by the community-wide broadband network so we hope we can nurse them through until then.

The cutover to the new AT&T T1 circuit the night of August 26-27 involved very little disruption but customers were unable to send e-mail through the GCN mail server until just after noon on August 27.

The volunteers who deal with these sorts of problems wish to express their appreciation for the amazing patience shown by those suffering these significant inconveniences. This summer marked a low point for GCN network reliability but we think we are turning that around with installation of the new T1 circuit and replacement of the Turbocell network, both advances towards the ultimate goal of a fast, affordable, reliable community-wide broadband network.