June 2017 Comparison of SpeedConnect and other NationWide Fixed Wireless Providers

 [My Comments]

4G LTE Leveraged for Fixed Wireless Broadband in Rural Communities – RCR Wireless News 

For entire article go to https://www.risebroadband.com/2017/06/4g-lte-leveraged-fixed-wireless-broadband-rural-communities-rcr-wireless-news/

Posted on June 7, 2017 by rbbadmin

Analyst Angle: 4G LTE leveraged for fixed wireless broadband in rural communities

Approximately 30% of U.S. households in remote and rural communities still lack access to high speed broadband, and availability of fixed terrestrial broadband services in rural America continues to lag behind urban and suburban areas at all speeds. High speed internet access via DSL, cable and fiber is still cost prohibitive in rural and remote areas, and is available is only where providers can deploy these networks profitably. [Some providers CAN deploy profitably--and still offer GREAT PRICES]

Approximately 2,000 WISPs currently fill this gap by providing fixed wireless broadband services to more than 4 million households in small towns and rural communities in all 50 US states. Although the WISP industry is still highly fragmented, consolidation among WISP has been accelerating.  [Is consolidation always good?]

• Rise Broadband has leveraged private equity investments by Antares Capital and LStar Capital to acquire 100+ smaller operators since its founding in 2006, and is now the largest U.S. WISP with approximately 200,000 subscribers in 16 western states.

 [Bigger isn't always better]

The next largest WISP, SpeedConnect, now serves 50,000 subscribers in 10 mid-west and southern states, having leveraged funding from NewSpring Capital and a Kemper Corp. subsidiary to acquire CommSpeed and Sioux Valley Wireless. Although the majority of these subscribers are being served using proprietary technologies in unlicensed 5GHz spectrum, we have seen a significant uptick in investment in the use of 4G LTE technologies using licensed spectrum as a key technology enabler of fixed wireless broadband in rural areas where communities are small and housing density is low.
Rise Broadband continues to expand its fixed LTE wireless coverage area in more than 20 small-to-mid-sized markets, increasing peak Internet speeds up to 50 Mbps to allow its rural and suburban subscribers to receive faster Internet access, streaming, shopping and other online activities. Rise currently uses LTE spectrum in the 3.65 GHz “lightly licensed” band and has 16 licenses in the 2.5 GHz band. Rise plans to continue acquiring more 2.5 GHz spectrum to expand its fixed LTE wireless coverage.

SpeedConnect recently began using FCC-licensed 2.5 GHz EBS and BRS spectrum to launch LTEXtreme Internet, with 5, 15, 25 and 50 Mbps speeds to meet subscriber needs for streaming video services.   ......   [Hmmm what happened in past 9 months????]

Operator	LTE Fixed Wireless Coverage	Brand	Broadband Speed
Rise Broadband	20 small-to-mid-sized markets	Fixed LTE Wireless	up to 50 Mbps
SpeedConnect	1.1 million HH and businesses	LTEXtreme	5, 15, 25 & 50 Mbps
Redzone Wireless	Statewide in Maine	5Gx	50 Mbps down & 10 Mbps up

Until recently, the largest U.S. telecom and wireless network operators had not shown much interest in using fixed wireless technology to deliver fixed broadband to rural communities. But six of the leading telcos accepted more than $1.4 billion in funding in the second phase of the FCC Connect America Fund (CAF-II) to bring broadband to an estimated 3.5 million households and businesses in rural uncovered areas. The FCC has deemed high speed broadband service as a necessity in today’s technology environment, and has established a minimum standard of 10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. That standard may be raised to 25/3 Mbps for the third wave of CAF funding in 2017.   CAF II funding was accepted by CenturyLink, AT&T, Frontier, Windstream, FairPoint and Consolidated Communications, while Verizon opted out of the high-cost broadband program.

Operator	CAF II Rural Location Coverage	Geographic Coverage	CAF II Funding
CenturyLink	1.174 million	33 states	$505.7 million
AT&T	1.1 million	18 States	$427.7 million
Frontier	660,000	28 states	$283.4 million
Windstream	404,626	17 states	$174.9 million
Fairpoint	105,220	14 states	$37.4 million
Consolidated	24,700 rural locations	7 states	$13.9 million
Total	3.469 million HH and businesses		$1.443 billion

A recent Wireless 20/20 study demonstrates that fixed wireless could reduce capital expenditures by more than 50% for many low-density CAF II funded high-cost rural broadband deployments. Now that mobile broadband service is available to nearly the entire US population, some of the largest operators have begun to focus on fixed wireless as the most cost-effective technology to deliver broadband to rural and remote households.

AT&T recently announced plans to use a fixed wireless network to reach these CAF households when the cost to serve subscribers with DSL is too high. AT&T has a CAF II commitment to deliver high-speed broadband service to more than 400,000 locations in 18 states by the end of 2017 and over 1.1 million households and businesses by 2020. AT&T’s Fixed Wireless Internet (FWI) will meet the FCC’s CAF-II requirement to deliver a home internet connection with download speeds of at least 10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. The fixed wireless connection comes from a tower to an antenna on customers’ homes or businesses. Fixed Wireless Internet service will be provided using standard LTE base stations, but runs over a largely separate network from AT&T’s current mobility infrastructure. The use of separate base stations, tower antennas and spectrum will keep the fixed wireless service from interfering with mobility services.

Operator	LTE Fixed Wireless Coverage	Brand	Broadband Speed
AT&T	67,000 locations in Georgia 400K locations by the end of the year 1.1 million locations nationwide in 17 more states by 2020	Fixed LTE Wireless	10 Mbps downstream 1 Mbps upstream

AT&T has proven this hybrid of terrestrial and wireless broadband products newly combined to be a more cost-effective approach to delivering high-quality, high-speed internet to customers living in hard-to-reach rural and sparsely populated underserved areas. AT&T recently completed a first wave of fixed wireless internet availability for rural and underserved locations in Georgia, with plans to reach over 67,000 locations with fixed wireless technology across Georgia by 2020.  AT&T plans to expand its Fixed Wireless Internet to 1.1 million locations nationwide in 17 more states later in 2017. The AT&T fixed wireless service will be priced at $60 per month for the broadband only service and this price rises to $70 with no contract.
AT&T also intends to offer fixed wireless broadband service bundled with DIRECTV, lowering the monthly cost to $50, with a one-year contract. The fixed wireless service will have broadband usage caps of 160 GB per month, with additional 50 GB increments of data charged at $10 per month.

Wireless 20/20 has learned that AT&T will be using its licensed 2.3GHz WCS spectrum (Band 30) to deploy this rural fixed wireless service. AT&T acquired WCS spectrum from NextWave and Sprint in a series of transactions beginning in 2012. After resolving interference with Sirius XM satellite radio the wireless carrier began deploying its 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum, initially as a “capacity layer” for LTE mobile broadband service on top of its nationwide 700 MHz in a handful of dense urban markets during 2015.

AT&T Spectrum Block	Capacity	Coverage	Percent of Continental US Pops
WCS A and B	10-20 MHz	473 CMAs	70%
WCS C and D	5-10 MHz	344 CMAs	54%

AT&T has not disclosed any vendors for either the fixed wireless LTE base stations or outdoor antennas, but will use the same AT&T Wi-Fi gateways used for DSL service.   The dedicated outdoor antenna will be professionally installed on the chimney or roof, somewhat like a satellite dish today. Instead of aiming at the satellite, the outdoor antenna will be aimed towards a cell tower. An Ethernet cable will run from the outside antenna to an AT&T Wi-Fi gateway inside the house which will support up to 4 Ethernet-connected devices and multiple Wi-Fi enabled devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets, similar to how many wired home internet customers are connected today. AT&T will charge a $99 installation fee for FWI when purchased either standalone or with a wireless plan, and this installation fee will be waived if bundled with DIRECTV.

Wireless 20/20 expects this AT&T initiative to be of interest to other telcos that have accepted CAF-II funding and plan to apply for additional funds for rural broadband, such as CenturyLink, Frontier, Windstream, FairPoint and Consolidated Communications. Even Rise Broadband recently announced plans to expand its Fixed LTE Wireless network in 10 market areas in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas, leveraging the $16.9 million funding received through the Rural Broadband Experiment (RBE) program, part of the overall FCC CAF program for broadband expansion in rural markets.

There has been a distinct shift in FCC policy in favor of wireless broadband, as Chairman Ajit Pai recently announced the formation of the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force to oversee both the upcoming Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF-II) and the “reverse auctions” for Mobility Fund II. The upcoming FCC CAF-II reverse auction will make nearly $2 billion available for bidders to connect unserved and underserved census blocks in 20 states over the next decade. The FCC MF-II reverse auction will make more than $4.5 billion in new funding available over ten years for expanding 4G LTE mobile broadband coverage across rural America and Tribal lands.  

T-Mobile recently asked the FCC to lower the speed and latency thresholds for Mobility Fund II, reducing the broadband downlink benchmark from 10 Mbps to 5 Mbps.  [Yep!  Our T Mobile Hot Spot DLS often goes to less than 10!]

2018 Satellite Internet Reviews

This is my final word on this subject as it just seems no-win for Rural SD.  There are parts of the country and the world who would not be linked to the rest of the world were it not for Satellite Internet, so it's great to have at least 2 left.

But read the review and see when Elon Musks low orbit Satellite will emerge:

https://www.reviews.org/internet-service/best-satellite-internet-providers/

VIASAT Website Info Summary

•  ALERT--See Reviews at https://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/wild_blue.html or at https://exede.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

  To be fair the consumeraffairs review refers to WildBlue so if these complaints are for that era, then best to find something that specifically refers to the new company called ViaSat or Exede at https://www.exede.com/plan-results/gold12/

Yes! Viasat Satellite Internet is Available in Your Area

Viasat plans for 57017. Change Location

3 WAYS TO ORDER:  Call 844‌-‌753‌-‌9199

On the Unlimited Bronze 12, Silver 12, and Gold 12 service plans, after 40, 60, or 100 GB of data usage, respectively, we may prioritize your data behind other customers during network congestion. [With a LARGE increase in customers from SpeedConnect, what exactly will that mean?] Not just SC in SD but in all the states it serves, Michigan, Montana, Iowa, Arizona, etc, etc.Learn more about video streaming quality here.

PLANS:

1. Bronze 12: Up to 12 mbs Download--Unlimited Data-- Video Streaming abt 360p (except for the exclusion above!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)$65/month after 3 months $75 with equipment fee
2. Silver 12: Up to 12 mbs Download--Unlimited Data-- Video Streaming abt 480p, $95/month after 3 months $105 with equipment fee
3. Gold 12: Up to 12 mbs Download--Unlimited Data-- Video Streaming at 720p, $145/month after 3 months. $155 with equipment fee

So this proves the point in my post a few days ago "Rural America is stranded..."
Up to 12 mbs can mean anything IMO and with latency it's not just the video streaming but the "cannot do" stuff--like the Internet Phone system that gives you more for less. Best to Google "Exede Viacom Reviews or Complaints"

If you have absolutely no other choice whatsoever, it's worth a try for 3 months at the reduced price, but definitely not worth the cost on a long term basis. Oh but you have a 2 year contract so......guess you can't try it for 3 months.

PERSONALLY, we have had WildBlue Satellite and it's a last resort in all cases, as is.

Oooooops--forgot the fine print:
All plans require 24 month commitment and $9.99/month equipment lease fee and are subject to taxes. Speeds and video streaming quality are "up to," which are not guaranteed and may vary. Service is not available in all areas.

FCC Website showing SpeedConnect Applying to release BSR Spectrum to Sprint

FCC Website showing SpeedConnect (Assignor) Applying to release BRS Spectrum to Sprint (Assignee)

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/ApplicationSearch/applMain.jsp?applID=10733542

This supports the comment left by the Wispa Lawyer on the post below.  

Also some second hand info (will post more on that later) guesses that SC customers will be given a chance to convert over to SATELLITE INTERNET carrier, EXEDE. No comments on any of this.

Some customers with unattended SpeedConnect Complaints have chosen to contact SD Attorney General, but what DO THEY do?  Contact PUC (see link to right), AG, FCC or one, both or all -- or just prepare by trying to find a substitute.  If the only substitute you have is Satellite, you should get a better deal from SC than directly from the other Satellite carriers--just MYO.

UPDATE to SpeedConnect

PHOTO from a Sioux Falls area customer who has been abandoned by SC as one of their towers went down and they won't re-direct his antenna to another tower:

Basically it says the same thing I posted from the wesite about Office Closing Feb 16 2018.

Still Looking into this:  

WEBSITE:  They removed the "Offices Closed Feb 16" notice on their website
but Satellite Only shows for Services available and still send payment to Chicago. 

PHONE:  Calling the Support number as of 2 pm today, Feb 20, gets an different voice (male only) and then choosing Customer Support, there are 17-20 calls ahead and at least a 20 minute wait.

OUR SD PUC, Chris Nelson is checking into this.

Hopefully some of you will post comments about what's happening with your SpeedConnect. One neighboring customer has had problems but no response from Support.  So, are they leaving existing customers with existing service, but not able to fix problems anymore?
  

*******************************************************************

See 2 comments below--here is a partial outtake:

Wispa LaywerNow public, there is a license assignment application on file with the FCC in which SpeedConnect is proposing to assign to Sprint a large number of BRS licenses. Likely leases as well, though those are handled differently. That might help explain what you are seeing in the market.

***********

If this goes through. The LTE equipment running under one of these lic. Will have to be turned off.  [This includes all the fixed wireless and Wimax SC provides in our area]

SPEEDCONNECT Background with Huawei and why that could be a disaster!

Why not use HUAWEI Phones--see this article 14 Feb 2018 on Security Issues:

Don’t use Huawei phones, say heads of FBI, CIA, and NSA

172 comments

The US intelligence community is still worried about Chinese tech giants’ government ties

By James Vincent@jjvincent Feb 14, 2018, 5:05am EST  

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/14/17011246/huawei-phones-safe-us-intelligence-chief-fears  

Tweet Huawei’s P10 smartphone.  

The heads of six major US intelligence agencies have warned that American citizens shouldn’t use products and services made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE. According to a report from CNBC, the intelligence chiefs made the recommendation during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday. The group included the heads of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the director of national intelligence.

**************************************************************************

See this website from 2011 on 4G with Huawei and SpeedConnect

Update: SpeedConnect Announces 4G Network Deployed by Huawei in Michigan

Network Will Support Ultra-broadband Internet, IP Telephony, Gaming Services, and Streaming Multimedia

Oct 03, 2011, 19:21 ET from SpeedConnect

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/telecommunications-latest-news/update-speedconnect-announces-4g-network-deployed-by--in-michigan-131018913.html

Rural America Is Stranded in the Dial-Up Age... 15 June 2017

 Excerpts from:

Rural America Is Stranded in the Dial-Up Age; High costs and lack of access to broadband service prevent residents of far-flung communities from joining the modern economy

To View Entire Article--see Jennifer Levitz; Valerie Bauerlein | Photographs by Nick Schnelle for. Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]15 June 2017: n/a. 

CALEDONIA, Mo.--Jeanne Wilson Johnson raises sheep and angora goats, and to sell the wool and mohair online she drives 4 miles to the parking lot of Roy's gas station, the closest spot for decent internet access.

At her 420-acre farm, Ms. Johnson pays $170 a month for a satellite internet service too slow to upload photos, much less conduct business.

As in many rural communities, broadband here lags behind in both speed and available connections. Federal data shows only a fraction of Washington County's 25,000 residents, including Ms. Johnson, have internet service fast enough to stream videos or access the cloud, activities that residents 80 miles away in St. Louis take for granted.

"We don't feel like we're worth it," said Ms. Johnson, 60 years old.
Delivering up-to-date broadband service to distant reaches of the U.S. would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, experts estimate, an expense government, industry and consumers haven't been willing to pay.
..........
Counties without modern internet connections can't attract new firms, and their isolation discourages the enterprises they have: ranchers who want to buy and sell cattle in online auctions or farmers who could use the internet to monitor crops. Reliance on broadband includes any business that uses high-speed data transmission, spanning banks to insurance firms to factories.

Rural counties with more households connected to broadband had higher incomes and lower unemployment than those with fewer, according to a 2015 study by university researchers in Oklahoma, Mississippi and Texas who compared rural counties before and after getting high-speed internet service.
 ..............

"We drill for oil above the Arctic Circle in some of the worst conditions known to man," Mr. Goad said. "Surely we can drop broadband across the rural areas in the Midwest."
About 39% of the U.S. rural population, or 23 million people, lack access to broadband internet service--defined as "fast" by the Federal Communications Commission--compared with 4% of the urban residents.

Fast service, according to the FCC, means a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second, a measure of bandwidth known as Mbps. That speed can support email, web surfing, video streaming and graphics for more than one device at once. It is faster than old dial-up connections--typically, less than 1 Mbps--but slower than the 100 Mbps service common in cities.

Costly connections
Rural America can't seem to afford broadband: Too few customers are spread over too great a distance. The gold standard is fiber-optic service, but rural internet providers say they can't invest in door-to-door connections with such a limited number of subscribers.
 ........

Most rural communities rely on existing telephone technology that transmits data over copper lines. Even with upgrades, those lines can't deliver data at speeds common to fiber-optic networks.

...... Even when it works, cell service can't match the speed or capacity of broadband. "You just can't compete," said Brian Whitacre, an agricultural economics professor at Oklahoma State University. "Running a business with a smartphone is not going to happen."

Alternative internet technologies--satellite dish or fixed wireless, which uses cellular networks to beam data short distances using antennas and transmitters--struggle to handle video streaming or other high-data uses. Those services also typically cap the amount of data used each month.

The 25-bed Washington County Memorial Hospital, which has service of 10 Mbps, loses internet connections often enough that ambulance drivers are told to divert critical patients, ....

The city clerk in Irondale, who is connected to the internet through existing copper lines, can't attach financial reports to email because it is so slow.


...Some lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration to include rural broadband in an anticipated $1 trillion infrastructure package. The White House hasn't said how any such projects might be funded.
"Rural broadband, we need that quite honestly more than we need roads and bridges in many of the counties I represent," U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R., Ga.) said at a May 17 House committee hearing on the rural economy.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said broadband connectivity should be seen as the "roads, sewers and water" of the modern age. "The good news is, this is square on the radar scope of the president." he said at the hearing.

Mr. Pai, President Donald Trump's FCC chairman, said rural broadband should be included in the expected infrastructure package. ..

Missouri broadband providers received $261 million of the stimulus money. "The intent was to spread accessibility throughout the state," said Luke Holtschneider, the state's Rural Development Manager. "But that program did not on its own continue to expand in the community like you would hope."
 ......
"I just want to know what happened to all the money and grant and things," said Ms. Johnson, the sheep farmer. "We didn't see any benefits."

Self-serve systems
Some rural communities have successfully done the job themselves.
In central Missouri, Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, Inc., a not-for-profit, customer-owned co-op formed in 1939 to deliver electricity, started a fiber-optic network that has built connections to 25,000 members in a region more sparsely populated than Washington County. So far, it has 15,000 subscribers, including non-members in neighboring communities..

While some rural communities have built their own systems, laws in at least 19 states restrict such efforts, generally on the grounds they pose a threat to private companies. A GOP-sponsored bill that set up obstacles to similar broadband efforts stalled this spring in the Missouri legislature.
Every other Thursday, Dr. Stuart Higano, a cardiologist from Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, visits the family practice office of Gregory Terpstra in Potosi, Mo., to see patients.
The office has internet service at 10 Mbps from CenturyLink Inc., too slow for Dr. Higano to efficiently connect with the database at his hospital to access patient records or view heart images. "Everything in medicine now is electronic medical records," he said.
Dr. Terpstra, age 69, now has a copper line that connects his office to the fiber-optic cable that runs through town. To get a faster and more reliable connection, CenturyLink said it would have to install 1,000 feet of fiber-optic line to his office and charge the higher monthly fee.
Earlier this year, Dr. Terpstra, dressed in a bow tie and white coat, said he got a quote for fiber-optic service that ranged from $563 a month for 20 Mbps to $1,190 a month for 200 Mbps.
"Does that sound like a good deal?" he said.

Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com and Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com
Credit: By Jennifer Levitz and Valerie Bauerlein | Photographs by Nick Schnelle for The Wall Street Journal

Word count: 2291

(c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

UPDATE to Ooma and my T Mobile HotSpot $10 a month

Just Decided to test this setup as a backup for 2 reasons:

1. IF I ever had a serious outage from regular internet, and T Mobile still going, I could still make and receive phone calls all over the house.
2. If I needed to take my Ooma on the road (to get calls to my home phone number, not a cell phone (which uses my phone minutes), I could do that with the Hot Spot. 

So, I repeated the setup for my T Mobile Hot Spot and IT WORKED!  It looks to use very little data.  Here are the stats on what it uses, so I probably don't need to switch it back and forth from my regular internet via router to the TMB Hotspot.

Ooma data usage
• A single call on a telo over iLBC at maximum redundancy uses up to 70 kbps in one direction.
• The iLBC codec with no redundancy uses about 35kbps or 4.375KB per sec each way.
• That's 525KB per minute of usage for both ways. 10 min call ~= 5.25MB usage. 60 min call ~= 31.5MB usage.

So, on my 2 gB HotSpot, I have never had it exceed that so shouldn't ever have to worry about it.  The HotSpot also just reduces my bandwidth speed when it reaches the 2 gB so hoping it will still support the phone.  Will be tracking the bandwidth use on the Hot Spot.  So, for $10 a month, away from home, I can run our cell phones (use Google Voice) or home phones using Ooma and a regular corded handset if I chose--for business away from home, etc.
 

Rural Internet Options

UPDATING to REMOVE SPEEDCONNECT until we get more details... (From Nov 2017 Post)

Adding to this post:
WIRELESS FIBER-NET (or a variation thereof): INTERLAKES WIRELESS of Madison which highest speeds are reflected in the SpeedTest photo attached to this page, but normally 30-40 mbs Download and 15 mbs upload. Very reliable, strong signal that beats anything around, including the cell 4G LTE!

I think we could even use it for Internet Phone service.

I can finally sit down browse (and many other things) at speeds that let me do other things than sitting and waiting for downloads and upload backups. I can stream 4K and get rid of DISH!

I can view online webinars, use Skype, remote to help others with their computer or programs and am still discovering cool stuff to use these speeds for.

I see now that if anyone wanted to start a Home Business here in the rural areas, they can finally do it with this speed and reliability.

SpeedConnect Rural Wireless Internet South Dakota

August 2, 2016 · 

THEY NOW LIST ONLY SATELLITE on THEIR WEBSITE!
 

ALTERNATIVE INTERNET OPTIONS. There are not a lot in rural South Dakota or any rural areas--it seems all the providers concentrate on the urban areas where there is already a choice of providers and so with more choices and competition, their prices are lower, but RURAL areas--we haven't much choice. Here's what I have found in the area we live:

WIRELESS Line of Sight--SpeedConnect and that's it. Vast came in about a year ago but it is only available to customers WITHIN Colman. Moody County Internet (RDC) has limited speeds and coverage Max 3.5 download for residential.

WIMAX -- Slightly higher speeds than Line of Sight Wireless, but again only available with about 10 miles from a tower, which one is in Brookings. Coming to SpeedConnect in Colman? Good question!

MOBILE (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) this is the same internet you get on your smart phones, but you can get Mobile Hotspots that can be placed anywhere in your house and service up to 10 devices. Most are 4G LTE. We have tried AT&T--good signal, reliable, coverage area--HotSpot is portable--you can take it on the road. Pricey at $60 for 10 gB usage, but speeds are 4G 10-12 mBs Download, BUT you can't afford to stream video at those prices. Verizon has similar plan, 

 BEST CHOICE is T MOBILE--if you are in a coverage area, 6 Gb is $25/month and you can stash (from unused data) up to 20 gB for a year. If you just need a backup you can get 2 gB for $10/month. With the 6 gB plan you get UNLIMITED MUSIC Streaming and Binge On which is UNLIMITED VIDEO STREAMING with certain networks such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, MLB, etc BUT it is not HD--it is 480p and ONLY ON TABLETS, PC BROWSERS, and SMARTPHONES. But you can use those to "Mirror cast" to a ROKU which then projects onto your Large Screen TV.

If you know how much data you use to browse the web, check email, social sites, update your antivirus and windows, then you may get by with the 6gB plan, but probably not. But at least you can watch as much of the streaming video at 480p without using your regular data allowance.

FIBERNET--spotty availability--where we live we heard that Century Link was going to run Fiber cable north of Colman, but when? Sometime in next 5 years? Call 866-541-3322 to ask about it--if we all call maybe they will speed up their run of Fiber cable! BEST CHOICE if you have access. Best Speeds, lower prices, but bundling with TV or phone may not be optional.

SATELLITE--Dish, Direct, Hughes, Exede, WildBlue--See these reviews--not great for streaming video, caps on usage, Probably a last resort at best: http://www.toptenreviews.com/…/best-satellite-internet-pro…/  Latency prevents use of 4K streaming an VOip phone use.

What's Up with SPEEDCONNECT?

Looking into details of this possible Internet Earthquake in SE South Dakota. If SC is pulling out, eventually this could leave 2800 customers truly WIRE less literally with no "connection" to the outside internet world--as they knew it. What are customer's options? Earlier posts outlined  choices short and long term.

Website says:

SpeedConnect Customers,
Effective February 16, 2018, our offices will be closed.   Please note that our customer care center can be reached at 866-297-2900, Monday through Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm ET, to assist with all of your needs.

All payments should be mailed to our bank:
SpeedConnect, LLC
1898 Momentum Place, Chicago, Illinois 60689-5318

PHONE 866-297-2900  CALL this number and you will hear a repeating Welcome message and no options to talk to anyone.

Also--see this site:

https://speedconnect.pissedconsumer.com/speed-connect-a-dishonest-company-201802171191728.html


More to come....

FACEBOOK for Speed Connect at https://www.facebook.com/speedconnect.highspeed shows:

New SATELLITE Internet from SPACE--but is this just more of the same?

Elon Musk's Broadband-From-Space Plan Clears Crucial U.S. Hurdle

ByTodd Shields and Dana Hull

February 14, 2018, 10:39 AM CST Updated on February 14, 2018, 12:35 PM CST

CLICK HERE to SEE the Whole Story

[My comments]

pace Is About to Get a Whole Lot Closer

Elon Musk’s SpaceX moved closer to another orbital frontier as regulators advanced its application to launch a low-orbit constellation of satellites and join a jostling field of operators trying to cash in on broadband service from space.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday recommended the agency approve Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s application to provide broadband services using satellite technologies in the U.S. and on a global basis. The proposal now goes to Pai’s four fellow commissioners for consideration at the agency which earlier approved three international operators for satellite-broadband operations: OneWeb, Space Norway AS and Telesat Canada.

“To bridge America’s digital divide, we’ll have to use innovative technologies,” Pai said in an emailed statement. “Satellite technology can help reach Americans who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach.”

[Again--there ARE other technologies to serve where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach--in fact living in one of these "rural areas" not only do they not reach (except for cell towers) they do not serve the need as there are caps on usage and cell 4g LTE also has caps on usage]
 
The FCC’s move comes as U.S. politicians call for improved internet service in rural areas. President Donald Trump’s infrastructure proposal lists broadband, or high-speed internet service, as eligible for funding alongside traditional projects such as roads and bridges. Some Democratic lawmakers have criticized the lack of dedicated broadband funding.
John Taylor, a SpaceX spokesman, didn’t immediately comment or give further details on the company’s plans, but the FCC last year said SpaceX had requested authority to deploy and operate a constellation of 4,425 satellites operating roughly 700 to 800 miles above the Earth (or 1,110-to-1325 kilometers).

[How does this differ, for the end user, from other satellite technology?  What about latency that prevents serious 4K streaming and other problems with current satellite providers (such as high prices and caps on usage again)?]
 
...Entering the satellite broadband market would add to Musk’s already wide array of business pursuits....

Pai, the Republican FCC chief, said SpaceX’s program could help “unleash the power of satellite constellations to provide high-speed internet to rural Americans.”
The approval would be the first given to an American-based company to provide broadband services using a new generation of low-Earth orbit satellite technologies, Pai said.

[When will this happen?  Next year, the year after, etc, etc?  We have ability right now in rural areas to bypass lack of fiber cable, cell towers.  RIGHT NOW and HERE (we are using it right now)--wireless Fibernet!!!!  They talked about this 3 years ago.

[Again, is this the same ole, same ole as far as Satellite-delivered internet?] Will it connect directly to consumers or to the backbones of Internet providers?
 

“We’re going to try to do for satellites what we’ve done for rockets,” said Musk during an interview with Bloomberg Television in January 2015.

In order for large broadband constellations to deliver services in the U.S., the FCC must approve their operations to ensure the satellites don’t interfere with other uses, and will operate in a way that lowers the risk of collisions.

The FCC last year gave OneWeb access to the U.S. market using a proposed fleet of 720 satellites, and granted Telesat access to the market via 117 satellites already authorized by Canada. Space Norway won approval for two satellites.

Telesat last year said its service would suffer interference from SpaceX’s operations as proposed, and asked the FCC to deny permission.

[Looks like this isn't cut and dried since SpaceX would interfere with Telesat so we're NOT going to see this tomorrow or next year]

Glad I found something I can use today in my rural area!