One more point. My router reports that it's connected to Qwest's infrastructure at 1000 Mbps. This means that each resident is being artificially capped to 12 Mbps, or in other words, that we are only getting a very small percentage of what is available. Fiber optic equipment is capable of much higher speeds than we are getting. They could have achieved our current speeds with DSL.

I found the Daybreak Internet survey that was sent out in August of last year, which I have pasted below. According to the survey, the Daybreak Internet price of $33 per month is a 40% discount compared with retail rates. This is false. I just priced 12 Mbps DSL service from CenturyLink.com, and it came to $35 per month.

The current Dabyreak Internet price is not a discount.

Some more info:

- We are getting DSL speeds over our fiber optic connection (slower than before)

- There is no technical advantage to having Fiber-to-the-Home if we are limited to DSL speeds

- Our internet connection is more similar to a standard Qwest DSL line than it ever has been

I plan on attending the October 19 open council meeting at the Glass House (6:00pm) to raise this issue.


Here's the survey that was sent out:

Option #1
Bulk Bill: 1.) Residents will receive a higher connection speed for less money. Each resident will receive Fixed Choice Online Internet at $33.00 per month ($99.00 per quarter) for 12Mbps instead of 10Mbps for $35.00 (approximately 40% less than retail rates). 2.) Each resident will be investing in the Community; Qwest will share 10% of the total Choice online internet monthly revenue billed in Daybreak with the HOA. 3.) Residents will be billed for service on your HOA Quarterly Statement. Residents can customize their connection speed upgrades and receive a separate bill from Qwest for the incremental cost. 4.) A dedicated account team will work directly with the HOA for billing and service questions. 5.) Limits the HOA's responsibility on delinquent accounts; accounts at 30 days past due will be suspended; accounts at 90 days past due will be disconnected; The HOA's financial responsibility ends at 90 days. (Any reconnect fees will be billed directly to the resident from Qwest)

Option #2
Non-Bulk Bill: 1.) Residents will receive retail rate: 12 Mbps monthly rate $62.99 when bundled with the Eligible Home Phone Package and $67.99 without bundling with the Eligible Home Phone Package. Higher connection speeds are available for an additional cost. 2.) Share of revenue with HOA is limited. 3.) Each resident will receive a separate bill from Qwest. 4.) Each resident works individually with Qwest without the HOA's involvement.

Good luck at the meeting. I have been trying to raise this issue for years without any luck. The survey was a sham. KL already had a 10-year deal with Qwest. The survey and discussions at the meetings were just for show. And it worked. Several of us tried to help the other residents understand that allowing KL to make decisions for us about which ISP we had to use wasn't a good idea, but we were shouted down by those who wanted to "save" a couple of bucks a month rather than exert a bit of effort and shop around. Not surprisingly, KL listened to them (since it already fit what they were going to do anyway). All I wanted was a way to opt out, but that never happened. Plan on the cost of better, faster service going down all around us whole we're stuck with the crappy deal put in place by KL. Just remember to clap louder if you're feeling dissatisfied....

All of us always have the option of going with DSL if we don't like what Qwest is doing. Or we could pay extra for the faster speeds. It's not like our choices were taken away from us. We can always choose to go another way individually.

Laura, indeed we could. I want to give them the chance to give us better service. The price we are getting today is comparable to market rates for 12 Mbps DSL service. I think they can do much better with our captive market and long term contract.

I don't disagree that we can still choose something different. In fact, I did that for 3 years while continuing to pay for Qwest because I had so many issues at the beginning. My only point is that if we are all going to be locked into a long term contract with no exit clause there should be some extra benefit in either price, speed, and/or service. Paying the same rate as any other Qwest customer doesn't give us anything we couldn't get individually on the open market, so what's the point of locking us into Qwest? I'm not necessarily opposed to the program; I'd just like to see those of us paying the bill get more value out if it.