Small Wyoming Town To Be Better Connected Than Many CitiesPowell, Wyoming, Population 5,500, breaks ground on fiber project 06:15PM Wednesday May 28 2008 by Karl Bodetags: Fiber · alternatives · municipalI've previously mentioned how the small town of Powell, Wyoming hopes to see an economic resurgence through the building of a $6 million fiber network. One of the project's developers has previously posted in our forums. The private-public partnership is breaking ground this week, much to the chagrin of local operators Qwest and Bresnan Communications, who tried to argue their local duopoly collectively represented a "thriving marketplace" that made the build unnecessary. From the Wyoming Business Report: "Our new FTTH system will not only service existing residences, businesses, and schools but also help retain our young people and attract new residents and businesses. … This network will ensure that the city will have state of the art infrastructure, while embracing the involvement of private service providers," said Powell Mayor Scott Mangold. The private company Powell is working with is a local carrier by the name of TCT.
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- Powell, Wyoming: Population 5,500, Fiber Fed
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 Scoot_NJ
join:2007-09-25
Budd Lake, NJ | Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! I'll have to check out this town in particular! | |
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CoxCable4
banned from most servers for cheating
join:2002-10-02
PwnZone | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! sounds good. about $1100 per citizen, which is more or less on par for what verizon pays to wire each home. | |
| | | | | Scoot_NJ
join:2007-09-25
Budd Lake, NJ | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! If I am within 20 miles of a Super WalMart, I will have everything I need to live my life!!!
And internet of course!
Milwaukee's Best as well! | |
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CarterStClai
X-Out The W
join:2002-04-17
Sugar Land, TX | Scary though...Super WalMart... | |
| | | | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! Its your supermarket too ("Super" tag, same for Target). There is no other mart than WalMart I bet in the area. | |
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CarterStClai
X-Out The W
join:2002-04-17
Sugar Land, TX | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! Thus, my comment  | |
| | | | | | | james1
join:2001-02-26
antarctica | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! No, because they can't count anyone who plays a banjo when trying to figure out if it's a city or not. | |
| | | | | zjumper
join:2004-08-17
Baltimore, MD | Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! By definition, anything over 2500 people is considered urban... 4 srs. | |
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Tzale
Ron Paul - No Bailout Conservative
Premium
join:2004-01-06
NJ, USA
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Optimum Online
| Re: Cool! I am looking to move to Wyoming! said by zjumper  :By definition, anything over 2500 people is considered urban... 4 srs. The question is really density...
2500 people over 10 miles or 2500 people over 1/4 mile? | |
| xxTRAGEDYxx
join:2008-03-14
Kannapolis, NC | A Job Done Right!! When it's all said and done.. this will offer Powell with a wonderful new option for services usually provided by monoplies. It will also be good for their school system | |
| nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | not just big cities they are going to be connected better than most of the rest of the country.
they also just catapulted themselves about 5 years ahead of most of the rest of the country. | |
| | Techie714
join:2005-08-02
Anaheim, CA
 ·ViaTalk
| Re: not just big cities said by nasadude :they are going to be connected better than most of the rest of the country. they also just catapulted themselves about 5 years ahead of most of the rest of the country. Very True! | |
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fradaf
@qwest.net | Re: not just big cities There is more antelope in Wyoming then people, Google it. | |
| koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Sweet! We are moving to Powell next week actually. I have been tracking Powellink as it is now called for a long, long time. | |
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Owlbet Incognito
@mtaonline.net
| Re: Sweet! Palmer, Alaska has about the same population. I've heard rumors on both sides of the fence (subscribers and MTA techs) that our little podunk town is getting fiber to the home. But when I call to inquire as to the validity of the rumors, those that have the capabilities to confirm or deny remain strangely quiet.
I for one, would like to know the truth. If it turns out to be true, what a slap to the Municipality of Anchorage...population (minus the moose, of course) 265,000 +/-. | |
| Cjaiceman
join:2004-10-12
Aurora, CO | Speed I wonder what kind of speeds and caps they will offer? | |
| | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Re: Speed The speeds will start at 5Mb/s and go up to 100Mb/s, still no word on pricing though. | |
| 
Transmaster
Onward Through The Fog
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
edit:
May 28th, @08:55PM
| Powell is a Cool Place Powell is not really in the middle of nowhere by Wyoming standards, I am here to tell you if you are in to out door recreation, fishing hunting, hiking, etc Powell is right in the middle of outdoor heaven. To the east is the Bighorn mountains, to the west Yellowstone Park to the North the Beartooth Range, to the south the Wind River Range. Check out the area on Google Earth. If you are a Telecommuter this would be heaven on earth place to work. My family homesteaded on the South Fork of the Shoshone river Southwest of Cody, Wyoming. in the late 1860's so I know the area very well.
--
Send a prayer to Allah, eat Beans. | |
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Transmaster
Onward Through The Fog
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Re: Powell is a Cool Place My Great Grandfather Billings was the last foreman for Buffalo Bill's TE ranch in Cody, while William Cody still owned it. TE was and still is the brand for the ranch.
--
Send a prayer to Allah, eat Beans. | |
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rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY | Re: Powell is a Cool Place wow. that's kinda cool.... | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Very cool indeed. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
 ·AT&T Southwest
| said by Transmaster :My family homesteaded on the South Fork of the Shoshone river Southwest of Cody, Wyoming. in the late 1860's so I know the area very well. Well, I knew you were an older and more experienced poster on the forums, but I never had any idea you were THAT old....!!
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
| 
pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
| Funny Codewords... quote:
The private-public partnership ...
Sounds like how a lot of stadiums get funded these days... 
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA | Re: Funny Codewords... As an investment in their future, this is a good choice (for a community this size, and location) | |
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Transmaster
Onward Through The Fog
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
| Re: Funny Codewords... said by tshirt : As an investment in their future, this is a good choice (for a community this size, and location) Exactly right, "build it and they will come". If I where a small company that manufactured stuff like fishing rods, mountaineerings equipment, tents, etc and did most of my business via the Web this would be a good place to set up shop, Low overhead, low taxes, etc. | |
| ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Also check out Glen Allan, Mississippi This one has gotten zero publicity, but the Lakeside Telephone Co. in Glen Allan, Mississippi, population about 250, is currently building a FTTH network. I was there for several months caring for my dad, and I needed a temp dialup account, so I went down there to sign up. I was talking with the lady in there as I was doing the paperwork, and I jokingly told her that they should start offering cable TV, and she told me they were. She explained that they would be building a fiber network in the spring and hopefully finished with it during the summer, at which time they'd use it for phone, TV, and Internet. They've had DSL for years, but they're apparently getting ready to step things up a notch. When I left last month, they were in the process of surveying where the cables would be laid.
So, if you want a place to move to, check it out. And if you like fishing, the town is right on the bank of Lake Washington, one of the largest lakes in the state. There's no airport there obviously, but there's one in Greenville, about 30 miles away, and Jackson is about 100 miles away, and you can fly out of Jackson-Evars International Airport. So Glen Allan is kind of off the beaten path, but it's not a bad place to live if you want to telecommute. And the Kountry Market makes a kick-ass cheeseburger. | |
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Xizer
join:2004-02-05
Kenosha, WI | Re: Also check out Glen Allan, Mississippi The problem here is: Mississippi
Worst state in the union. | |
| | | ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Re: Also check out Glen Allan, Mississippi said by Xizer :The problem here is: Mississippi Worst state in the union. So I take it you've lived there? Or are you just stereotyping? What specific personal evidence are you basing this statement on?
Personally, I have lived there. I grew up there, in fact, and while every area has its problems, I don't see anything particularly bad about the state. Is it poor? Yes, but many places are, and that doesn't affect the character of the people who live there. I had to return there for a better part of nine months to care for my terminally-ill parents, and the kindness shown by the folks there blew me away. They brought food, delivered the mail when I wasn't able to leave to go to the post office, arranged sitters when I had to go out of town, and generally checked in regularly to see if we needed anything. And the hospice staff were amazing, even going so far as to help with shopping trips when my brother or I couldn't leave the house because of my dad's health. I couldn't walk down the street on any day without someone stopping me to ask how my parents were doing and if there was anything they could do to help. And when they died, it seemed like half the town turned out for the funerals.
So please, if you have some personal experiences to the contrary, share them. But if you don't, and if you're basing what you said on things you only think you know, then educate yourself before you make such generalizations.
I await your reply. | |
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Xizer
join:2004-02-05
Kenosha, WI
edit:
May 29th, @10:05PM
| Don't need to live there. It's in the south, which automatically puts it in the bottom 10.
But then when you look at these statistics:
-Poorest state in the union
-Worst education rankings
-High percentage of backwoods rednecks
-State flag still has the Confederate flag on it
And another backwards thing I can recall off the top of my head as an example, Mississippi was one of only three states to outlaw sex toys, along with Alabama and Texas. They're no longer illegal because a court bitch-slapped them.
I wouldn't feel safe driving through that state, much less living there.
Edit: Oh yeah, and after taking a brief look at Mississippi's Wikipedia article, I see that they don't fail to disappoint when it comes to being backwards:
"In 2004, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage by 86%, the largest proportion of any state. The amendment also prohibits Mississippi from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries, where it may be legal." | |
| | | | ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Re: Also check out Glen Allan, Mississippi I'm not going to defend some of the stupid things that politicians have done, but you'll also note that many other states have banned gay marriages. As I recall, California just had their ban struck down.
But hey, I can stereotype, too. How about this? New Yorkers are some of the rudest people in the country. If you get in their way, they'd just as soon knock you down as talk to you. NYC is dirty, overcrowded, and is generally a pain in the ass to get around. Only an idiot would want to visit, much less live there.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Except that not a bit of it is true. I've been there twice, and I've found New Yorkers to be quite the opposite of what the stereotypes say about them. They're polite, helpful, and they know how to run an orderly city. Just watching the way people wait to board the subway until riders have exited the car proves that.
So, again, I'm asking you, since you didn't answer me the last time: Have you been to Mississippi? Yes or no? If you have, then we can talk about your personal experience. If you haven't, then you're going on hearsay, and I'm telling you that you're getting it wrong. You can believe me or not; that's your choice, but I've been there, I consider myself quite progressive and politically liberal, and I still like the place. You may like it, or you may not, but if all you're judging it by is what you've heard, then you're sadly ignorant, and I suppose nothing I can say is going to change your mind.
But since you seem to enjoy Wikipedia so much, check out these folks who were either born in Mississippi or spent a good part of their lives there: William Faulkner, William Alexander Percy, John Grisham, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams, Hodding Carter, II, Hodding Carter, III, William Raspberry, Medgar Evers, Jimmy Buffett, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, W,C, Handy, Milt Hinton, Pete Fountain, John Lee Hooker, Faith Hill, Elvis Presley, LeAnn Rimes, Lance Bass, the members of 3 Doors Down, Jerry Clower, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Sela Ward, Jim Henson, Oprah Winfrey, Red Barber, Dizzy Dean, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and James Barksdale, to name a few. I'm sure these folks would appreciate being called backwoods rednecks. | |
| | | | | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | I have been to Powell plenty of times, we are moving there next week actually (my comment above was not a joke BTW). | |
| |
Transmaster
Onward Through The Fog
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Don't feel all alone I have been to Powell many, many times. I have family that live in Cody.
--
Send a prayer to Allah, eat Beans. | |
| | Mike_27
Premium
join:2004-05-15
Gardiner, MT
| said by sMoKeNiNja : no sales tax.. meh unless it's changed since i was down there last tuesday wyoming has sales tax. there is no state income tax in wyoming.
Mike | |
| | | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Re: wow I thought about that too. Montana doesn't have sales tax, but Wyoming does (5%?). Since we will be just an hour and a half from Billings it isn't really that bad, plus it is a really nice drive to Billings. | |
| 
AnonProxy
Proxy of Anon
Premium
join:2001-05-12
ß | Who cares.... Richmond, MA has four different providers and a fiber ring for all the Town Offices. They also have free wireless for about 500 homes...and have so for years. | |
| 
N10Cities
Is it quittin' time yet?
join:2002-05-07
Podunk, AR
clubs: | Don't forget Lavaca, AR..... Lavaca, AR has had FTTH for the last year or two. Countryside won't be as picturesque as Wyoming, though. | |
| koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs:
·AT&T U-Verse
| More Information Here is some more information on Powellink from the Billings Gazette:
»www.billingsgazette.net/articles···ptic.txt
Customers who sign up for one year of combined basic phone, Internet and TV service will pay a total of about $75 per month, plus tax, according to a rate sheet TCT provided.
Internet speeds will start at around 5 megabits per second, and can be scaled up to 100 Mbps at additional cost, based on customer needs, said Rob Collingwood, a manager for TCT. Fiber drops
Work crews will begin installing "fiber drops" to homes around Powell, trenching underground cables and attaching to each house a small junction box about the size of a hardback book. It sounds like they are putting in a blank ONT on every house with the fiber already ran up to it in order to cut down the install times. | |
| 
bent
not broken
Premium
join:2004-10-04
Longmont, CO
clubs:
·Comcast Formerly ..
| Casper? Didn't Casper WY build a fiber network? How is that going?
All we ever hear about around here are the failures of projects like these, mostly due to the mega-corp communications providers fighting tooth and nail for their "right" to provide sub-par services without meaningful competition.
Leave it to the people of the great state of Wyoming to tell Qwest to F off. Sure wish Colorado could do the same.
--
»www.lp.org/issues/family-budget.shtml
"That government is best which governs least" - Thoreau | |
| | koolkid1563
Premium,MVM
join:2005-11-06
Powell, WY
clubs: | Re: Casper? My Uncle and Aunt live in Casper, I might have to ask them if they know anything about a fiber network next time I talk to them. | |
| | |
bent
not broken
Premium
join:2004-10-04
Longmont, CO
clubs: | Re: Casper? AFIK, it's been up and running for a few years now. | |
| SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY
| Sweetheart deal This project in Powell, Wyoming is overhyped, underfunded, and monopolized by a single carrier.
While there will be fiber passing the homes in the city, it won't provide more bandwidth or more or different services than the cable network there. Worse still, the network involves a "sweetheart" back room deal between the city and TCT West, a telephone company in that region. For the first 10 years of the network's existence, only TCT West will be allowed to offer services over the fiber, even though it's supposedly a municipal project. And TCT West will also have a monopoly on service to the city government -- one of the biggest customers in town. So, competitors will be strongly discouraged from entering the market. And since building the fiber network will be quite expensive, service will be expensive too. So, residents will take a bath, and so will the city government.
Our own ISP will likely never bring service to Powell, even though we have some unique service offerings and technology, because we can't get on the government-supported network and are not going to go up against government-supported competition. Powell, Wyoming can have its network... if it ever manages to pay its bills even with the high prices it has to charge. But independent ISPs like ours, which do not rely on government largesse, won't be there. | |
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