Strafford Broadband Committee

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:02:59 -0400, Chuck Sherman
wrote:

Dear SBC,
We had a productive meeting tonight.

Ron Boehm of ValleyNet and Bob Jacobson of WaveComm shared their experiences and capabilities. Ron will confer with the ValleyNet board to determine the level of their participation.

We discussed the technical capabilities of alternative equipment and the relative benefits of several potential broadband antenna mast locations. Testing has revealed that the windmill tower would be one favorable site.

We agreed to proceed with the survey, with a pre-stamped postcard questionnaire, adding a question to elicit what subscribers might be willing to pay:

Language will be added to the letter to indicate that this is not setting a price, but will be used to determine the feasibility of proceeding with expansion of the initial, limited, test implementation.

A postcard question such as the following will be crafted:
"I may be willing to pay up to $30__, $40__, $50__, $60__ more than $60__ per month for good broadband service."

We will ask Nellie to communicate this to Al & Laura Duey and ask them to launch the survey. Posters are to be placed at Coburns (and
elsewhere?) to remind full- and part-time residents to complete the survey. We did not set a completion date. Perhaps the Duey's will suggest one. We would like to make use of the results as we prepare cost estimates to be included in our grant application in October.

There was a consensus to proceed with the current plan and solicit grant support to expand it.

I have reviewed the grant application guidelines and drafted a Letter of Intent (attached) that I hope is responsive and reflects the program's expressed purpose of supporting ongoing projects, not the planning process. Please review and provide me with your comments and corrections as quickly as possible.


--Chuck

_____________
Chuck Sherman
129 Pennock Road
Strafford VT 05072
land 802-765-9630
cell 860-967-6543
Chuck.Sherman@Dartmouth.org