Hello, Seekers of Faster Internet Access,

After nearly a year’s work, the Windham Broadband Project has secured one workable proposal from a broadband vendor to deliver faster Internet access in our area. The offer comes from Optima, located in Brattleboro. What they require to begin are 20 (or more) subscribers who will sign up for their one-time offer to be a Windham Broadband Starter.

These Starters receive 16 months of broadband service by prepaying for one year of high-speed Internet service. The cost is $798 paid up front, which includes installation of the hardware to receive the wireless signal. All Starters are covered by a money-back guarantee for receipt of service.

There are good reasons to be a Starter. You will help bring broadband to everyone in town without it, and you will save about $200. Those who sign up later after this initial stage will pay $198 for the installation of the hardware and $49.95 per month for service, for a total of $997.20. However, if we get more than 20 Starters, the monthly service charge might be reduced for all subscribers.

Details still need to be resolved before Optima’s proposal is accepted and they are ready to begin. Optima needs to know the names and addresses of everyone who wants their service so they can determine if the houses can be reached by the wireless signal. If you are willing to be a Starter and prepay your first year of broadband, please fill out the Optima Interest Form. There is also an option on the form to sign a one-year monthly pay contract (with no prepay and no savings). And you can volunteer for the important work of signing up others.

The Broadband committee is aware that price is a concern for many people, and we wish this offer were as inexpensive as broadband offered in other areas. But Optima is the only wireless vendor that has presented us with a workable proposal, and our research has convinced us that wireless is the best way to go.

When considering Optima’s charges, remember you will no longer need to pay your current Internet Service Provider or the phone company for charges related to your dial-up service. Also, depending on how the houses of interested people are clustered, the prices might be lower. These details will be worked out with Optima once we are able to give them a working list of 20 Starters and other truly interested households.

Fortunately, the Windham Broadband Project recently conducted a survey of interest, and we have many of these names. If you are one, we will be contacting you about signing up. If you have not previously registered your interest in receiving broadband, please also complete the Broadband Interest Registration. In the meanwhile, anyone can use the DSL on the computer at library in the Meeting House on Wednesday afternoons. We hope to have a newer computer with a CD burner and printer there by June. This option will remain available for all who wish to use it.

Mary McCoy and Lydia Pope France
Windham Broadband Project