FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 11, 2008
For more information contact:
Cindy Tomlinson
Associate Manager-Public Relations
cindy.tomlinson@tdstelecom.com
608-664-4471
TDS updates DSL deployment timeline
In mid-February TDS plans to begin delivering its high-speed Internet service to residents and businesses on Beaver Island. Currently, TDS is planning to offer two levels of DSL service: 1.5Mb and 3Mb for $39.95 and $49.95, respectively, per month.
According to Chad Mix, market manager for TDS, the engineering phase has gone extremely well. â??Because the engineering went so smoothly, weâ??ve been able to firm up our deployment timeline. Weâ??ve also identified likely speeds and pricing information â?? something we received a lot of questions about after our initial announcement.â?
Currently, TDS is in the final test phases â?? and nearly ready to begin delivering this much-anticipated service to many parts of the Island. â??Weâ??re very excited and hope that people enjoy their fast connection to the world,â? Mix says.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Lines) â?? also known as high-speed Internet â?? allows subscribers to be on the phone and the net at the same time. When compared to dial-up, DSL also offers quicker downloads, faster speeds, and a better overall Internet experience.
Barring any unforeseen issues, residents should be able to sign-up in the next few weeks, says Mix who again cautions that because DSL is a distance-sensitive technology, it may not be available to all TDS Telecom customers immediately.
For more information, call TDS at 888-CALL-TDS.
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TDS DSL on Beaver Island
Moderator: Gillespie
The initial coverage will include:
All of the St James Harbor District
Port of St. James area to include Donegal Bay
Barneys Lake Rd. N from 27996 to Four Corners
Carlisle Rd.
Kings Hwy
East Side Dr. from 31080 north to Four Corners
All roads originating from East Side Dr. between 31080 North to Four Corners to include McCauleys Rd. & Paid Eens Ogs Rd.
All of the St James Harbor District
Port of St. James area to include Donegal Bay
Barneys Lake Rd. N from 27996 to Four Corners
Carlisle Rd.
Kings Hwy
East Side Dr. from 31080 north to Four Corners
All roads originating from East Side Dr. between 31080 North to Four Corners to include McCauleys Rd. & Paid Eens Ogs Rd.
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Marie LaFreniere
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:15 pm
- Location: Beaver Island
What is the difference between DSL and Central Solutions Wireless that some of us have now?
It's my understanding that Wireless will be available Island wide once the towers are in place. It appears that DSL will not cover the entire island.
What is the installation charge for TDS DSL? How much is the modem? Is there a contract and if so, how long is the contract for and how much to opt out? If you have more than one computer is there an additional charge?
It's my understanding that Wireless will be available Island wide once the towers are in place. It appears that DSL will not cover the entire island.
What is the installation charge for TDS DSL? How much is the modem? Is there a contract and if so, how long is the contract for and how much to opt out? If you have more than one computer is there an additional charge?
It will be interesting. If things go as planned above it appears DSL will leapfrog the wireless project and cover a lot more area until later in the spring, then once the towers are up wireless should have a much greater area. For home installation (not taking into account the unmatchable hotspot potential wirelss is already delivering) The major difference I see in the above is that TDS DSL promises 3 Mbps service whereas the top tier of last summer's proposed Central Solutions wireless was 1 Mbps unless you could pay $800 for a dedicated 1.5 Mbps plan which is closer to T1 pricing. Now browsing I don't believe you'd notice any real difference, but if you buy and download a whole album from itunes, or download software, or download a movie clip, etc., 3x faster would be nice. I personally believe Central Solutions wireless infrastructure is capable of well more than 1 Mbps though, so I think competition will be a very exciting thing for the Island (except for the ones who have to do all the work to make it happen on both fronts, so we'll have to remember to thank them for all their work when we're enjoying faster and faster and better and better connections!) Being a geek, I really look forward to the coming months as both systems have the potential to provide a world better than what most have now.
Last edited by Jeff on Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
TDS pricing promotion missing for Beaver Island
Beaver Islander should ask for the promtional pricing being run in other cities by TDS.
$14.95 per month
DSL - Residential Service 3Mb
12 month contract required
$99 early terminatin fee
12.95 shipping fee for equipement
$14.95 per month
DSL - Residential Service 3Mb
12 month contract required
$99 early terminatin fee
12.95 shipping fee for equipement
Nothing wrong with asking, but I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth either.
Already they're offering 60x or more the speed of a current analog modem for about the same cost as your existing phone line and dialup isp cost per month. Same cost, 60x the speed seems like an amazing deal to me, so I'll be as happy as a kid in a toystore with that.
I don't want to ask for things to be so cheap that they turn out to not be worth doing on the Island where it can be more difficult and expensive to bring things over and get things setup (which goes for both the wireless and dsl projects.)
Already they're offering 60x or more the speed of a current analog modem for about the same cost as your existing phone line and dialup isp cost per month. Same cost, 60x the speed seems like an amazing deal to me, so I'll be as happy as a kid in a toystore with that.
I don't want to ask for things to be so cheap that they turn out to not be worth doing on the Island where it can be more difficult and expensive to bring things over and get things setup (which goes for both the wireless and dsl projects.)
CMIX, Any chance that a slightly less bandwith could be offered as an "enticement" to encourage people to sign up? Even 29.95 would be a good starting point!! Also, I have numerous people on Fox Lake Road asking how they can find out when that area will be serviced, is there any timeline for that? Thanks!!
good experience
I used TDS for several years in Ann Arbor, and they provided good service at a good price. FWIW.
TDS Business DSL costs
The one year contract for a TDS DSL line for a business is $59 per month for 512 up and 768 down. The next price is $79 per month one year contract for 1.5 Mbs down, but still only 512 up. The highest speed 3.0 down with 512 up is $109.00 for a one year contract. Basically, if you are willing to sign a two year contract, you can subtract $10 per month from these prices. The $10 is the cost of the equipment for a 4-port router with wireless capability. There is also a $12.95 one time shipping cost for the equipment for any of these plans. These prices include 5 licenses for an AntiVirus program, basic webhosting for a few small memory pages, and priority support.
The above costs are definite and directly from the contract that I received from TDS.
The home version specs and actual costs are probably $39.99 for a two year contract with 1.5 Mbs that are mentioned above, but the actual costs to the individual homeowner have not been published, nor has the actual equipment been described. The saleperson I talked to was in the business department and could not provide any information about the residential plans.
I'm excited to give this a test run to see if the numbers really do work the way described.
The above costs are definite and directly from the contract that I received from TDS.
The home version specs and actual costs are probably $39.99 for a two year contract with 1.5 Mbs that are mentioned above, but the actual costs to the individual homeowner have not been published, nor has the actual equipment been described. The saleperson I talked to was in the business department and could not provide any information about the residential plans.
I'm excited to give this a test run to see if the numbers really do work the way described.
Beaver Island Broadband DSL
I'm pretty darn excited about the TDS offering.
As you pointed out on your news site, the upload speed is only 512 kbps (I was personally hoping it would be faster, but I think this will satisfy most). The TDS advertised upload speed is twice as fast as the slowest Central Solutions wireless plan, equal to the equally priced wireless plan, and only half as fast as the $79/month Central Solutions plan. On the other hand, the advertised TDS download speed is 3x as fast as the fastest previously announced Central Solutions consumer or non-dedicated business plan.
I asked a few questions that I was very curious about and here were the answers I received:
Q. Is there a setup fee?
A. We do not have a set up fee associated with DSL. We do charge $12.95 for shipping the modem.
Q. Is more than one modem choice available on the Island (I see mention on the tds website of the Actiontec 701c and previously the Actiontec 724)? Will plenty be available on the Island at launch for anyone who wants service ASAP, or should people who are really excited (like me) pre-signup to get in line ASAP and have the customer equipment on hand?
A. I believe there is only one modem offered and it is the Actiontec. That modem is reliable and used all over the country for DSL delivery. TDS will ship a DSL kit to the customer including the modem from our Madison, WI fulfillment center. We do keep some modems on-hand in the event of failure or for a customer that needs immediate service. The customer can request LIDS, which is local support.
(edit: my added note: this seems to be the manual for a similar model http://www.actiontec.com/support/broadband/gt701.pdf - not overly fancy, but looks downright simple to install)
Q. Is there work to be done at each customer's location when each person signs up or is that part pretty easy?
A. There really isn't anything that needs to be done on site. The customer will use the DSL kit and instructions to install the service. It is very simple. You basically have to hook up the modem.
Q. I saw on the News on the Net site that it is stated there is a one- or two- year contract required. How important is it to choose the right plan from the get-go, namely, if you signup initially for a lower plan, can you upgrade freely to the higher plan at some point within the initial contract? Vice versa, if someone signs up for the highest plan now, can they downgrade at any point the future to a lower plan if they for whatever reason don't get the higher speeds due to distance (not sure if this is applicable?) or maybe feel they only need the lower plan at a particular location in the future?
A. Our customers are free to move into an alternative plan at any point in their contract. This applies to both an upgrade or downgrade.
Q. With Satellite (my point of familiarity on the Island for the past 5 years) a big concern is that you sign a long-term contract and then once the system is loaded up quality of service drops. If someone signs a two-year contract, is there any minimum guaranteed level of service for either the residential or business DSL plans?
A. Our customers should expect to receive the bandwidth they are paying for throughout the term of their agreement. Of course, this can vary slightly. However, they should expect very close to their purchased speed. TDS spells out our actual policy in our "Terms of Service" document. This can be found on our website at www.tds.net
Terms of Service: http://www.tdstelecom.com/about/_terms_of_service.html
Acceptable Use Policy: http://www.tdstelecom.com/about/_acceptable_use.html
Q. With Satellite I'm used to having a Fair Access Policy -- with wildblue it's 17 GB/month down and 5 GB/month up for example; with Hughes it's a bit more but on a daily vs. 30-day rolling total. I know mainland DSL and Cable is just starting to put FAPs in place but at much higher levels of usage right now. Will the TDS DSL Island packages have a fair access policy in the terms of service? Is there a guideline level of usage for each plan that is "too much; it's time to upgrade to the next plan"?
A. TDS has a 50 GB limit. Again, you may want to visit www.tds.net to review our "Terms of Service" document.
Q. Does a higher priced business plan offer a higher quality of service?
A. The best way to describe the difference is in the service level. Because of the critical nature of business customers they can expect a higher level of support. We certainly provide a high level of support to all customers. However, business customers receive prioritization
I was a bit skeptical when it was first announced due to the lack of information, but now I'm very very excited about the TDS deployment on the Island. I can't wait to signup!
As you pointed out on your news site, the upload speed is only 512 kbps (I was personally hoping it would be faster, but I think this will satisfy most). The TDS advertised upload speed is twice as fast as the slowest Central Solutions wireless plan, equal to the equally priced wireless plan, and only half as fast as the $79/month Central Solutions plan. On the other hand, the advertised TDS download speed is 3x as fast as the fastest previously announced Central Solutions consumer or non-dedicated business plan.
I asked a few questions that I was very curious about and here were the answers I received:
Q. Is there a setup fee?
A. We do not have a set up fee associated with DSL. We do charge $12.95 for shipping the modem.
Q. Is more than one modem choice available on the Island (I see mention on the tds website of the Actiontec 701c and previously the Actiontec 724)? Will plenty be available on the Island at launch for anyone who wants service ASAP, or should people who are really excited (like me) pre-signup to get in line ASAP and have the customer equipment on hand?
A. I believe there is only one modem offered and it is the Actiontec. That modem is reliable and used all over the country for DSL delivery. TDS will ship a DSL kit to the customer including the modem from our Madison, WI fulfillment center. We do keep some modems on-hand in the event of failure or for a customer that needs immediate service. The customer can request LIDS, which is local support.
(edit: my added note: this seems to be the manual for a similar model http://www.actiontec.com/support/broadband/gt701.pdf - not overly fancy, but looks downright simple to install)
Q. Is there work to be done at each customer's location when each person signs up or is that part pretty easy?
A. There really isn't anything that needs to be done on site. The customer will use the DSL kit and instructions to install the service. It is very simple. You basically have to hook up the modem.
Q. I saw on the News on the Net site that it is stated there is a one- or two- year contract required. How important is it to choose the right plan from the get-go, namely, if you signup initially for a lower plan, can you upgrade freely to the higher plan at some point within the initial contract? Vice versa, if someone signs up for the highest plan now, can they downgrade at any point the future to a lower plan if they for whatever reason don't get the higher speeds due to distance (not sure if this is applicable?) or maybe feel they only need the lower plan at a particular location in the future?
A. Our customers are free to move into an alternative plan at any point in their contract. This applies to both an upgrade or downgrade.
Q. With Satellite (my point of familiarity on the Island for the past 5 years) a big concern is that you sign a long-term contract and then once the system is loaded up quality of service drops. If someone signs a two-year contract, is there any minimum guaranteed level of service for either the residential or business DSL plans?
A. Our customers should expect to receive the bandwidth they are paying for throughout the term of their agreement. Of course, this can vary slightly. However, they should expect very close to their purchased speed. TDS spells out our actual policy in our "Terms of Service" document. This can be found on our website at www.tds.net
Terms of Service: http://www.tdstelecom.com/about/_terms_of_service.html
Acceptable Use Policy: http://www.tdstelecom.com/about/_acceptable_use.html
Q. With Satellite I'm used to having a Fair Access Policy -- with wildblue it's 17 GB/month down and 5 GB/month up for example; with Hughes it's a bit more but on a daily vs. 30-day rolling total. I know mainland DSL and Cable is just starting to put FAPs in place but at much higher levels of usage right now. Will the TDS DSL Island packages have a fair access policy in the terms of service? Is there a guideline level of usage for each plan that is "too much; it's time to upgrade to the next plan"?
A. TDS has a 50 GB limit. Again, you may want to visit www.tds.net to review our "Terms of Service" document.
Q. Does a higher priced business plan offer a higher quality of service?
A. The best way to describe the difference is in the service level. Because of the critical nature of business customers they can expect a higher level of support. We certainly provide a high level of support to all customers. However, business customers receive prioritization
I was a bit skeptical when it was first announced due to the lack of information, but now I'm very very excited about the TDS deployment on the Island. I can't wait to signup!
Thanks, Jeff!
I somehow knew that you would be able to get the "rest of the story." I hope that this opens up high speed for many more people. It will be good for the Island. I'm going to give them an opportunity to show me what they can provide.