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It's up! April 28, 2008 The tower on the Font Lake side of Donegal Bay Road is now standing and the tower on the East Side Drive at the Fire Station should be off the ground tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly these were put up now that spring is here. But don't tell the Sloptown Road Osprey that there's a new place to roost until we get over admiring how high-tech the new tower looks. We may have liftoff April 27, 2008 A large crane truck, a smaller crane truck, and three telco-style equipment buildings are now on the Beaver Island dock. Presumably this crane will lift the towers' upper sections off the ground this week!
Current Status April 1, 2008
In the meantime, if you're within range of DSL, it also provides a great very fast and reliable new option that we've been really enjoying this winter and is available now well into Peaine Township! Hopefully once the ice is clear there will be some new wireless news as well -- competition is very good for the customer, and those who can't get DSL will be very happy when the towers hopefully provide coverage Island-wide. As spring draws near after a long winter, it should be an exciting year for the Information age on Beaver Island. We never dreamed that the Island would have two amazing solutions in 2008, at long last.
Towers wait until spring to be lifted March 3, 2008 The crane needed to lift the upper two portions of each 180' tower and set them on their bases could not be brought to the Island before the lake froze over due to a combination of early harsh winter weather this year and delayed start because of the lenghtly zoning process, so the towers wait 1/3 erected until the spring when a large crane can be brought over by barge. The Townships are also working with the tower owner and the township attorney to finalize the lease agreements for the tower sites at the East Side Fire Hall in Peaine and near the campground/septic mount in St. James where the tower components currently sit.
Update on Towers Reprinted from the February 2008 Beacon We would like to clarify that E.W. Marine, Inc. owns the three towers being erected on Beaver Island. We are providing tower space to Central Solutions. The erection, completion and wireless is planned for Spring 2008. These towers are capable of carrying cell phone antennas. We feel that the local cell phone customers should contact their cell phone carriers about the available tower space; this would improve cell phone operation on the Island. E. W. Marine, Inc. has also contacted the cell phone carriers but we feel it is going to take a customer “push” to get them interested. —E W Marine Internet Towers now partially erected on Island December 25, 2007 Central Solutions' Internet towers are now partially erected on the Island. Show at the top of this page is the tower at the East Side Fire Hall with the first of three sections in the air, and the other two upper sections assembled on the ground to the left.
Reprinted from the December 2007 Beacon Pictured are the concrete footings for the broadband Internet towers and equipment buildings at both the East Side Fire Station and the Donegal Bay Road Township property. The steel for three 180’ towers (the third is at Greene’s Lake) arrived on the barge
Central Solutions' Broadband Towers arrive on Island November 17, 2007 The barge has now arrived with three 180' towers on semi trailers. Weather will play a role as the Island got its first dusting of snow yesterday signaling the arrival of winter soon, but things are looking good. After all the talk of broadband reaching beyond the pavement these many years, it's wonderful that the steel has finally arrived to get this off the ground at last. Kudos to all involved.
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As we go to print, anyone in town now has the option to sign up and receive broadband wireless service from Central Solutions, Inc.!
A wireless link connects the main office at the Eager Beaver on the Highway to the 40' tower (left) at the Deputy/DNR building on the harbor, from which point the signal is distributed to town. Anyone can also sign up for mobile wifi access in the new “whole town” hotspot with any wireless-capable notebook computer, though further testing as the trees leaf out and also on the water will lead to refinements in the month to come.
Currently, a T1 feeds the project; plans are getting underway to position a tower in the Greene’s Lake area which will be able to aim over the trees to reach the mainland. This will provide ample and economical bandwidth as the project expands and also service to customers, a major milestone for the Island as the first low-latency local broadband to reach out of town.
Call (517) 676-4787
or e-mail info@centralsolutions.biz to sign up.
January 18, 2007
The joint township and public meeting with Central Solutions, Inc. was a very positive experience, with Brian Tort of NG Wireless and a representative from both Quality Independent Communications (QUIC), the contractor, and from Proxim Wireless, the equipment vendor, outlining the plan-to-date and their desire for this to be a strongly community-based project in order to get economic tower and radio placements and approvals to make it all happen. Brian explained that instead of going under the name NGWireless, he will now be operating the project under his 2-year old company Central Solutions, Inc. At this point they are looking to secure tower locations, community support, and funding and seek a 60% take rate to achieve an 18-month return on investment. Brian stressed that theirs will be a telco-grade network that "will work just as you expect your telephone to have a dialtone every time you pick it up." The initial promise of availability by April of 2007 has been pushed back to "before the snow falls this winter of 2007" for whole-Island coverage, but the project will start in phases to give them "the flexibility" to incrementally choose the best equipment and strategy for covering each area, provisionally starting again with town this winter/spring and then working around the Island down to the west side and around. An earlier report that NGWireless was looking at all line-of-sight was said to be incorrect: their equipment will be "near line of sight" (the current test signal from the Eager Beaver is reaching the 25 mph sign on the highway and almost to the golf course on the east side) and will also use a range of frequencies including 2.4 Ghz and 900 Mhz.
Provisional plans include:
Residential:
320/320 Kbps: $38.95 per month or $28.95/month with a 12-month contract.
512/512 Kbps: $48.95 per month or $38.95/month with a 12-month contract.
768/768 Kbps: $58.95 per month or $48.95/month with a 12-month contract.
1Mbps/1 Mbps: $88.95 per month or $78.95/month with a 12-month contract.
+ $180 or $15/month for 12 months for installation
Small / Home
Office:
(4 IP devices or less)
512/512 Kbps: $69.95 per month or $63.60/month with a 12-month contract.
768/768 Kbps: $82.45 per month or $74.95/month with a 12-month contract.
1Mbps/1 Mbps: $104.95 per month or $95.40/month with a 12-month contract.
+ $210 or $17.50/month for 12 months for installation
Business:
(5 IP devices or more)
512/512 Kbps: $115.95 per month or $100.80/month with a 12-month contract.
768/768 Kbps: $140.95 per month or $122.60/month with a 12-month contract.
1Mbps/1 Mbps: $174.95 per month or $152.10/month with a 12-month contract.
+ $264 or $22/month for 12 months for installation
Plans also include roaming-only access for hot spots (e.g. the harbor -- the plans above also include a free roaming account for hotspot access points), pay as you go service for rental cottages, hotel guests, or boaters in the harbor, and dedicated Internet access at $400/month for a 768/768 Kbps dedicated plan or $800/month for a 1.5 / 1.5 Mbps plan (equivalent to a T1 and contracted bandwidth guaranteed to always be available, unlike shared plans where bandwidth may be somewhat less than advertised during peak usage times.)
A survey was distributed
to gauge interest in this plan and for use funding it - please be sure
to complete the survey or contact Brian Tort at 517.676.4787 if you
did not get one to fill out.
January 08, 2007
OnWeb90 again arrived on Beaver Island and spent January 6th and 7th continuing to survey Island sites including both easy clusters and those remote homes deep within the beautiful tall woods. OnWeb90 was very positive about meeting the challenge of delivering broadband to the most difficult-to-reach Island sites utilizing a combination of their unique NLOS radio design (which allows their system to cut through up to 1/4 mile of trees when necessary and also deliver speeds significantly greater than the competition) and creative site solutions (such as mounting a mast on the top of the tallest tree at a customer's location when required to greatly reduce cost, time, and visibility - "it may sound like it wouldn't work, but it does. We've done it before, and it will stand the test of time") They also evaluated the existing tower that they plan as their primary backhaul link to the mainland with a tower climb. OnWeb90 was very positive about delivering wireless broadband to the Island quickly and efficiently with a realistic-scale and very doable plan and an investment of their own money to do so.
Tentative pricing at this point will be:
Residential
$35.00 / month for 1.5 Mbps down/256 kbps up
$45.00 / month for 3.0 Mbps down/512 kbps up
$55.00 / month for 5.0 Mbps down/768 kbps up
Business (includes
static public ip addresses and multiple e-mail accounts)
$125.00 / month for 1.5Mbps Symmetrical (Single T1)
$225.00 / month for 3.0Mbps Symmetrical (Two Bonded T1's)
Installation costs:
$100.00 for 2.4Ghz installs
$175.00 for 900 Mhz installs
These install fees can be spread out over a period of a contractual
agreement for service.
January 07, 2007
Central
Solutions, Inc. has requested a Joint Township Meeting on January
17th at 7:00 p.m. at the Peaine Township Hall (bad weather date: January
18th) to discuss their plan before both townships and to further gauge
public needs.
After visiting the Island in October, Hudsonville, MI OnWeb90 is planning to provide Beaver with wireless broadband Internet. Plans include 1500 kbps down/256 kbps up, 3000/512, and 5000/768 residential options, as well as 1.5 mbps/1.5 mbps and 3.0/3.0 commercial plans. “While keeping the pristine beauty of the Island intact, OnWeb90 is bringing them a complete Wireless network, including Voice-Over-IP service to the entire island” says Nick Welsheimer, www.onweb90.com
Mason, MI Central Solutions, Inc., directed by Brian Tort, also has expressed interest in providing wireless broadband for Beaver Island with a visit on November 15th and mailings to all box holders. With an Island connection, NGWirless, Inc. pledges “Internet access to benefit year-round residents and travelers to the Island, with service to be available by April 1, 2007,” according to www.centralsolutions.biz.
Previous Island Broadband News: Beaver Island Satellite Internet through WildBlue
Other Island Broadband News: TDS Beaver Island DSL Broadband Plans for 2008
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The last news we heard directly from Central Solutions was on November 1st, 2007, but despite not hearing a thing from them over the winter, we are confident they are still on track and a few customers we know who have the service in town since last summer say they are quite pleased.
May
1, 2007