Mountain Home City provided Fiber Optics will be a devastating cost burden to all Mountain Home taxpayers

My name is Bud Adams. I am retired from CenturyLink, and I have Bud’s Telephone Service. I would like to talk about the future of the proposed residential fiber optics in Mountain Home.

I have worked with the internet for years. Per the internet today, there are 10 present providers of internet in Mountain Home. They include CenturyLink, Zito, Hughes Net, Rise Broadband, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Viasat, RTI and Starlink. These providers have no contract that keeps you obligated.

The City of Mountain Home Fiber requires a $3500.00 buy in, and an additional $20.00 per month. The unpaid portion of this original buy in is assessed to your house as a lien. That means if you sell, the new owner has to pay this. The rental tenants have to get permission from their landlord to have this fiber installed.

The term Fiber seems to assume that all issues are taken care of. The fiber is only a path to get on the internet. The fiber has to be installed into the local Telephone Company. All Telephone service, Cell services, Internet, and Cable TV must go this route. The City of Mountain Home will have to pay Tariffs, also known as taxes, for all of the traffic it generates. Also, there has to be an access point for the fiber to be installed in the local telephone company. This access point is how your fiber service will get on the internet.

The fiber is not guaranteed fast service. It is only as fast as the source that you are trying to get to. Thus, NetFlix, and Amazon will slow down at times. Plus the quality of the customer’s computer, will slow down a fast internet assumed connection.

Any existing utility has always expanded slowly. If the City of Mountain Home can install the fiber into one house, install the modem, provide modem support, and computer help all in one day, that would be 260 houses a year. (This is based on the typical calendar year Monday through Friday). It will take years to cover all the customers of Mountain Home.

You will have to have 24 hour customer call center support for your customers, 8 to 5 will not work. Customers need help at all levels. The proposed red and green lights on the city provided modems, that shows the potential trouble to be inside or out, will not work. I have worked as a third party to help repair the internet issues of this nature.

Customer service is the most important part of a good communication company. Is the City prepared to pay and provide benefits for 3 support people to provide 24 hour service? A typical technical wage for this is $30.00 per hour. Also, there will always be the continued labor for the installation and repair of the fiber placement. Thank you.

Bud Adams

Mountain Home