Mixed Message

As Summer fades away and fall wafts in, we have a bit of a mixed bag for our update. Read carefully as we try to make the situation clearer than mud in Robinhood Cove.

The Bad: Make Ready Woes

Since our last update in early August, we received the surprising news from CCI that the we would be required to install and pay for additional guy wire anchors for the poles in the sectors we had not yet received our licenses for – roughly half the poles on the island. That unplanned work has to be completed before CCI will complete their inspection and release the poles to our crews to string fiber. If you are in the affected areas, you should have received an email from Terry Taylor describing the anchor installation. Affected areas generally include Five Islands, Harmon’s Harbor, North End road, West Georgetown and parts of Indian Point, but there are other poles scattered throughout. We currently estimate the delay at a minimum of 4-8 weeks in addition to the four weeks we have already lost, but the delay could go out further as we don’t control when CCI does the final inspection.

What this means is that our timeline to hook up and provide service in the affected areas has been extended significantly and our visibility into the completion date is hazy. We had been under the impression that we were days away from receiving our final licenses. As always our actual dates depends on the timely actions of CCI. I cannot emphasize enough how frustrated and disappointed our team is in sharing this news.

The Flip Side: Connecting the Control Center

About the same time we received news about the anchors and the delay, we secured permission to string fiber on the eight poles between the control center at the school to rt 127. Since we already have licensed many poles on 127, this means that we can connect to poles we have already strung fiber on and provide service to the homes near those poles. The control center itself should be connected by the end of September and as you have seen the past two weeks Hawkeye has been busy putting up the fiber along 127 to areas where drops are in place.

That means that some homes will most likely be able to get service as soon as the end of October. Generally this would be Town Center and Beaver Valley. We’re working on ways to get to a few other areas including Bowman’s Landing, Robinhood and Bay Point. The team is extremely excited about the possibility of soon lighting up even one house as this will be the culmination of a five plus year journey.

We realize this is an extremely illogical way to build a network but the events that brought us here aren’t worth recounting – yet. Know that the team is focusing on clearing all hurdles so we can provide service as soon as possible.

As always, please be patient with all the crews since large trucks on our narrow roads make life difficult for all involved. If you have any issues, please contact Terry.

If you haven’t signed up for installation, or you know a neighbor on the fence or just plain skeptical, NOW is the time for them to call Axiom at 207-271-2801 and sign up!

Once again, the four phases of the process are:

• 1st and current phase: Hawkeye is hanging the support wires and fiber on the poles.

• 2nd phase: Hawkeye will connect fiber from the poles and extend to the home, coiling it at the end of the aerial run or at the end of the conduit. About 2 weeks before the start of work in an area GBLLC will send out a general email to customers alerting them of the work. For those having conduits terminate inside the home or requiring special work, a Hawkeye representative will be contacting them to arrange for this work.

• 3rd Phase: When a service sector on the island and access to the Control Area is complete, Hawkeye will install the Network Termination and test the lines from the home to the Control Area at the Town Office.

• 4th Phase: Axiom will call and discuss the service to the interior and schedule a date for the interior install.

Assigning a Representative

For seasonal residents, the home part/phase 4 of the install may be difficult to arrange. This is especially true because most of the installs will occur during non-seasonal times of the year. We are now allowing another entity to be the homeowner’s Authorized Representative. Simply email Terry and we will forward a form to be completed. It is our desire to make these efforts as efficient and painless as possible.

Service Terms and Pricing

New service may be deferred up to 12 months after service is installed. In other words, customers can sign up for the $99 install offer, then defer the start of service for up to 12 months. We understand that many have continuing commitments to Consolidated Communications, and we want to reduce barriers to taking advantage of the low initial install costs. Mention that you want service deferred when you sign up with Axiom.

As alway if you have more questions, need info on priciing please contact us or check out georgetownbroadband.com. Remember call Axiom at 207-271-2801 to sign up for service or email us with questions about the project. We are here to help!

Warm regards

Georgetown Broadband Team