Okay, so this morning I was bored and I thought why not try and help my community?
Why not think of proposing a simple idea to Maplewood and its leadership to try and improve our community with something we could use.
Especially, since it seems more and more like I'm the only one concerned with improving our community. Nobody really comes up with simple solutions anymore only politically motivated, time wasters like installing artificial turf in a perfectly good park.
Here is a simple one that should be number one in all Township agendas ready? (Drum roll please)
Can the Township of Maplewood look for a third, more affordable option for a cable and internet provider? That's it, that's the challenge.
I know, it is a lot of work, but hear me out, because I know this is excruciatingly challenging to our Township leadership. This means they may have to pick up the phone, consider the residents, and potentially negotiate a deal (I know, hold on to your pants - I know I am asking for a tremendous amount of brain power here.)
Maybe we can ask South Orange for help on this one. See, South Orange has Verizon, Comcast and Optimum. Now Optimum and/or Spectrum have just as good internet and cable options. I know, I was a former Optimum subscriber before I moved to good ole Maplewood.
I find that lately, I could use internet without cable and Verizon bills skyrocket throughout the year for some unexplained, reason. I haven't tried Comcast yet, but I'm told they are not as reliable. Verizon operates like a monopoly, and it's just unfair for the community as a whole (the elderly included) to have to shell out $200.00 a month plus to get mediocre internet service and watch CNN.
I personally think that cable and internet should be free in Maplewood Township considering the high taxes we need to consistently pay to "the man". Edison Township accomplished it. Free WIFI at least throughout the community.
I am open to ideas and suggestions from our community. I really think this is something simple that can be accomplished with the right type of energy. Can we work on it please? Then we can worry about providing internet and cable to the blue community shed structure on Springfield Avenue so the wildlife can watch their favorite TV shows while they dine on fresh snacks. Small steps.
Yes, the free wifi is an interesting and probably good idea. Anyone know of any drawbacks besides the initial cost and town's internet fee? Is data as secure on wifi?
But I digress.
I was hoping to read stories about you boning Italian babes in bacchanalian orgies. Come on. Don't disappoint othe-- sorry, it's probably just me who is interested in reading about sexual frolics since I don't get much on my own. Apologies to the rest of the M.O.L. community.
But maybe others are interested in that kind of stuff. Maybe an M.O.L. category on sexual antics. Jamie? Or maybe Dave if Jamie is too much of a prude. After all who didn't enjoy Gilbert Gottfried rendition of The Aristocrats?
This is not a new idea. Back when there was a CBAC, Bart Albini suggested that the town go into the ISP business by building a broadband network that would serve the entire town. This proposal, which was part of his platform when he ran for TC, predated FIOS and COMCAST. Bart lost that election, His proposal never got implemented.
Years later, the town asked for ideas from the community on how some seed money they had included in the budget could best be spent. One of the winning ideas was to provide internet access for households that could not afford the cost. Infrastructure was installed near Seth Boyden Elementary School to serve a small number of families in the immediate area. You might want to contact whoever is coordinating that initiative and work with them to expand the program.
South Orange only has Altice (Optimum) and Verizon. Comcast is not available in South Orange. The bottom line is that a new cable company would need to put in their own set of cables because a internet/cable system uses a lot of bandwidth, unlike telephony which just uses tiny chunks at a time. The laws that exist would require the company "overbuilding" the incumbent company to pay for rearrangement of the wires on the pole to accommodate the new company's wires.
Verizon had an advantage in that it already had space on the pole and did not need to seek room. Initially, Verizon went town to town trying to get a cable franchise (have each town pass an ordinance) but they were successful in lobbying the legislature to pass a bill allowing them to receive a "systemwide" franchise from the state which allows them to install cable (they already offered internet--unregulated for the most part because it's interstate) in any place in which they had telephone service or wanted to have telephone service. In return, they agreed to provide service to the entirety of 70 towns in New Jersey that were the most densely populated in their service area, although there were exceptions, such as where they could not get access or some other nonsense.
It's been a while since I was in the business but Verizon spent a huge amount of money rolling out the service and were reluctant to expand further unless there was big developments going in where they could get an "exclusive" contract for service. Technically, it's not exclusive but if the other company does not get in on the initial build--and it does happen--it's too expensive to then go in and retrofit the building with service.
There are many large apartment buildings in the area where Verizon does not provide service. For example, SoFi Gaslight Commons just got Optimum. Before that, all they had was DirecTV.
As far as municipal rollouts of free WiFi, that too is very expensive for the municipality and would require you to be at a hotspot. It's not like they are delivering service to your home. Many municipalities that started it, discontinued it due to cost not only for the service, but for maintenance. Last year, Philadelphia started a program to offer free internet to K-12 students (35,000 of them) at a cost of $17 million for two years. They are paying Comcast to deliver the service. https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/8/6/22186783/city-launches-program-to-provide-free-internet-access-to-35000-families
Maybe we can ask South Orange for help on this one. See, South Orange has Verizon, Comcast and Optimum. Now Optimum and/or Spectrum have just as good internet and cable options. I know, I was a former Optimum subscriber before I moved to good ole Maplewood.
Do you think the Town of South Orange petitioned to have the Optimum service? Or three cable services?
Funny, when I tried to sign up for Optimum in Maplewood - they said they don't service our area and routed me directly to Xfinity.
Do you have any idea why they don't service our communities presently?
Maybe we can ask South Orange for help on this one. See, South Orange has Verizon, Comcast and Optimum. Now Optimum and/or Spectrum have just as good internet and cable options. I know, I was a former Optimum subscriber before I moved to good ole Maplewood.
Do you think the Town of South Orange petitioned to have the Optimum service? Or three cable services?
Funny, when I tried to sign up for Optimum in Maplewood - they said they don't service our area and routed me directly to Xfinity.
Do you have any idea why they don't service our communities presently?
Luck of the draw. South Orange was one of the last densely populated towns to get cable due to the backyard easements. Gateway Cable was coerced by the state to install service in South Orange, due to their franchise in Newark. Gateway was bought by Cablevision which was then bought by Altice (I may have missed a transaction in there somewhere). Similarly, Suburban was the holder of the franchise in Maplewood; Comcast became provider due to a series of transfers.
I hate to correct people on here and please accept my apologies if I happen to be wrong, but Comcast, Verizon, and Optimum are all available in South Orange as far as I know. Now, that I think about though the utility pole was on a border property, so that may be service in Orange. Either way, we are Maplewood, it's not a huge Township, I'm sure we can work something out. We are talking about a 3 mile by 3 mile square. If the current leadership cannot nogotiate a deal, then it's time to kick the bums out! We should try to do what they do at Rutgers when a corporate entity comes in and wants to compete with their service, make them build a new building for the elderly or perhaps a new online learning facility for kids. FormerlyJerseyJack I am gathering my bachanalian orgy stories for you. In Perugia, Italy today. The Italian ladies are very healthy, COVID quarantine was great maintaining these voluptuous beauties. Beats going to the Classic man barbershop and listening to grown men chatting like little school girls about their matching outfits and how they like their hair parted as you wait beyond one hour past your appointment time. What happened to the old school barbershop. Village Barber should really extend their times. I want to talk to my barber about the voluptuous beauties and openly joke about life and give him/her a few joking jabs without offending everyone's delicate sensibilities. But I digress. Anyway, back to banging out deals, and banging in general. Let's see if we can make a third cable/Internet provider happen in Maplewood. Hey, if we don't push and they don't try/insist then what's the point? We definitely have talented people in our community who can come up with a solution. Should we negotiate the deal and make it happen?
Optimum and Comcast coverage maps for South Orange attached below. I'd be surprised if any address has access to both services. I lived near the dividing line and only ever had one option until Verizon Fios arrived in South Orange.
I hate to correct people on here and please accept my apologies if I happen to be wrong, but Comcast, Verizon, and Optimum are all available in South Orange as far as I know. Now, that I think about though the utility pole was on a border property, so that may be service in Orange. Either way, we are Maplewood, it's not a huge Township, I'm sure we can work something out. We are talking about a 3 mile by 3 mile square. If the current leadership cannot nogotiate a deal, then it's time to kick the bums out! We should try to do what they do at Rutgers when a corporate entity comes in and wants to compete with their service, make them build a new building for the elderly or perhaps a new online learning facility for kids. FormerlyJerseyJack I am gathering my bachanalian orgy stories for you. In Perugia, Italy today. The Italian ladies are very healthy, COVID quarantine was great maintaining these voluptuous beauties. Beats going to the Classic man barbershop and listening to grown men chatting like little school girls about their matching outfits and how they like their hair parted as you wait beyond one hour past your appointment time. What happened to the old school barbershop. Village Barber should really extend their times. I want to talk to my barber about the voluptuous beauties and openly joke about life and give him/her a few joking jabs without offending everyone's delicate sensibilities. But I digress. Anyway, back to banging out deals, and banging in general. Let's see if we can make a third cable/Internet provider happen in Maplewood. Hey, if we don't push and they don't try/insist then what's the point? We definitely have talented people in our community who can come up with a solution. Should we negotiate the deal and make it happen?
The "traditional cable companies" do not compete with each other for residential business, this includes Comcast and Optimum (Altice). So any given home will only have access to one of them, never both. Verizon on the other hand is an overbuilder, and competes with them. So it may well be that parts of South Orange have Comcast and Verizon, and other parts have Optimum and Verizon, there are no parts that have both Comcast, Optimum and Verizon. So you may think South Orange has three options because there are three companies active in South Orange, but any individual subscriber only has a choice of two (max).
And as KarenMarlowe points out, adding a new wired operator would require a lot of investment in (over-)building a new network.
Oh please, chtp. I ranked the concerns in my life and determined that being limited to Verizon or Comcast for internet service ranked at #649 out of the 1,000 things I worry about. Now, if you want to talk about households who don't have access to broadband at all due to lack of money, that would be a worthwhile policy discussion.
I hate to correct people on here and please accept my apologies if I happen to be wrong, but Comcast, Verizon, and Optimum are all available in South Orange as far as I know.
For the most part - you're wrong. Please share an exact address that has both - it'll be easy to check.
This was my career for 30 years. I am pretty sure I know what I am talking about.
Okay, but let's also remember that the Roman Empire was started by a 3 mile by 3 mile square about the same size of Maplewood. We can accept the status quo or we can make change. The choice is ours as consumers.
This was my career for 30 years. I am pretty sure I know what I am talking about.
Okay, but let's also remember that the Roman Empire was started by a 3 mile by 3 mile square about the same size of Maplewood. We can accept the status quo or we can make change. The choice is ours as consumers.
You can move, assuming you still live in Maplewood.
You can move, assuming you still live in Maplewood.
I really don't think he's Strawberry, if that's what you're suggesting. For starters, Strawberry moved away from Maplewood several years ago. This guy reminds me of author.
This was my career for 30 years. I am pretty sure I know what I am talking about.
Okay, but let's also remember that the Roman Empire was started by a 3 mile by 3 mile square about the same size of Maplewood. We can accept the status quo or we can make change. The choice is ours as consumers.
Actually, it’s not. You have choices: two of them-Verizon and Comcast, for internet. You can get DISH or DirecTV or put up an antenna on your home for TV service. You could use your cell for internet but I’d be willing to wager that another company is never going to come in. That experiment failed miserably. The Township is also not going to invest millions of dollars in something they have to maintain. Between economies of scale and prevailing wage, it would cost them more to provide you “free” service than if they purchased it directly for you from the cable company.
I really don't think he's Strawberry, if that's what you're suggesting. For starters, Strawberry moved away from Maplewood several years ago. This guy reminds me of author.
I knew Author (rest his soul)….This troll is no Author.
I really don't think he's Strawberry, if that's what you're suggesting. For starters, Strawberry moved away from Maplewood several years ago. This guy reminds me of author.
Well, if it’s Author, we got a really important topic to discuss. Firstly, how to handle the incoming tourists. We can feed them out of the blue box on Springfield Ave. any suggestions on lodging when it winter sets in? We don’t have any stables like they use’ta do in colonial Bethlehem.
You can move, assuming you still live in Maplewood.
I really don't think he's Strawberry, if that's what you're suggesting. For starters, Strawberry moved away from Maplewood several years ago. This guy reminds me of author.
He didn't move far. In addition to his real name, he also posts as Malachi S K Applegate on Facebook.
I thought he was "Redfruit" on MOL (as a reference to strawberries... and perhaps also to apples).
He is but I doubt he has the stones to post this drivel with that account. It's the repetitive use of a small repertoire of jibes. The same patterns when he attempts to be inflammatory.
You can move, assuming you still live in Maplewood.
I really don't think he's Strawberry, if that's what you're suggesting. For starters, Strawberry moved away from Maplewood several years ago. This guy reminds me of author.
He didn't move far. In addition to his real name, he also posts as Malachi S K Applegate on Facebook.
Okay, so this morning I was bored and I thought why not try and help my community?
Why not think of proposing a simple idea to Maplewood and its leadership to try and improve our community with something we could use.
Especially, since it seems more and more like I'm the only one concerned with improving our community. Nobody really comes up with simple solutions anymore only politically motivated, time wasters like installing artificial turf in a perfectly good park.
Here is a simple one that should be number one in all Township agendas ready? (Drum roll please)
Can the Township of Maplewood look for a third, more affordable option for a cable and internet provider? That's it, that's the challenge.
I know, it is a lot of work, but hear me out, because I know this is excruciatingly challenging to our Township leadership. This means they may have to pick up the phone, consider the residents, and potentially negotiate a deal (I know, hold on to your pants - I know I am asking for a tremendous amount of brain power here.)
Maybe we can ask South Orange for help on this one. See, South Orange has Verizon, Comcast and Optimum. Now Optimum and/or Spectrum have just as good internet and cable options. I know, I was a former Optimum subscriber before I moved to good ole Maplewood.
I find that lately, I could use internet without cable and Verizon bills skyrocket throughout the year for some unexplained, reason. I haven't tried Comcast yet, but I'm told they are not as reliable. Verizon operates like a monopoly, and it's just unfair for the community as a whole (the elderly included) to have to shell out $200.00 a month plus to get mediocre internet service and watch CNN.
I personally think that cable and internet should be free in Maplewood Township considering the high taxes we need to consistently pay to "the man". Edison Township accomplished it. Free WIFI at least throughout the community.
I am open to ideas and suggestions from our community. I really think this is something simple that can be accomplished with the right type of energy. Can we work on it please? Then we can worry about providing internet and cable to the blue community shed structure on Springfield Avenue so the wildlife can watch their favorite TV shows while they dine on fresh snacks. Small steps.