Farmer asks for fiber Internet, ISP says that'll be $383,500

dkpope

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One rural farmer found out exactly how much it would cost for his local Internet service provider to extend their network outside of the service area, and it was a pretty scary number. To be exact, Windstream Communications was going to charge Nelson Schneider $383,500 to give him fiber internet service.

Getting an ISP to extend their network can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, but what drove the price tag up in this situation was construction costs. After getting the first estimate, Nelson Schneider, CTO of the Norman R. Schneider Family Trust Farm in Ceresco, Nebraska, went looking for other options. He found another company, Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company, willing to do the same work for $41,915.88, even though he’s farther outside their area.

Almost $42,000 isn’t cheap, but it’s a more reasonable offer and it's a one-time investment that Schneider says will increase the quality of life on the farm after living with extremely slow Internet.

You might be questioning why there is such a huge discrepancy between the two prices -- Windstream’s price is about nine times as expensive as NNTC’s. Unfortunately you, along with the rest of us, will have to keep wondering. According to Ars Technica, Windstream confirmed the price, although they wouldn’t explain how it added up, and said “the total quoted was for 36 months of dedicated Internet service.”

That doesn’t exactly clear up the confusion, but at least Schneider, unlike others in rural areas, had other options to consider and didn’t get stuck with the huge bill.

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Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
 
The middle of nowhere is the middle of anywhere!... wait that's cellular. Consider a Cradlepoint router?
 
Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
Have you smelled a farm?! I think it's a necessity that they live a billion miles away from another nose. His neighbors should pay the ISP with bribe money to keep them away from civilization!
 
Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
Do you really think that it costs the ISP almost 400K just to set up a fiber connection there? it's clearly a hyper inflated price. It's not like he's in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Taking advantage of people who know very little about IT&C and billing them extra is the norm, especially when there is no competition. That guy was lucky to find another ISP that gave him the correct price.
 
9.3k usd per mile for last mile coverage is not that bad, considering it might be necessary either to put posts or bury the fiber.

Also, if in the future some neighbors decide to hire fiber, the owner would get 6k USD credited

Edit:

After some rough maths I came to the following:

Cost 42k USD
Distance: 3.5 mi
Cost per mile: 12k USD
Cost per yard: 6.81 USD per yard laid.
 
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Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
Do you really think that it costs the ISP almost 400K just to set up a fiber connection there? it's clearly a hyper inflated price. It's not like he's in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Taking advantage of people who know very little about IT&C and billing them extra is the norm, especially when there is no competition. That guy was lucky to find another ISP that gave him the correct price.

Hahaha, "another ISP that gave him the correct price". Yeah, good one, because $42,000 is so very reasonable I suppose, when you compare it to the other quote. What the other guy said about living out in the middle of nowhere and expecting city infrastructure still applies. You shouldn't get gouged on price, but you will definitely pay through the teeth either way.
 
Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
It sounds like he is willing to pay for it, and he is doing the logical thing by shopping around. So you hate this guy because?
 
Hahaha, "another ISP that gave him the correct price". Yeah, good one, because $42,000 is so very reasonable I suppose, when you compare it to the other quote. What the other guy said about living out in the middle of nowhere and expecting city infrastructure still applies. You shouldn't get gouged on price, but you will definitely pay through the teeth either way.
I never said 42k is reasonable. it's still too much in my opinion. this kind of stuff should easily be done with under 10K no matter where he lives by any ISP. but it's still not 400K, with that kind money he can buy multiple farms.
 
Wouldn't it be cheaper just to get a decent satellite dish?

Even in a remote rural area it is possible to have a satellite dish reach up to 20Mbit/s, which is decent enough for most tasks. And it wouldn't cost the kind of money, not even remotely.
 
Well why are we surprised that farmers in the middle of ****ing nowhere get no infrastructure? I hate people that think they are entitled to both live far away from the city and still enjoy infrastructure built literally just for them.
Do you really think that it costs the ISP almost 400K just to set up a fiber connection there? it's clearly a hyper inflated price. It's not like he's in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Taking advantage of people who know very little about IT&C and billing them extra is the norm, especially when there is no competition. That guy was lucky to find another ISP that gave him the correct price.

Think about it this way... what if it would take say, 3 months to do the work, and in that 3 months the crew that would work on it could make 400K on another project. So even though it wouldn't cost that much in labor and materials, it might cost that much to make it worth their time because of other work they wouldn't be doing. And if that other work is govt contracts... then it's quite plausible. :)
 
Amazing how the TELCO's made incredible promises of supporting internet with ultra high speed, cheap access, and limitless connectivity .... and today, we are one of the slowest high tech countries on the earth with high prices, limited serves and a government that won't make these folks live up to even half of those earlier promises. And we wonder why the Asian countries are kicking our collective butts???
 
First of all satellite internet is a joke? 20mps is only good for a laugh? Rain fade can be cured with a big dish. I remember once standing in front of a cband dish holding a dish network lnb. You probably could have pulled 100% signal in the forest.
. Sure that 400k figure seems high but this article doesn't even state the distances. You do realize it'll take a few guys, heavy machinery how many days just to get the line from a to b. Not including the other inescapable costs.
. Other that a couple of you I'm starting to believe most of you don't live in the real world. Parents basements perhaps? You see in the real world things cost money. My house doesn't have a gas line run to it. It's about 150ft from my structure. Anyone want to guess what it'll cost me to get it extended? Perhaps one of those greedy ISPs has inflated the price. Maybe I just need unicef to get in the gas line business, as many of you seem to think that's how it should work.
Merry Christmas to all and to all tons of bandwidth!
 
My father was a small time farmer with some orange groves in florida. Seems like they built disney world after he bought his groves. That was the bill he left me when he died, approx.
 
. Sure that 400k figure seems high but this article doesn't even state the distances. You do realize it'll take a few guys, heavy machinery how many days just to get the line from a to b. Not including the other inescapable costs.

Windstream told Schneider that he would have to pay to run fiber about 4.5 miles from its facilities to his property, “but it's actually 3.5 miles from town, which is the same distance it is to Northeast Nebraska's nearest fiber node,” he said. (NNTC told Schneider in an e-mail that he was "about 3 miles from our nearest fiber connection.")

Did some maths and it resulted in around 6.81 USD per yard, I suppose that includes everything from heavy machinery rental, the optic fiber, relays, regulation meeting certification, etc.

I find it a little in the expensive side but as you said, they aren't in the charity business
 
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