Communications & Internet

Helpful Information for Bull Valley Residents

We are well aware that Internet, cellular, antenna, and cable/phone (wired or satellite) delivered services are not always available or reachable due to the beautifully wooded and hilly terrain that we strive to maintain.

For communications needs, there are a few options and those services are identified to the right. The service providers listed are those who have customers within the area of Bull Valley.

Broadband Wireless Internet Providers
Open Air Wireless	(847) 587-1040	openairwireless.net
E-Vergent	(888) 782-1454	e-vergent.com
MC.net (847) 594-5111 www.mc.net

Broadband Wired Internet/Television Providers
Comcast		xfinity.com
AT&T		att.com

Satellite Providers
DirecTV (owned by AT&T)	(800) 490-4388	directv.com
Dish	(855) 862-1963	dish.com
Exede	(800) 894-5665	exede.com
HughesNet	(877) 720-1820	hughesnet.com

The following two sites explain the details of building or having a home network:

CNET – Home Networking Explained

How Stuff Works – Wireless Networks

In August of 2015, the Bull Valley Telecommunications committee was requested by Village President Berendt and formed as a result of inquiries and concerns from some residents about the lack of wired broadband internet services in Bull Valley. This committee was tasked with the objectives to review, identify, investigate and understand the issues.

Initial meetings were chaired and hosted by Emily Berendt (Village President) and Bjorn Mattsson (Village Trustee). Residents took different roles, but all were engaged. The meetings were held on a regular basis (with varying resident participation), monthly or quarterly, based on the actions, presentations and deliverables. Much of the information gathered and shared at these meetings were specific to the residents’ experience with service. This included residents who found solutions to their own issues with wired and wireless internet service.

Committee Members and Participants

Emily Berendt	Bjorn Mattsson	Karin Burke
Cameron Burke	Matt Kantecki	Pat McCullough
Walt Dembos	Anita Keutemeyer	Milena Buck
Dick Magerl	Nancy Sobel	Jim McDonald
Bob Covalt	Jeff Dammann

Telecommunications Survey

A survey to gather village feedback was sent out (by mail) to help understand the scope of this issue. The survey was sent to 740 homes in the Bull Valley area with feedback from 142.

Interestingly, the responses suggest that the lack of wired internet was not the leading concern of the residents. The major concern was internet performance, service costs, and weak cellular signals (survey questions and categorization of responses are attached).

Internet Service Providers in the Area

The committee contacted different providers of internet and telecommunications service to understand the service coverage area for Bull Valley with the following findings:

ATT, as the primary and significant provider of telecommunications services to the area (including Bull Valley), has shared a map that describes an area where they do not deliver wired-internet or cable-like television over wired services to the home.

There is the gap in the delivery of wired internet services coverage that impacts approx. 60 homes in Bull Valley (an area north or Crystal Springs Road, South of Bull Valley Rd, east and west along Cherry Valley Rd). The map with the gap is attached.
Comcast is the local cable provider in the area and is willing to deliver Comcast services to homes in Bull Valley, albeit at a much higher than expected cost ($20,000-$50000) to trench and lay cable through the village.
E-Vergent is a broadband wireless provider has shared their interest to deliver wireless internet at broadband speeds. While their technology is usually impacted by extreme terrain, E-Vergent has invested in new technology to penetrate this type of terrain and is currently in beta testing with some of the village residents. The feedback has been very good and our expectation is that this will bring broadband internet services to many of those who cannot be served by ATT or don’t want to invest to bring in Comcast.
Several cellular service providers (ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) are available in Bull Valley. With minimum cellular towers, the area’s hilly terrain and the dense vegetation of trees, cellular signal penetration can vary. Cellular services can be and are often used to deliver Internet services to residences, via carrier-specific cellular/wifi boxes placed in the home. Although these can be costly (with no ceiling on usage/price), it may provide adequate internet service to those homes without a wired solution.

Conclusion and Recommendations

After months of review, research and discussions, the telecommunications committee has concluded that wired internet is available to a majority of Bull Valley residents. But, for those who have service, there are some reported issues with speeds, costs and service availability. Both Comcast and ATT are willing to address the service and performance issues individually with the residents. Residents unable to receive service from either Comcast or ATT should look at other available options, including, wireless broadband solutions (E-Vergent), satellite internet (Hughes) and cellular wireless internet. All of these may provide sufficient service for some residents.

The committee also recommends the village should continue with the following actions:

The village should continue discussions with internet service providers and both the local county and state governments, regarding the lack of wired internet solutions for the areas not serviced by ATT or Comcast.
The village should review and investigate the costs and resident interest to build a private Fiber to the Home (FTTH) internet network. This would provide high speed (100MB+) wired internet to the residents and village facilities.
The village should pursue finalizing the agreement with Midwest Fiber Networks. They are a company that provides backhaul telecommunications for telco carriers (ATT, Verizon) and other large redistributors of internet and telecommunications services. An agreement is pending for our use of their fiber infrastructure (near the Bull Valley Dog Park on Queen Anne Rd). This connection can be utilized as an internet feed for future private networks in Bull Valley.