DSL, ISDN, satellite are among the alternatives.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY Township residents have repeatedly expressed their displeasure with the services provided by local cable company RCN. At the top of the list, according to township officials, are spotty picture quality, poor customer service and a lack of broadband, or high-speed, two-way Internet access.
While the company has a monopoly among cable providers in the township, disgruntled RCN subscribers are not totally without options in seeking cable and high-speed Internet service elsewhere, though the alternatives are limited and often expensive.
RCN currently offers cable Internet access in limited areas of the township for about $49 a month, according to the company’s Web site. The service is adequate for many households, but is not up to the standards needed for many local businesses, and is not available in the area around the Montgomery Shopping Center and nearby Research Park across from Princeton Airport, according to George Dorer, an information technology consultant and member of the township’s Cable Advisory Committee.
"Alternatives to broadband?" he asked. "There aren’t any."
More precisely, there are few. High-speed DSL lines are available in the township, but access is restricted to those within 15,000 feet about three miles of a central office where the signals are processed.
"A place like the Montgomery Shopping Center would be serviced out of an office on Nassau Street," Mr. Dorer said. "That’s about 40,000 feet away. … You don’t get DSL in Montgomery."
The only other option for residents in need of high-speed Internet access, he said, is to have an ISDN line installed. ISDN is capable of speeds up to 128k, about twice that of a typical dial-up Internet service. But it costs about $150 a month, Mr. Dorer said.
"It seems incongruous to me that we live in the most densely populated state in the nation, and there are broadband deserts like this one," he said.
As far as television goes, satellite service is the most viable alternative to cable.
"With cable and satellite you can get basically the same thing," said Eugene Jantos, manager of Stockton satellite installation firm Newcom. "The biggest problem with cable is the service end. … RCN are our best friends, because they send so many customers our way."
For about the same $43 monthly fee as RCN’s optimum package, customers can get essentially the same programming choices, Mr. Jantos said. Satellite receiver installation, however, starts at about $200.
Mr. Jantos said the service local satellite companies provide is worth the extra money, however.
"We’ve changed over a bunch of RCN customers, and they say it’s because of the service," he said. His firm has about 500 customers in the area. "When someone calls us up and tells us there’s a problem, it’s like they’re calling an old friend," he said.