Case Date:

3/27/2019

Hi, My name is Kevin Lettelleir. I operate a photography business in town and we heavily rely on the internet for just about everything. Over the past 6 months, I have read stories about other towns who have taken action and implemented fiber internet systems. As a small business owner in this town, it's very disheartening that the only internet providers available to us are Comcast and AT&T. Not only do these companies charge an excessive amount for extremely low internet speeds, but they also do not offer a Symmetrical connection. So while it says on paper that we are paying for a 10 MB/s internet connection, we are in fact paying for a 10 MB/s download speed and a 1 MB/s upload speed. This makes it hard to upload even the most basic things like large files or a few pictures. Uploading a photo gallery takes hours and cripples our connection. As a lifelong resident of Bloomington, I was hopeful that we would be looking to push for affordable fiber like other progressive cities including Chattanooga, TN. I was delighted to find that Bloomington had been working with a Canadian company to achieve this goal, even though the deal fell through. What really disappoints me, and what I think everyone should be upset about, is the fact that Bloomington appears to have stopped pushing. I can't find any new information about a push for fiber connectivity. It's like we have given up on trying to make this happen. We could be the first city in Indiana to pave the way in Fiber connectivity and reap the benefits such a system would provide. I know there great challenges in this, but it needs to be done. Fiber connectivity will be the future. Private companies will not provide this to EVERY Bloomington citizen at a reasonable price, but the City can.