City, ACS plan to offer high speed Internet

The City of Hawarden and ACS Networks are entering into a partnership to offer high speed Internet in the city.

Approval of the contract between the two was on the City Council agenda Monday night, but the council postponed the approval until attorneys for both can finish reviewing the contract. A special council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, June 12 at the Hawarden Public Library. Barring any unforeseen problems, the council is expected to approve the contract at that time. The service will be available immediately.

The city and ACS have been discussing this service and testing it for about a year. They have been working out the details of the project for the last 4-5 months.

About 20 people in the city have been testing high speed Internet during the past few months. City dministrator Craig Coffey is one of those who has been trying it out.

"It’s great. I’d never go back to dial-up service," he said.

High speed Internet service is provided through a data line that comes into the house through a box that is mounted on the outside of the house. People who presently have telephone service with HiTec already have this box although it may need to be replaced with a newer one.

Telephone service, cable TV and high speed Internet will all be provided through one data line.

"We are selling the pipeline and the ability for ACS to do this," explained Coffey.

The main benefit of high speed Internet is just what the name implies. Traveling the World Wide Web is much faster than it is with a dial-upconnection.

Another benefit is that it’s always on.

"When you turn your computer on it’s on," said Al Schemmer, president of ACS Networks. "There are no connection problems. There are no disconnection problems."

ACS will handle all dealings with the customer, including the installation and monthly billing.

Anyone who has the capability of having telephone service through HiTec will have the capability of having high speed Internet service. Customers will not be required to have HiTec telephone service to have high speed Internet, however there will be a price break for those who do.

Coffey said prices for high speed Internet are set at $44.95 a month if the customer already has local and long distance telephone service through HiTec. If they only have one of these services the monthly fee will be $49.95. And if a customer does not have telephone service with HiTec the fee will be $54.95 a month.

There will also be a $100 installation fee and the first month of service will be free.

Although the fee for high speed Internet is higher than that for dial-up service, Coffey said the advantages make the price competitive.

"If you have dial-up you’re paying $19.95 a month, but your phone line is busy all the time so a lot of people have a second line for their Internet," said Coffey. "With high speed Internet, you can drop that second line and you’ll be pretty close to the monthly fee for high speed Internet.

"You’ll probably be paying a few more dollars, but you’ll be getting a much better service."

Schemmer said at the time of installation, a network card may need to be installed in the customer’s computer. Most computers will need to have this card installed. Only the newest computers on the market come with this feature.

"We aren’t looking at this as a money maker for the city," said Coffey. "This is a service we’re providing to be competitive. We want to be on the cutting edge with the same services available to our citizens as those in the larger cities. We’ll be the first in the county to offer high speed Internet."

High speed Internet service will be available for public use at the Hawarden Public Library.