Quoted from rpforpres

experiencing slow connection and disconnect the last few days? Im on chat with them now, had to wait over an hour and they don't know what they are talking about. I've had the same high speed internet service for years have my computer and my son on laptop and they are now saying I must upgrade to FIOS to let two computers run off the router lol.  any GOOD internet companies out there without  having verizon or TW ?

Quoted from Libertarian4life

FIOS is not available in Rotterdam. I wish it was.

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LOCAL NEWS
ROTTERDAM : Town reaches deal to air meetings
$5K contract with Proctors covers one year
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Video of Rotterdam’s Town Board meetings should get better time slots on public access television and will soon be posted on the Web by Proctors’ Open Stage Media.
   Residents will also now have the option of receiving training and filming at OSM’s studios, according to a one-year contract the town ratifi ed with Proctors last week. And the contract means the board meetings will continue to appear on Channel 18 — something that might not have continued much longer without the town agreeing to pay a $5,000 annual fee.
   Philip Morris, Proctors chief executive officer, acknowledged OSM would have likely stopped airing the meetings without an agreement in place. He said discussions with the town were “ongoing” since 2011 and OSM decided to continue airing the meetings as a good-faith measure.
   Supervisor Harry Buffardi said the board looked at several different options before reaching the deal with OSM, including one that would have streamed the board meetings on the Web. But he said the town didn’t have the equipment or expertise to make such a leap, so the board ultimately decided to sign on with OSM.
   “It’s pretty costly and we didn’t have the equipment to do it,” he said.
   Since last year, OSM has sought $5,000 each from Niskayuna, Rotterdam and Glenville along with $2,500 from the village of Scotia. The money is to pay the cost of hiring an outreach employee to help create content for the public access channels.
   Rotterdam is the second Schenectady County town to agree upon paying a fee to OSM. Niskayuna approved an identical deal in March 2011.
   But Glenville refused to pay OSM while it continued to negotiate its franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable. The town claimed the cable company was collecting a higher percentage of fees from customers than had been specified in the contract; OSM subsequently opted against airing the meetings until the town agreed to pay the $5,000 fee.
   Buffardi said he’s always reluctant to pay out money unless it’s necessary. In this instance, however, he said the fee proposed by OSM seemed fitting for the services they will provide the town and its residents.
   “It certainly seems like fair fee to do it,” he said.
   Per the agreement, OSM will air board meetings at 7 p.m. on Sundays and Tuesdays; at 7 a.m. on Fridays and 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The board has the option to renew the contract on a yearly basis. according to the agreement.
   Robert Godlewski was the only Town Board member to oppose the agreement with OSM. Contacted Wednesday, he said the agreement with OSM serves to undermine the town’s ongoing negotiations with Time Warner.
   Like Glenville, Rotterdam has been renegotiating its franchise agreement with the cable company. The last agreement expired more than five years ago, and some town officials believe Rotterdam is getting shortchanged by the rollover agreement.
   Godlewski said Time Warner is obligated to provide the town with its own public access channel for free. By signing on with OSM, he said the town is decreasing the leverage it had against the cable company and compromising its ability to seek out a deal that will be most beneficial to residents.
   “I have nothing against Open State Media or Philip Morris,” he said. “But it’s just a bad decision.”

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Broadcast fee proposal returns in Rotterdam
Town Board to decide on annual $5k agreement with public access provider
By John Purcell As of Monday, May 21, 2012 -12:31 p.m.

#ROTTERDAM — A proposal to sign on with Open Stage Media has gained new life in the Town of Rotterdam after it was put on hold during a previous administration.

#The Rotterdam Town Board on Wednesday, May 9, heard a presentation by Proctors CEO Philip Morris requesting the town join Open Stage Media and pay an annual fee of $5,000 toward services provided by the public access television group. Morris approached the previous administration, but discussions never led to the board voting on a resolution for the agreement.

#“We wanted to change the way this works so that the towns participate and the city is not the only player,” Morris said.

#Supervisor Harry Buffardi said Morris had approached him after he was elected. Buffardi said he wanted Morris to present the plan to fellow board members before any decisions were made. The board is set to vote on a resolution to authorize the agreement during its next board meeting on Wednesday, May 23.

#“I am in favor of reaching out to the public to keep them in contact with town government,” Buffardi said. “I personally am in favor of it and will put it on the agenda, but I personally have not spoken to (fellow board members).”

#Buffardi said he knows there are residents not attending meetings who will watch it broadcasted on Open Stage Media. He said it is important to keep residents engaged with government.............................>>>>...................................>>>>.....................http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/2012/may/21/broadcast-fee-proposal-returns-rotterdam/

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Who pays for cable access in Schenectady?

    Long before the city of Schenectady concluded a new franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable in 2009 and transferred the public access operation to Open Stage Media, a subsidiary of Proctors, we were calling for what Proctors’ CEO Philip Morris is calling for now: some contribution from the towns and Scotia.
    It’s only a matter of fairness. Residents of those places have been freeloading all along — getting the benefits of public access programming, from interview shows to movie reviews to local and county government meetings, while city subscribers have been paying for it all through a surcharge on their cable bills.
    Glenville officials are upset because Morris has threatened to take the town off the system if it doesn’t provide some fi nancial support.
    But Morris says he made the threat only after it became clear that Glenville and the other municipalities weren’t cooperating — despite meetings at which they appeared interested. And after he heard through the grapevine that Glenville, the only one actively negotiating with Time Warner, had concluded a new agreement. That agreement is expected to be approved by the town board tonight, and apparently doesn’t include any provision for a payment to Open Stage Media. .........................>>>>...................................>>>>.............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1

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Scotia Becomes First New York Capital-District Municipality to Award TV Franchise to Verizon

TV Service Expected Late First Quarter of 2011

News Release ShareThis
NEW YORK – October 13, 2010 –
Scotia, N.Y., goes to the head of the class.  That's because the Scotia Village Board Tuesday night (Oct. 12) became the first municipality in the Capital District region to approve a television franchise for Verizon, allowing the company to bring FiOS TV to the village.

The company is in the process of building and installing the necessary video equipment into local central offices in the region, and anticipates that FiOS TV service will be turned on for new customers in the Schenectady County village late in the first quarter of 2011.

In securing a TV franchise from the Village of Scotia, Verizon has signaled its intention to bring its revolutionary FiOS TV service - delivered over Verizon's all-fiber-optic network -- into the Capital District market.  The company is continuing to develop its plans and expects to have TV franchise discussions with other municipalities in the region.

The franchise from Scotia marks the 178th TV franchise Verizon has secured in New York.

"This marks yet another milepost in the expansion of our revolutionary FiOS TV product," said Jim Gerace, Verizon president for the New York region.  "Bringing FiOS TV to a new region demonstrates Verizon's commitment to the state in terms of investment, jobs and state-of-the-art broadband technology that leapfrogs anything currently available from other carriers.  Scotia has recognized the economic and consumer benefits of broadband investment and competition.

"This franchise agreement also clearly shows the customer demand for choice in television and entertainment services.  Our goal is to provide our current and future customers with a choice, a far superior technology for their homes and businesses, and great value for their money," he said.

Gerace also pointed out that the company has been marketing FiOS Internet and voice services in the Capital District for several years, and has gained a sizable market share.  "We want to capitalize on that investment, and offer these customers a fuller and more robust set of TV and entertainment services," he said.

As with all local franchise approvals in New York, the agreement between Verizon and the village is subject to review by the New York State Public Service Commission.

One of the largest New York employers, with more than 29,000 employees in the state, Verizon continues to invest in the state's infrastructure by building, maintaining and enhancing its wireline and wireless networks across New York, including its advanced fiber-optic network providing consumers and businesses with reliable FiOS services for their Internet, entertainment and voice services.

FiOS TV Service Highlights

FiOS TV offers more than 520 all-digital channels, including 138 HD channels in New York, all with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound.  Customers also have access to FiOS TV's video-on-demand (VOD) service, with 18,000 monthly titles, including 3,300 in HD.  FiOS TV also provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; social TV, news and entertainment widgets; DVR management; multi-room DVR, and more.

More information about FiOS TV features is available at http://www22.verizon.com/residential/fiostv/overview#features.

Verizon's fiber network delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen.  In addition to FiOS TV, Verizon's fiber network also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 35 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.*

Scotia joins a growing list of New York communities that are paving the way for competition and choice in the television market.  In addition to Scotia, Verizon has been granted cable television franchises in the following municipalities:

Quoted from Ididntdoit

Schenectady doesn't have FiOs yet right? We NEED it if only for the competition.

Quoted from Libertarian4life

Scotia only has 9 people with internet.