support@semo.net
1573 686-9114​​​​

Similar questions are: Shouldn't the city benefit from the network they put in? The simple answers are: Without profit incentives, no private business would compete. And without competition, there is no assurance of lowest price. Because the citizens should benefit from this network...not the city If you go to a concert at the Black River Coliseum by an independent promoter. If the concert is a success, both the promoter and the band profit from the use of city property. If the concert is not a success, the city still gets its basic costs covered for the use of their facilities. Do you walk away from the concert thinking...that promoter shouldn't get all those profits, it should be the city's money!

Similar questions are: Comcast and Charter don't open up their network, why should the city? The simple answers are: Because unlike private business, the city should not be profit-driven but citizen-centered. And, choice is always good from the consumer, but rarely good for the provider. The more providers; the stiffer the competition; the better the price. I understand the reason for this question and the confusion behind it. The difference is who owns the network. In our case, the citizens own the cable network.

Below is the cover-letter for a packet of information provided to the City Council on Friday. Packet for City Council members Dear Council members, At the last meeting, Councilwoman McVey asked for information to be provided in advance with your packet of information. Councilman Matthews echoed that sentiment as well. With that in mind, I prepared the enclosed material to be included for the upcoming meeting. I was at the City Clerk / City Manager’s offices yesterday asking how I could get my material included; Mr. Bagby refused my information and informed me that I needed to mail it to you directly.

After watching the KFVS story, my wife asked, "What did you mean by 'the City has forgotten who helped them get to where they are today?'." In 2002 when City Cable announced that it was considering doing Internet service, our company had thousands of dialup customers in the Poplar Bluff area. MyCityCable had 0 customers at that time. The City Council voted to open their Cable Internet service up to all ISPs and encourage companies like semo.net to bring their dialup customers onto the network.

On Friday, I was contacted by the local channel 12 report, Tyler Profilet, saying that the station had received numerous requests to run the story. He interviewed me on the phone in the morning and arranged for a video interview yesterday afternoon. The story appeared very accurate and I was very pleased with the piece. KFVS Story on Friday's Six O'clock News (both the transcript and video versions are available)