semo.net has been around since 1995. Long before City Cable provided Internet service...semo.net was here...and for years to come, semo.net will continue to provide great Internet service in our area. Of course this move by the city is disappointing. And in this economy, it would not be fair to say this isn't going to be detrimental to our current business model. But remember that the same ingenuity that created & sustained semo.net is still at work within our staff.
Last night was not the only City-run activity that semo.net and Brian Becker were involved in. The Surfers were without their head coach for the semi-final game against Bluff Falls where they won 12-1 under the leadership of Coach Bryan Cooper. Ben Becker and Isaac Laseter pitched the team to victory along with the Surfer bats which included Tyler Williams' over the fence Home Run.
The city of Poplar Bluff just passed an ordinance that says a Megabit on their network costs $1051 when sold to an ISP. Yes, that's right, a business can purchase a 3Meg Cable Account from MyCityCable for $99/month (or $33 per Megabit), but when sold to an ISP, that 3 Megabits costs $3153. AT&T charges ISPs and large businesses $22 per Megabit Level3 charges $45 per Megabit in Poplar Bluff Level3 charges $12.50 per Megabit in St Louis
The following was read (a few edits have been made) by Brian Becker at the City Council Meeting on 7/19/2010: My name is Brian Becker and I own and operate Poplar Bluff Internet, dba semo.net, at 1877 N Westwood Blvd. This afternoon at the Municipal Utilities Advisory Board it was voted by the members to recommend to you this evening to end Open Access. This is all predicated on the false assumption that Open Access is costing the City money.
The ordinance written shortly before 7pm was read and approved and became law tonight. For the next 3 months, ISPs will pay the current rates (which were raised by City Council in January 2010) For the following 12 months, ISPs rates will increase by 43% (semo.net's rates were estimated to increase by over $8,500/month) After 15 months, MyCityCable will be the only ISP on the Cable Network Here are the financial numbers provided by Mr. Bach to the City Council and the Municipal Utilities Advisory Board showing how Mr. Bach calculated the new rates to be charged to the Open Access ISPs.
