Brighton Council discusses Internet service

    The Brighton City Council discussed the possibility of having an Internet provider use the city?s water tower as a broadband tower at its regular meeting Tuesday night. Mike Schill, the president of the Internet provider Natel out of Fairfield, addressed the council about negotiating an agreement whereby his company could use the water tower as a broadband tower rather than build a whole new tower. 

    ?Our model is to go around and find high points that we can use,? said Schill. ?We don?t think the area needs anymore towers polluting the visual landscape. There are enough high things like water towers around.?

    Schill said that his company would be able to provide high-speed Internet to people within five to seven miles of Brighton. He said that Internet access for people who live in the country is still not very good in Washington County.

    ?Once you get a mile outside of the city of Washington, there?s nothing available,? said Schill. ?You can have satellite or dial-up, both of which are pretty challenging. This service will be much faster because it?s terrestrial based.?

    Schill said that when Natel began to expand from the city of Fairfield through Jefferson County, it found a great deal of pent-up demand for Internet in rural areas. He said that the population in this part of Iowa is not large enough to justify significant investments in infrastructure. However, he said that the federal stimulus passed in 2009 provides low-interest loans for broadband providers, and that his company has applied for such a loan. He said that if Natel receives the loan, it would make improvements in infrastructure more viable. 

For more, see our May 5 print edition.