A family using several connected devices

Tell Us Your High-Speed Internet Needs

August 18, 2016

by GLE President/CEO Bill Scott

You turn on the TV and start streaming a movie on Netflix while your wife is paying bills online and scrolling through Facebook. Meanwhile, your teenage son is busy with online gaming and your daughter is streaming music from Pandora while watching YouTube videos. This type of scenario plays out nightly in homes across the nation.

Does this sound like your home? If you don’t have high speed Internet service, the answer is likely no. The ability to stream videos, games and music can be nearly impossible without high speed Internet at home.

We’d like to know more about your high speed Internet service needs. We are currently researching fiber deployment and we strongly encourage every member to complete our Internet survey.

What is high-speed fiber Internet service? High-speed fiber Internet offers speeds of 25 Mpbs to 100 Mpbs for homes. While your current Internet connection may offer some video streaming capability, true high-speed fiber Internet provides for multiple devices to use the high-speed connection at the same time, such as using a streaming TV service while also actively using your mobile phone to surf the Internet. It also allows for home businesses to thrive in rural areas or for you to work from home more efficiently, when the need arises.

Your responses will be carefully reviewed to help us better determine what role, if any, your electric cooperative should play in rural broadband expansion.

Does it provide value? That’s one question we will be able to better answer with your input. Some like buying a new car with all the bells and whistles while others prefer to get the lowest-priced, base model on the lot. Your job, lifestyle, budget and personal tastes all influence the decision. The same is true with high speed Internet service. Whether the benefits outweigh the cost will likely hinge on how deeply you wish to tap into all the multiple uses that come with this changing technology.

We’re interested in knowing what you think about it. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey.

Thank you!

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Bill Bobbitt
Bill Bobbitt
8 years ago

I have been in the wire line and wireless telecommunications industry for 20 years and I am amazed at the lack of fiber optic service. My brother in law who lives in rural South Dakota has fiber to his house. Current broadband availability is restricted to wireless through the air which can be of poor quality depending on the frequency and location of the broadcast antennae.
Great Lakes needs to step up like Midwest has done to deliver FO service. It just needs someone to drive the effort.

JRTJH
JRTJH
8 years ago

We moved from “rural Louisiana” (about 8 miles east of Pineville) 10 years ago. At that time, we took for granted that fiber optic cable/internet would be available 8 miles east of Gaylord. Much to our dismay, here it is, 10 years later, while the rest of the nation has cable TV, cable internet and takes cell phone service “for granted”, we still rely on satellite TV, satellite internet and “spotty at best” 3G service from a single provider. Many cell providers don’t even have reception in this area. It’s like being “in the dark ages” as far as electronic… Read more »

Melissa Falk
Melissa Falk
8 years ago

Live seven miles Northwest of Gaylord. I have satellite tv and internet which are very costly and very unreliable. Would love to have a better service. We can not stream movies or play any gaming systems with our current service. Took your survey recently. Hoping for better service soon!

Great Lakes Energy
8 years ago
Reply to  Melissa Falk

Thanks for taking our Internet survey, Melissa! We’ll use that survey information to determine what role GLE may take in helping to bring high-speed Internet access to our members. We’ll keep you posted through Michigan Country Lines, PowerTalk bill inserts, our e-newsletter, and our website, so stay tuned.

Bob Wilkinson
Bob Wilkinson
8 years ago

What is the timeline for decision making? We moved just east of Gun Lake, just seven miles between Hastings and Middleville, and two miles east of Gun Lake. Cable and internet are available just down the road, but we live in a vacuum of these utilities. We did take the survey, hopefully the ROI would be enough to bring fiber service to our area.

Great Lakes Energy
8 years ago
Reply to  Bob Wilkinson

We appreciate your interest in this topic, Bob. Currently, we are still in the process of gathering information based on our Internet survey results and will then evaluate what role GLE could take in helping to bring high-speed Internet service to our members. Depending on what that role turns out to be, we will then develop a timeframe.

Mikaila Dixon
Mikaila Dixon
8 years ago

We live 5 miles west of mancelona and have to pay for satellite tv and internet. It’s expensive, slow and we are limited to what we can use it for. Can not do any on line gaming which was the point of buying a ps3 and xbox 360. We are not getting what we had anticipated and have to pay for something we are not satisfied with or it’s nothing at all. Feel stuck. Just one mile down the road they have charter spectrum and pay less for tv, internet and a land line than what I pay for tv… Read more »

Mikaila Dixon
Mikaila Dixon
8 years ago
Reply to  Mikaila Dixon

East not west

Great Lakes Energy
8 years ago
Reply to  Mikaila Dixon

Thanks for your feedback, Mikaila. We hope you did take our Internet survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FiberInternet. It will help us evaluate what role GLE may play in helping to bring high-speed Internet to our members.

TOM F
TOM F
8 years ago

I can not express how enthused the entire area of Goodhart/Cross Village would be with HS Internet service. We only have satellite or Cherryland
both are outrageous in price and limited to 10 gigabits per month without having to pay additional. I try to run a business out of my house but with the limited internet service, I am really limited to the service I can give my customers. By the way GLE happens to be one of my customers. I have taken the survey and want to say the sooner this happens the better our community will be.

Great Lakes Energy
8 years ago
Reply to  TOM F

Thanks, Tom, for your feedback and for taking our survey. We are still gathering survey information and will then evaluate carefully what role our co-op may play in bringing high-speed Internet to our members. We greatly appreciate your participation in the survey.

Kristin B
Kristin B
7 years ago

We live just outside of Middleville and our internet options are very limited. Our only option is to go with a satellite service but being surrounded by hills and lots of trees makes me very wary of paying for a service that may or may not work. I took your internet survey when you first offered it and I was very excited at the possibilities it could bring! Has any progress been made on the results as of yet? Thank you!

Great Lakes Energy
7 years ago
Reply to  Kristin B

Kristin, we are still gathering data and have no updates to report as yet. Thanks for your continued interest, and for taking our survey!

Jim H.
Jim H.
7 years ago

Sign me up!

Great Lakes Energy
7 years ago
Reply to  Jim H.

We’re still gathering survey results and evaluating what our next steps will be, Jim, but we appreciate your interest!

Joe C.
Joe C.
7 years ago

Sign me up too

Joe C.
Joe C.
7 years ago

Any new news about the internet?

Great Lakes Energy
7 years ago
Reply to  Joe C.

We will receive results from a consultant’s feasibility study in December. GLE management and board will review the options for moving forward and report findings sometime in early- to mid-2017. Please know that this is not a fast endeavor. If we proceed, fiber would be installed in small areas and service would branch out from those areas over a period of time.

Joe C.
Joe C.
7 years ago

Well I hope it goes through. It took me about 15 minutes just to get this discussion loaded.

mae
mae
7 years ago

We really need high speed internet in the Irons area.

Amos S.
Amos S.
7 years ago

Looks like many others besides myself are hoping this goes through!

Jason S
Jason S
7 years ago

Camp Daggett Road has absolutely nothing this would be awesome in our area. I have been trying to get charter or even Merick to extend their fiber down our road which is only 1.3 miles from my location. There are over 70 under served houses just off the main road. That doesn’t even count the roads heading towards Walloon lake.

Great Lakes Energy
7 years ago
Reply to  Jason S

We appreciate the feedback. GLE’s management and board are now in the process of reviewing results from a consultant’s feasibility study and reviewing options for moving forward. Look for an update later this year. Please realize that even if we do proceed with an installation project, it would not be a fast endeavor. Fiber would first be installed in small areas and service would branch out from those areas over an extended period of time.

scott nelson
scott nelson
7 years ago

I’m hoping this go through this would be great for Michigan

t adam
t adam
7 years ago

GLE reps: Any updates on this? Where we live, the only options for internet are satellite and a very limited wireless. This would be some of the best news since sliced bread!
Thank you.

t adam
t adam
7 years ago

I see that GLE will be conducting a feasibility study in a test section of their service area. Do we know specifically where the test are will be at?

Great Lakes Energy
7 years ago
Reply to  t adam

Areas where we will conduct the feasibility study are still under consideration. We appreciate your continued interest, and stay tuned for more news in Michigan Country Lines, PowerTalk bill inserts, and the GLE e-newsletter as we learn of decisions made.

t adam
t adam
7 years ago

I would like to volunteer my area!

Amos S.
Amos S.
7 years ago

I haven’t heard any updates in awhile. My family and I think about this quite often. Can you share any future plans with us? We’re really hoping this goes through!

t adam
t adam
6 years ago

Sure would be nice to get an update……even if the updates states “no updates to give” or something like that. Thank you.

Great Lakes Energy
6 years ago
Reply to  t adam

An update is in the making. Check for new information on this blog next week. We appreciate your interest!

t adam
t adam
6 years ago

A month has passed since this last reply about new information coming out next week. Any updates please.

David Norriss
4 years ago

I found it interesting how you said that high-speed fiber internet service is when you can have multiple devices all using it at once. My brother and I share an apartment and we have found that our internet is really bad. We can only ever stream one thing at a time so I’ll talk to him about getting some high-speed internet.

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