Surfing the internet is no longer going to be a time-consuming and frustrating chore for Leonard residents.
According to village President Mike McDonald, of the rural community’s approximately 130 residences, a total of 96 homes are now eligible for AT&T’s U-verse line of products, which includes high-speed internet along with television and telephone services.
‘It is a great thing,? he said. ‘Kind of like Leonard is finally approaching the 21st century.?
McDonald said a while back an AT&T representative told the village council it was expected Leonard would have access to U-verse services in the near future and that was the last anybody heard about it.
‘There was no effort made to stay up on it,? McDonald said.
When McDonald took office in November of last year, he decided to pursue the matter because there was ‘an awful lot of interest in it out here.?
It turns out there was a ‘glitch? on the AT&T website which kept telling Leonard residents U-verse was not yet available to them even though it really was.
The problem has since been corrected.
‘It was almost like flipping a switch, all of the sudden we had access,? said McDonald, noting he’s already signed up. ‘The word spread like wild fire. It couldn’t have come at a better time for us because we’ve been waiting so long.?
Although Leonard receives its cable TV from Charter Communications, the high-speed internet service offered by the company was not available to village residents.
‘My understanding is Charter stopped somewhere in the Lakeville area as far as providing high-speed internet,? McDonald said.
For many, using the internet in Leonard meant accessing the web through the much slower dial-up method, which is routed through telephone lines via a modem.
Despite his excitement, McDonald noted there are still some bugs to be worked out.
‘We’ve had a few people try to sign up and they’ve been unsuccessful, but I’ve contacted AT&T and they are looking into it,? he said. ‘We’re cautiously optimistic.?
To learn more about AT&T U-verse visit www.att.com.