By Richard Zowie
Leader Staff Writer

For Dr. Joel Smiler, of Addison, accessing the internet at home can be a slow, tedious and expensive process.
In some parts of the country, depending on whether you have dial-up, DSL or high-speed access, monthly internet services can be as low as $10 per month or less
But for the veterinarian and his family web access through three Verizon Wireless Broadband USB cards costs a total of $120 per month and Smiler describes them as ‘faster than dial-up but nowhere near normal broadband speeds.?
Smiler, who provides relief veterinarian services for the Oxford Veterinary Hospital on Lincoln St., said that both he and his wife (who has a consulting business) rely heavily on the internet for business and personal use.
Smiler’s frustrated with what he perceives as Addison Township’s lack of progress when it comes to getting faster internet service in his area.
To make matters more aggravating, other parts of the township do receive DSL through AT&T. But for the Smilers, their corner of the township is under the jurisdiction of Romeo, which apparently is under a different plan.
At the August 18 Addison Township meeting, Smiler spoke during public comment on the lack of internet service in his area.
‘Internet service was promised by Charter Communications five years ago,? Smiler said. ‘They not only have not provided it, you cannot even get HDTV through Charter. I have asked about this at the township office several times and all they ever said was they have no idea when or if we would get service. My purpose in presenting the question to the township board was to point out that Charter had not lived up to their contract and we are a neglected area of the township in this regard.?
The doctor added that Comcast, which provides cable service a mile down Rochester Road in Oakland Township, has both high-speed internet and HDTV.
While some areas of the township do have AT&T DSL service, not all residents have it. AT&T does not provide DSL to the area where Smiler lives.
‘I want to see this part of the township brought into the 21st century,? he said. ‘Even though I consider it commendable that they want to keep the rural nature of the township, that does not mean that residents should not have services which are considered routine in most areas.?
Smiler wishes he would have known about the Addison’s internet service issues prior to purchasing his home five years ago.
‘I had no idea that this service was not available when we purchased our home and to be honest, had I known I likely would have looked elsewhere,? he said.
The trustees had little to say in response to Smiler’s comments.
This was the first time he’d brought it up at a public meeting, although he has mentioned it before to local officials. He said that the response is usually the same ? they don’t have the service either.
‘Nobody in the township, I think, has internet service through Charter, although a lot of areas have DSL through AT&T,? Dr. Smiler said.
He has been told by Romeo that there’s nothing it can do about it, and AT&T has no plans to put any lines out there.
?[AT&T’s] reasoning is there’s not enough population to warrant their running fiber optic cable lines out here,? the doctor said. ‘They feel that there needs to be more people there to make it profitable for them.?
He contends there are actually a lot of people in the corner of Addison where he lives including a mobile home park.
Addison Treasurer Daniel Alberty, who lives near Smiler in the corner under the Romeo jurisdiction, sympathizes with the veterinarian.
‘From the beginning, I was quite upset with Charter Cable,? Alberty said. ‘The cable service they gave to us was very poor.?
Alberty, who has long since canceled his Charter service, said that in the past several years Charter has done nothing to upgrade the services they’ve offered.
Alberty was told by a cable commission for Oxford and Addison Townships that Charter didn’t want to put the money into the infrastructure.
For now, the treasurer said, there’s nothing that can be done. It’s up to AT&T and to Charter.
‘If Charter elected to, they could put cable modems in the township,? he said. ‘But up to this point they’ve never wanted to put money into it. We’ve done everything we can. We’ve made contacts and have pleaded.?
Charter Communications spokesperson Tim Ransburger said that while he sympathizes with Addison residents, the decision to not offer internet service boils down to dollars and cents.
He estimated that Charter has spent more than $400 million since beginning in late 1999 to upgrade Michigan’s cable systems to provide faster internet service.
‘This is an expensive proposition,? Ransburger said.
When it comes to determining where to provide services, Charter looks at an area’s population density. They examine how many homes there are in an area where a new cable system will be laid down. The fewer homes per mile, the fewer potential customers and the less likely a place is to receive high-speed internet service.
‘There were some areas of Michigan that just didn’t meet the criteria that we established to get a reasonable payback in terms of months and years between the money being spent and when we could expect to recoup that investment,? Ransburger said. ‘Unfortunately, that part of Addison Township was one of those areas. Cable is not a utility and so we’re not given any kind of subsidies or anything like that. We base our investment positions solely on what the return will be on our private risk capital. In other words, we borrow money to build the upgraded plans.?
Ransburger said in order to get high-speed internet cables installed, Addison Township would need a higher population density.
He added: ‘We’re not in the business of telling people we don’t want to serve them. We’d love to serve more customers but have to do it in a way that would give us a more reasonable return on our investment. I understand [Dr. Smiler’s] frustration.?
Bryan Blaise, a spokesperson for AT&T, said that as improvements and service expansions continue in Oxford, they would provide updates.
‘We realize some consumers may live beyond our traditional service footprint’and we’re constantly evaluating and taking efforts to still deliver the benefits of broadband connectivity using both our wired and wireless networks,? Blaise said in a prepared statement. ‘In April 2007, we significantly expanded our satellite-based broadband service to reach the vast majority of rural markets in our 22 states.?