Well after reading an article on the Floyd County Times website, it’s interesting to see that “Munroe” is going to run for city council with 3 other wannabe council members Bucky Collins, Harry Adams, and Tony Conn. Looks like it’s going to be an interesting race. From the article it seems that none of the candidates have an exact plan on what they would do other then fixing some signs, or some general issues, with not getting specific on how they would obtain their goals. It’s easy to say you want to boost the local economy but what good is it to elect you if you have no idea on where to begin? I’m sure every council member right now would love to boost Prestonsburg’s economy and bring in new business but that is definitely easier said than done.
There was also a note about the Prestonsburg’s wireless access and how it was opposed by some. Is it even still operational? Not heard anything about it since its launch. Like I said before unfortunately IMO this was a waste of time and money. Wireless access is not a deciding factor in recruiting new businesses. It’s a nice perk I guess I would say but that’s about it. Here is a article from Virginiabuisness. In the article you will see that Bristol decided to with fiber optics to lure in new business’s, and guess what? A business in the neighboring state moved its 30 employee business there. Fiber optics is the future.
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August 4th, 2008 at 6:36 am
For an update on the wireless network in Prestonsburg, just give Brent Graden a call at 606-886-2335 (City Hall).
But for those of you who want an update, here goes: The system is doing fine. We have fielded over 125 call from across the nation from Los Angeles to Manhattan to Ohio. We have even had 7 site visits with people bringing their airplanes in at the airport. As of 8/1/08, we have had 4016 unique users on the system with 723 GB downloaded. We have also gotten some extra funding for the next fiscal year and we plan on filling in the back areas inside the downtown plus tackling the constant problem of Stonecrest Mountain not getting the correct service it is due. I look forward to tackling that issue.
Also, we just got the good word that I will be able to receive free training for web site development. i will be working in conjunction with the Commonwealth to develop a great interactive website. It will be the official website of the city and it will be a great place online to pay your bills, look up meeting minutes, ordinances, etc … overall it will be a great communications tool and make city government more transparent. That is why I never mind dropping my name here. Again, if you have any questions or comments, please drop me a line a brentgraden@hotmail.com. I’m here for you.
As far as the McDonald’s WIFI goes, I have tried to use it, but it is only for AT&T customers. You pay for the service and you pay for the devices that are WIFI enabled. You need to purchase a data plan to receive it. Usually a minimum of $20 per month in addition to your calling plan. I think it would be safe to say that Appalachian Wireless can not log in at McDonalds. Wendy’s Restaurants just recently went true wireless for free. Their service is slow at first, but by the time you are half-done with your sandwich, you are cruising along nicely.
Keep up the blog. It is good to get the information out.
Sincerely,
Brent
August 17th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Wifi @ McDonald’s is free if you have their DSL service.
“AT&T Wi-Fi Basic service is FREE and already included if you subscribe to AT&T High Speed Internet, AT&T U-verseSM or AT&T FastAccess® DSL with a speed of 1.5 Mbps or higher. No ordering required! Simply use your AT&T high-speed Internet membership ID and password at any AT&T Wi-Fi Basic hot spot.”
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=5949