Mooresville and Davidson: Get ready to dig deep – again – for MI-Connection.
Town officials predict the cable system might need at least $19 million more in the next five years.
Officials contacted by the Report last week did not want to discuss specifics, citing “proprietary information” – specifically, information that could be damaging once in the hands of MI-Connection’s competitors.
Town commissioners say they’re reluctant to elaborate because they haven’t been given “hard numbers.” Commissioner Chris Carney, in fact, said figures being used in discussions are “speculative” at best, because no one has yet seen MI-Connection’s audited year-end financial statements. Those aren’t expected to be released until October.
Town Manager Steve Husemann received MI-Connection’s unaudited year-end financial report last Wednesday. He did not release a copy to the Report, however, before beginning an eight-week leave of absence on Friday.
“I know there have been discussions that money is going to be needed if we’re able to accomplish all the things we’ve talked about,” Carney said last week. But when asked how much money is being discussed, he said: “So much of what we’re talking about is speculation. The numbers are unaudited. They’re good to use as a tool to start coming up with a strategy, but you don’t base your entire business plan around them because they’re not accurate yet.”
Once the numbers are given to commissioners, Carney said, “We are going to be honest. If we have something that says the sky is black, then the sky is black. We can be honest, but we need to be factually correct when we’re honest.”
Commissioners might not know just how black the sky is right now. But in the words of Commissioner Mac Herring in an e-mail obtained by the Report in a recent public-records request, they do know “there’s a storm brewing.” And in fact, town officials confirm they’ve been told to anticipate at least $19 million more in five years.
“Not sure if our local fiber optic venture will be successful,” Herring wrote in the e-mail. “The financial model is flawed, the Chair has apparently been withholding information, and the confidence in BVU (Bristol Virginia Utilities) at running the system is faltering. Their operations seem to be sound, but there has been little success at marketing the business applications. Perhaps we just kept our eye off the ball for too long.”
The towns of Mooresville and Davidson purchased the cable system for $80 million in December 2007. Last summer, the two towns coughed up another $12.5 million because, without it, MI-Connection wouldn’t be able to complete upgrades, including extending fiber to local businesses, which would be a significant money-maker for the system. (For detailed information, visit http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/05/cable-cash-cow-turned-catastrophe.html)
Four seats are open on Mooresville’s town board this November – the mayor’s seat and those of Commissioners Herring, Carney and Frank Rader. All four voted for the original $80 million financing for MI-Connection; Carney voted against the second $12.5 million request. Rader and Thunberg - two of the staunchest town-board supporters of MI-Connection - did not respond to Report questions this week. They are both running challenged races this year. Carney and Herring are running unopposed.
Mooresville Finance Director Maia Setzer said last week that the original $80 million for the cable system was “a Certificate of Participation borrowing,” while the “secondary ($12.5 million) was an installment loan.” This fiscal year, she said, $4.7 million is due in debt payments – half next month, and the other half in February.
Herring said: “I am of the opinion through our discussions (with no ‘real’ numbers in front of us), that MI-Connection can make its payments but will have no capital to make the taps into the business market. It’s kind of like having a wonderful 6-lane highway with no exit ramps.
“My understanding,” he added, “is that in order to reach the potential business customers … additional capital will be needed.”
“We have a high quality telecommunications product but need to market it (and) find some additional capital to get it to market,” Herring added. “We have a Cadillac of a system, now we need to start utilizing it.”
But if MI-Connection overextends itself in infrastructure costs, trying to reach more lucrative commercial accounts that will foot the repayment bill – and if that puts MI-Connection in a position where it can’t repay the towns’ debt in the meantime – does the burden of repayment fall back on the town?
“It would,” said Setzer, “but there has been no indication that MI-Connection would not be making those payments this year.”
But if Herring’s understanding is accurate, then MI-Connection may be able to pay its debt payments, but that will leave the system with not enough money for capital improvements to be able to lure in more lucrative accounts.
So what happens if the town continues subsidizing MI-Connection’s capital costs? Will town commissioners have to raise taxes? Setzer responded simply: “I do not know.”
While official figures have not been released, officials in recent e-mails make repeated references to the pending projections and the “bad news” that will accompany their release.
One e-mail in particular may provide more questions than answers, but it points to a looming problem for MI-Connection. In the June 5 e-mail, Wes Rosenbalm – president and CEO of BVU (MI-Connection operators) – stated to Davidson Commissioner and former MI-Connection Board Chairman Evan Webster: “We do not want to be alarmist but we think the situation with MIC is very serious.”
Rosenbalm points to two attachments (removed before the e-mail chain was sent to Mooresville commissioners): “a memo from (BVU Chief Financial Officer) Stacey (Bright) to me on the situation,” Rosenbalm wrote, “and then a memo from me to you on what options we have at this point.
“I apologize for sending this to you before I leave on vacation,” Rosenbalm said to Webster, “but we thought it was serious enough that we need to get it to you this week. We request that you share this with the remainder of the (MI-Connection) Board so they are aware of the situation.”
But Webster did not pass the information along until July 10 — five weeks later. “Wes sent this email approximately 5 weeks ago,” Webster said in an e-mail to other MI-Connection board members. “I did not forward it at that time because I did not agree with the tone or the approach. Wes left for a two week vacation after sending this, and I wanted to talk with him before pushing this along. In addition, we were still working on the budget.”
Webster stated that “the outlying situation” documented in the memos “has been discussed among ourselves, so the subject matter should not come as a surprise.” He also indicated that Bright’s memo included a financial analysis that “does highlight the slope against which we must climb.” However, Webster stated, “her initial analysis assumes that we will climb the slope in one year. I think that this is a multiple year project.”
As for the options that Rosenbalm proposed, Webster stated to the MI-Connection board members: “Even if we concede that there are two options, prudence would dictate that we take the time necessary for adequate consideration. We know that we are good for at least 12 months.”
When word reached Mooresville that Webster did not share for five weeks the information provided to him by Rosenbalm, at least two town commissioners – Carney and Atkins – moved quickly to try to have Webster unseated as the MI-Connection board chairman.
With a resolution in hand at the beginning of the Aug. 3 town board meeting, Atkins intended to make a motion asking that a letter be sent to Davidson’s mayor and town board, on behalf of Mooresville’s town board, “informing them that we have lost confidence in the ability of Mr. Webster to lead MI-Connection in a direction that will benefit our Town and its citizens and asking that Mr. Webster be immediately removed from the MI-Connection Board of Directors.”
The resolution also stated: “It is imperative, both for the benefit of MI-Connection, and certainly for the citizens of the Town of Mooresville and our Board, that each member of the MI-Connection Board of Directors and most certainly its chairman, strive to make MI-Connection a successful business and service venture.
“Of equal importance,” the resolution added, “it is imperative that the person serving as chairman of MI-Connection keep our Town Board updated about the strengths and weaknesses of anything that might impact on the operation of the MI-Connection system.”
Commissioners found out just before the start of the Aug. 3 town board meeting that Webster’s term would expire Aug. 13. Assurances that Davidson would not reappoint him to the MI-Connection board mitigated the need for the resolution and motion at Mooresville’s Aug. 3 town board meeting.
Carney – who, along with Atkins, voted against the additional $12.5 million for MI-Connection last summer because he disagreed that elected officials should be able to serve on the MI-Connection board – said last week: “I very publicly had asked for a change in the board chairmanship for the last 12 to 18 months because the person in charge was not in a position to be unbiased.
“We have a system with the opportunity to break based on that. And – guess what? – it broke,” Carney added.
Webster also chose not to seek re-election this year to his seat on Davidson’s town board.
Carney said he hopes that new leadership on the MI-Connection board will “provide a different philosophy based on our original goals and objectives.”
Mooresville will also be gaining a representative to the MI-Connection board. While Mooresville guaranteed the large majority of the $92.5 million for the cable system, until recently it had only two representatives, as opposed to Davidson’s three, on the MI-Connection board. But Mooresville is looking now to appoint a third representative, which will decrease Davidson’s representation to two.
Atkins said that he has “complete confidence in, and admiration for,” the Town of Mooresville’s two current appointed MI-Connection board members, John Kasberger and David Pendleton. “They have been very open and transparent with the information that has been made available to them,” Atkins said, “and for that I am truly grateful to have them represent Mooresville’s interest in MI-Connection.”
In addition to changing the structure of the MI-Connection board, Atkins said the Town of Mooresville “has been assured MI-Connection will be much more aggressive in its sales, marketing and business development initiatives to meet the growth/revenue projections required to achieve the financial goals and obligations of the organization.”
MI-Connection itself is also undergoing an organizational restructuring. And town officials say they have identified a flaw in MI-Connection’s agreement with BVU that needs to be corrected: the agreement is not performance-based. In other words, it does not include a specific mechanism to hold BVU accountable for the performance of the cable system from a sales and marketing standpoint.
While these plans have not been announced publicly, Mooresville’s Husemann has tried relentlessly to get in front of the story at least since the beginning of August. In e-mails to town and MI-Connection officials, Husemann repeatedly stressed his uneasiness with unaudited figures – that could turn out to be wrong – being reported by the media. He is also adamant about the need for an action plan and to be open and honest with the public. On Aug. 12, he stated in an e-mail to the MI-Connection task force, including Atkins, Carney and Herring: “We would be wise to package the bad news with a statement about what is being done to address the situation.
“When we have official projection numbers, bad news could have a negative effect on marketing,” he added. “Any type of governance restructuring, changes in personnel, changes from engineering to sales/marketing all need to be announced soon as well as a statement about the financial situation.
“The message,” continued Husemann, “needs to be ‘Yes – we have a problem, but here is how we hope to address.’ Open, honest …”
In an Aug. 21 e-mail about a pending press release, Husemann stressed: “This needs to happen ASAP. We need to announce it early next week and be very open and honest.”
Obviously, no one moved on Husemann’s pleadings until last week, when pressure mounted from the press.
On Friday, meetings were being scheduled for tomorrow and Tuesday with various media outlets. The Report was contacted by Sara-Lynne Levine, Davidson’s communications director, requesting to meet Tuesday “to discuss MI-Connection” with Mooresville’s Setzer, BVU’s Bright and Davidson Town Manager Leamon Brice.
I will not meet on Tuesday. Therefore, once news from the meetings begins to be posted online – possibly on newspapers’ online sites tomorrow since that’s apparently when their individual Q-and-A sessions were scheduled – those articles will be linked here. Online-only news sources were apparently scheduled to meet for their individual conferences the following day. As soon as those stories are posted, they will also be linked here. If you find them first, please feel free to post the link in the Comments section.
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41 comments:
Why aren't you going to meet with them, Tuesday or otherwise?
When are we going to stop this "debacle"of a "business" venture and allow some legitimate competition in town? The citizens deserve a choice other than Windstream and MI- Connection. We never should have gotten involved in this as business venture to begin with. The voice of the public was blatantly ignored by elected officals by bringing this into fruition. Not ONE person in a room of over 400 spoke infavor of this purchase, yet our elected officals ran roughshod over the will of the public and voted for the purchase.
I remind you that one of the most vocal supporters, Frank Rader, is up for re-election. let's NOT FORGET how this man defended then Police Chief, John Crone. We still have some house cleaning to do in the polls this fall. Citizens of Mooresville, Keep your reslove and don't let this pass quietly.
I feel that everyone involved in this should be sent to jail. As everyone knows. The money for this will come out of everyones pockets. This is nothing but highway robbery. I think its time for everyone involved to pull their head out of their anatomy and admit this whole deal was a grasping at straws idea. A dog bite hurts when you get bit...The golf course is another matter all together. Maybe they ought to turn the golf course into a public park. Every dime spent comes out of tax payers pockets. Heck, I hate golf. Put something in that I and others enjoy like maybe a dag park....
5:10 p.m., thanks for the question. I told Ms. Levine that I could be available to meet tomorrow (Monday), the same day the town/MI-Connection officials are scheduling individual interviews with various newspapers.
Unfortunately, however, they pre-determined which media outlets they would meet with on Monday and those that would have to wait until Tuesday. And that schedule is apparently inflexible. Hope that helps clarify.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of this deal and whether or not it should have been approved, the fact of the matter is, we own the system. Unless the citizens and businesses of Mooresville and Davidson get behind MI-Connection and support it, within 5 years, there is a good chance we will all be subsidizing it with our tax dollars. For me, I'd rather sign on now and at least get something for my money. Wake up, folks! It is a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario we are facing. We need to stop all the grumbling. What's done is done and you can use the election to voice any of your displeasure with the people who voted for the deal. Right now as a fellow, very concerned citizen, I'd ask EVERYONE to seriously consider signing up for MI-Connection as your internet, cable and phone provided so that we may at least have a chance of making it work for our towns and not financially cripple our future.
This has nothing to do with the above.
I just heard that the wonderful MGSD has decided to make shuttle bus drivers custodians between shuttle routes.That is not the problem the problem is that MGSD also decided to pay the shuttle driver custodians pay which is several $ per hour less.That would also be OK but the shuttle drivers will not be paid bus pay when they are driving the bus to Woods and then back to the High School.
The bottom line is the bus driver will spend about 5 and a half hours on the bus and only be paid for 3.
According to the FLSA this is not legal!!
Has anyone looked at the school board policy?
Does MGSD have an attorney?
Where is Ms.Sue you still have time to go after them.
If a driver reads this please call the labor board,look up the law FLSA.com.
Where is your NEA rep call them have them get involved.
You CAN NOT be fired for making a complaint.
There are laws to protect you.
8:00PM.....If I understand your logic correctly...I should sign up for this overpriced government run money pit rather than support a private company, simply because the brilliant leadership of this town went against the vast majority of public opinion and we're stuck with it.
Ummmm...no thanks. Let it die.
We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. What options do we have at this point?
August 30, 8:00pm
Well spoken, RADAR.
If one checks with Time Warner, the facts are very well spelt out. My tax dollar, should not support such a political football. Satus Quo of asking for more money, and no clear plan is what the residents get. Even with a solid majority opposing the purchase, "THE CLICK" went against our wishes. Unfortunately, two are safe running unopposed, but two aren't, and if the citizens vote them in, this Town will have been flushed down the toilet. I hear there are more shanadigans going on behind the bushes(good old boy way of doing business) and if the gridlock doesn't get broken. WE ARE DOOMED. Get out and make the change, especially the biggest malignancy of them all. Frank Rader
I'm about ready to put up a reward to the first person that gets an explanation, not a comment, but a factual explanation from either Thunberg or Rader. I can here them now 'It's too early to talk about', 'we don't have all the facts yet'. etc. etc. They had plenty to say when it was being considered. It's our damn tax money paying for this fiasco. Why can't we have the same information as our elected officials?
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen a Town do. There was absolutely no reason for the Town to buy the system. Time Warner was in the wings ready to purchase it, but ohhh nooooo. Our Board was knew so much more about running a cable system than Time Warner. Rader and Thunberg were going to show them how it should be done Dumb Dumb and Damn Dumb.
Ask Rader and Thunberg what their exit stradegy is. They are so much smarter than all of us. I'm sure they would not go into a venture like this without an exit plan in case things did not go as planned. After all remember, Frank has all that New York City experience with 'big numbers'.
I for one will not switch to MI-Connection until (1) those still in office in Davidson who voted for it resign; (2) the MI-C Board of Directors appointed by Davidson resign and are replaced by people who will provide oversight, not blind cheerleading, and (3) the Town of Davidson passes an ordinance prohibiting it from ever again borrowing more than $2 million without a vote of the citizens.
Not sure why everyone continues to bad mouth MI-Connection. We switched to the triple play and have faster service and saved $400+ annually over what we had before. The decision for the Towns to buy the system may have been a bad one, but the service we've experienced is great.
To the person who asked what our options are, it appears to me that we can:
1. Support the system and try to help make it profitable (which the towns say it can be with our support)
2. Let it die, and absorb the $92.5mm (less proceeds from any disposition of assets) via a HUGE property tax increase (can you say $.20/$100).
3. Try to sell it now - not a very good prospect given the economy. Even if we could find a buyer, I would be surprised if we got $92.5mm for the system so we would still incur debt.
4. Find some investors willing to put capital into MI-Connection to sustain it over the next few years in exchange for a piece of ownership. Again, may not be viable given the willingness of investors to let go of their money right now.
From everything, I've heard and gathered, these are the options the Towns have. At this time, #1 looks the most viable to me and worth trying - especially given the good experience we've had.
To the person who said "let it die" - I would respond by saying "Vote as you wish, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water and bankrupt two Towns in the process."
Everyone needs to get on board and treat MI-Connection as their own business. If it is not successful, we (the taxpayers) will be paying for it.
The people who say it can be successful with community support are the same ones who said it would be a "no brainer" to borrow $67 million.
Then it "couldn't miss" at $80 million.
Then it "was in worse shape than we thought" so ...what's wrong with borrowing another $12.5 million...getting us to a total of $92.5 million.
Where does it end? What if it'll never be the "cash cow" Frank Rader promised us it'd be?. Maybe Frank didn't anticipate Time Warner would build in to the MI Connection area (the business plan said they wouldn't). Maybe no one anticipated 13% unemployment in Iredell County? What's the first thing you drop in a tight economy? Entertainment spending.
At what point do we stop throwing good money after bad?
To 11:18 AM Bill Get off this web site and go back to running your business.
I guess its backwards looking of me but why did our leaders put us in a position where we have to choose between bad and worse? I looked at all the options in the 11:18 post and all of them have risks. The first option is less risky I guess but if I choose it then I'll have government controlled cable service. I don't want the government to control my cable service so I won't pay for them to do it. If I have to pay later in taxes so be it. I'm sure the leaders will come up with some sort of way to keep the tax increase low.If they raise our taxes 20 cents this blog will be the least of the leader's worries. We'll be on CNN.
Whoever said that residential growth will make this cable system profitable is an insider and a JOKE. Did you read the article? All the upgrades have been for RESIDENTS who didn't want this thing in the first place. Now they need BUSINESSES to MAYBE make it profitable. But oops they ran out of money before they made it possible to service the businesses.Don't buy into the hype that us residents can make this system any better by subscribing to it. That's just a ploy from an insider to get you to become a customer. Nice try.
We are in a pickle! The problem with the citizens 'bailing out' the Towns is that then the governments will think it was a great decision, and start looking for some other business to get into. There is a misconception that we just need a little more business so this thing will break even. Wrong! Even if the top line were to double, MI-C would still lose money (just check out their budget and do the math). There aren't enough households in Mooresville and Davidson to make this thing profitable. The only way to get citizens behind it is for all of those who supported it - or those in office who failed to argue against it when they had the chance - to resign for their colossal bad judgement. If this fiasco had happened in the private sector, heads would roll. Government should be no different.
Time for Ms Setzer to go now if she wants to do everything in private. She should stand up and say HELL NO I want the public involved and be able to listen.
But just look at who she is answering to now, Erskine Smith
I think I'm going to be sick.
This comment is directed to the individual who posted on August 28th at 8pm:
I'd like to point out that we are nearly supporting this "business" venture with our tax dollars now. I will not only grumble, I'll shout at the top of my lungs over this hose job. I don't know if you're a native or a transplant, meaning, they might do it differently in other parts of the counrty. I am not content to sit back and allow the almighty commissioners to dictate my choices when this is the United States. Where are our freedoms and our voice? This so called "purchase" goes againest the very principles of democracy our country was founded on- the right to vote and freedom of speech. if we were smart, we'd bring a class action lawsuit againest the town and FORCE the sale of this cable enterprise.
August 31 11:08
boy-sounds like one the the commsishes is trying to do damage control!!!!! The only people who coin the term "triple play " are those directly involved with either MI-C or TOM. Tell me one thing:
If MI-Connection is so RELIABLE,WHY is the Town of Mooresville(who owns the system!!!) using Windstream as their Internet provider????
3:12....We could ask the mayor what he thinks about MI Connection...but he doesn't have it either.
I just logged on to take a look at the site and the commentary is pretty pathetic. Alot of blame and angry comments. Let's suppose we vote everyone out? Great! Your mission will be accomplished. Then what? Anybody have a buyer just waiting to bail us out? If so, let's bring them forward and talk to MI-C or whomever. The fact of the matter is right now we are stuck with this system until we can sell it. Fortunately, it actually is a pretty good one now - as it should be for $92mm. I'd like to hear some of your ideas on how to turn this situation around. Otherwise, this blog is going to just be full of hot air and not worth coming back to.
Thanks Jaime
Doesn't matter how we got on the hook now. We need to see what Time Warner will give? .75 on the dollar, .80 cents, need to know?
check me out on facebook. please post a comment or participate in my point-counterpoint. thanks -- chris montgomery
Let Time Warner buy out Mi-Connection -- they've got the market on the 28117 side of town.
Vote out all the commissioners who voted to purchase this business. There was no sound logic behind the venture to begin with. These are the same folks who voted to go with the highest price group for the water-sewer treatment plant because they wanted to go with a "local" guy.
Radon isn't going to say anything publicly -- he won't waste his time with simple folks like us. A jeweler probalby finds nothing wrong with this sort of price mark-up. We're still waiting on these guys to make some sort of public comment on Cops for Kids -- you think they're going to go public with this stuff?
I got rid of Mi-Connection b/c of poor customer support, poor internet quality, and, most importantly, because I don't think government ought to be in the midst of funding private enterprise.
You want to change how the politicans act? Get involved and get rid of those who do not serve the public's interest -- get rid of Radon and Blunderburg this time and then the rest on the next go-round. Insist on a recall option for the citizens. Show up at meetings and demand answers. Get involved at more than a blog-level. Yes, it can be scary, but the alternative is even scarier.
PS: Welcome back Jamie -- I was having withdrawals
PSS -- I actually did check into Mi-Connection for a business connection for internet and phone service. They were substantially higher priced than what we currently have.
Bill Thunberg, Frank Rader, Mac Herring and Chris Carney should all hang their heads in shame for having strapped the people of this community (and their children) with this albatross. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do about Carney and Herring since nobody is running against them. At least I can show up at the polls and cast a vote against the other two. Shame. Shame. You have all abused the powers vested in you by your fellow man.
I hate that Mr. Huseman is sick and I hope for a speedy recover for him from his illiness.
We are in a bad shape with this cable mess and you are right Rader and Thunberg and the others have put our children in debt and their children in debt for their lives. But there is one other thing that we have to worry about.
I have not been inpressed with Mr. Huseman but the way that these idiots think what if he has to give up his job. These clowns will probably give the job to Erskine Smith can you imagine how tragic this would be the town would collaspe.Please people tell everyone that you know to vote against Rader and Dumberg.
I know I'm beating a dead horse but the whole time the Town Board was considering purchasing the cable system, I could find hardly anyone that thought it was good idea. Yet, Thunberg and Rader kept insisting it was a great deal and a great opportunity. Even if it was a great deal, if those two, along with Hering and Carney, had listened to their constituents, we would not be in this mess. Like so many politicians, they believe that once they are elected they receive some sort of special power and insight that the voters do not have. They can blame their own egos for getting them in this mess.
To those people who are commenting that we should support Mi-connections. I have been and in case you haven't noticed, we have had our rates increased at least twice since they have taken over. How many more increases are there going to be? And if they still go under...how much more or we going to pay? Seems we will be paying two fold for supporting them when we didn't even want them.
If you think Time Warner was the answer you've obviously never been a Time Warner customer. They have the worst customer service in the industry because they can get away with it. I wasn't wild about the MI-Connection deal but having dealt with TW at 2 residences in Mecklenburg Co. over the last 17 years, I think we're well rid of them. Don't believe for a moment that TW's rates would be cheaper in the long run.
A couple of comments, they I'll fade to the background.
1. Cable systems are a "cash hole" not a "cash cow". They constantly need feeding like my 14 year old son. Once the system is upgraded, to a certain level, it'll be time to do it again. Technology, competition and customer demands for new services necessitate capital expenditures constantly.
2. MIC and BVU are too small to demand "preferred customer" pricing when they purchase equipment or services, therefore capital equipment purchases will be more expensive than other larger Cable systems.
3. Time Warner can 'overbuild' into the MIC customer footprint with comparative ease. The TWC offerings are feature rich and would erode MIC's customer base quickly.
4. The Commercial business, which has a major selling point by the 'Commissioners' back in 2006, is an intensely competitive business with slim profit margins. Forget what they are attempting to 'sell' you now. Commercial is a highly capitalized business (meaning is takes more money to get it established) and the profits are slim.
5. The Town hired BVU as a provider of last resort. Other vendors refused to bid on the project knowing full well this project was in nobody's best interest!
6. The Town 'Commissioners', Mayor and Town Manager dropped the ball by signing a contract with BVU with no incentives for reduced costs, target customer or service levels. In other words, the bought an empty contract. Vendor management and negotiations apparently are not high on their job descriptions. BVU should have been managed the same way you or I manage a home improvement; check, check and recheck.
7. The MIC 'Board' apparently was asleep at the switch, in my opinion. It was their job to oversee the Operations of MIC. While the Board is made up of highly qualified individuals, they apparently took the word of the MIC Management and bought into the BVU's view of the customer base. Again, this is my opinion.
8. One of our Commissioners are touting the download speed of MIC. Friends and neighbors, don't listen to this. MIC's speed is only comparable to TWC. After TWC lost their bid for the MIC customers, they invested heavily in their new (Old Adelphia) area and the service areas surrounding MIC is comparable or better than MIC. Like TWC or not, they know how to run a business and can react quickly and cost effectively to changes in the market.
So where are we now?
MIC now has a greatly improved infrastructure. A good thing. A much improved package of feature offerings. Another good thing. They have excellent customer response times. Another good thing.
On the other side of the coin, MIC is too expensive in this highly competitive market. A bad thing. MIC is lagging behind satellite's feature offerings and it is too easy to move to satellite. A bad thing. Time Warner has a feature rich customer offering and improved customer service and can easily build into the MIC area and entice MIC customers with low cost offerings with minimal effort. A REAL bad thing! (You think MIC is losing money now? Can you imagine how much it would lose if it had less residential customers!)
Trying to bolster MIC's financials by enrolling in more residential services or enticing your neighbors to enroll, it an exercise in futility for all the above reasons. MIC's future is not bright and by turning our backs on the underlying structural issues is only delaying the outcome. Start negotiations with TWC for a sale of assets. Better still, start negotiations with another cable company. That will peak TWC's interest and increase the value of MIC!
People, we are in a bad spot.
The above is my opinion only!
The MI- Connection is a big problem, another big problem is the Golf course, they are planning to spend 10-15 million and Mr. Radar says its a secret as to where the Money is coming from. they plan to at tax payers expense to build a new course and club house, where do they think they are going to get the people to be able to affords this/ and where is the money coming from to maitain this, after its built. Its time we voted in people who know the value of a dollar. Recreation is important for the community but to the tune of the money being spent in Mooresville. Please talk to your comminsioners,Please get out and vote . come to the meetings and take part.
Why would Time Warner buy this system now? They already surround the MI-Connection area and can easily continue to overbuild until they are available in every home that MI-C is available in, but offer more features for less money. Oh...wait...Rader and the research that was done said that Time Warner wouldn't build in to Mooresville.....Frank??
Re: 09-04 8:22AM
Isnt MIC part of a larger National Cable TV Co-op to elivate #2 on your list?
If you knew how much of the initial $80MM bond offering went to investment banker fees and attorney fees, you'd really be upset. At least someone made money on this deal.
Anonymous 9/4/2009 11:53 PM.
The National Cable Co-op is equivalent to you or I shopping at BJ's. Yes, the product and service is discounted but nowhere near as it would be if you were a prime high volume bulk customer.
It is like buying a package of Q Tips versus a truckload of Q tips. You would, most assuredly, get a better price from the supplier for the truckload.
Frequently if you are a 'preferred vendor', the supplier will throw sweeetners into the deal, such as multi year fixed pricing, training, maintenance and support along with the lowest price. The National Co-op just doesn't have the buying power to leverage these deals.
By the way, TWC would jump at the chance to buy the MIC system now that it has been upgraded. It would be easy to maintain, they wouldn't have to pay a third party (BVU) to operate it, there are embedded customers with revenue flow and the system is in close proximity to its own system. However, these are smart business people. They probably would not buy MIC for more than the going rate for system buy-outs, somewhere around $4500 to $5000 per customer. MIC's past and current investment in its customer well exceeds this, so MIC would probably be sold at a loss.
There are tough choices ahead.
12:21:
I've been told by people at Time Warner that they have no interest. They can simply overbuild them as they are doing now, at their own pace surrounding them as the circle gets tighter.
But.....just for grins....let's say they do buy it...at $5,000 per sub...an extremely high price. Let's say they have 15,000 subs by the time they sell it. That comes to $75 million...putting us $17.5 million in the hole...or about $460 for every man, woman, and child in the town.
Mr. Mayor?? Any thoughts??? ANY????
Man, this was posted a long time ago. My feelings are this; yes it should never have been done, oh well, that's a dead horse.
Now, the cable service has improved but is overpriced especially since we received an increase last year, I just reduced my service (I'd switch but I have a TiVo that doesn't play well with Satellite). However, their internet seems to be vastly improved. I know there were problems initially and it is why I selected Windstream, however I just noticed that MIC has double the bit rate for a hair more than I'm paying or about $10 less for the same speed. For $120 a year I think I'll switch.
Now, about the overbuild and all of the TWC proponents, you think that they would have done all of the "overbuilding" with zero competition? MIC for better or worse has improved TWC service to the area which nobody seems to point out. Competition is key not whether the public or private sector is responsible (obviously I'd rather my dollars not be used, but C'est la vie).
I applaud the people that are refusing to support "a government venture into private enterprise" unfortunately I cannot afford to do that right now. I'm going to do what is best for me at the moment in the spirit of American Capitalism; MIC for internet and Satellite for TV. If other opinions arise I'll revisit this issue.
Also, I wasn't aware that Fiber was part of the upgrades... If you want to add to the user base expand some of that Fiber to Residential. Check out the Verizon FiOS pricing for reference but I'm cutting costs and I would consider spending more for that service... So I'm sure there are plenty of people that would actually pull the trigger.
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