W hat is the problem with extending Comcast service to Chappy? Is it so ridiculous to think that those who live on Chappy would like access to the same 21st century technology available to the rest of Edgartown like TV, high speed internet, access to MVTV or emergency broadcasts, etc? A few of us on the island are able to get DSL and the rest a WISP service, the lowest tech option available for end-of-line areas off the map.

For two years we have been trying to upgrade the service on Chappaquiddick. The original Adelphia/Comcast contract signed by Arthur Smadbeck excluded Chappy from service extension. It appears that 10 years of technologic advance and population increase have not changed his mind on the necessity for a Chappy service extension. Two years ago we had Comcast survey the island. It turns out the population density of Chappy is equal to or greater than other areas of Edgartown with Comcast service. The selectmen have allowed Comcast to treat Chappy as separate from Edgartown rather than negotiating under one umbrella. After much discussion, Comcast presented a plan to extend service providing 300 homes paid a one-time fee of $6,000 each. Maybe Lady Gaga can afford that, but for the majority of us it’s out of the question. No one else in Edgartown is forced to pay these outrageous fees and by last count Chappy is still part of Edgartown. I believe that’s where my taxes go.

Comcast claimed it would cost $1.8 million to lay a cable across the 600 feet of harbor. Most have thought that was an incredibly inflated number.

Lo and behold, a solution to the 600 feet of harbor separating Chappy from Edgartown was provided when the NStar conduit needed to be urgently replaced this year. Why not piggyback fiber-optic cable through the new NStar conduit? We were all so optimistic this could be arranged. Dennis Galvam from NStar and Mary O’Keeffe from Comcast thought sure it would be a go.

But in the end it boils down to a big no. NStar would like to hold out for further future concessions from Comcast and Comcast is quite happy to defer the project. They were not happy with the prospect of a two to three-month build out of Chappy. By the way, it turns out there is already an old unused Telemedia conduit the entire length of Chappy.

Currently the island is in negotiations for a new service contract with Comcast. It needs to be completed by June of this year. The towns have hired a Boston attorney to negotiate. The issues include access, MVTV, PEG money, and a variety of other perks to the towns for bundled services such as phone and Internet for municipal buildings. Believe me, I’m in favor of the towns obtaining as much money and as many concessions from Comcast as possible, but not at the expense of the citizens of Martha’s Vineyard. Everyone on the island should have equal access to 21st century media. It’s a necessity of the way we do business, run our lives and teach our children.

Meanwhile, where is the support for Chappy and other areas of the Island without current access?

The Edgartown selectmen have gone on record in support of service extension to Chappy. However, based on their lack of active involvement in the process, I doubt they will go to the mat for their constituents on Chappy. One selectmen told us we could still take the ferry over and use the library for free wireless access.

Looking to the newspapers to get out our message was another adventure. You would think they might champion the idea. But no. Unless it’s an article about fishing or the breach, Chappy holds little interest. Apparently no one actually lives on Chappy. It’s only a destination for others. One of the editors of the Martha’s Vineyard Times espoused the old idea that to live on Chappy is to be a non-participant in the Island. “Why should you have services?” he asked. I have to admit I’m somewhat addicted to fast Internet, TV access and decent telephone service. I know, I’m selfish!

Although Sen. John Kerry helped designate Chappy as an area of “Internet need,” this designation only helped secure $32 million in federal aid to bolster the infrastructure of buried fiber on the Cape through the Open Cape Initiative. We were given the possibility of a microwave addition in the future. This solution seems unlikely to solve our problem.

The prospect of legislative action to secure the rights of all to have equal media access is pending, but seems remote. Our best hope rests with the current Comcast contracting process. It’s already heating up as the towns fight among themselves to control the PEG money and the MVTV designated funds. It’s obvious why our social, economic and political problems are rushing out of control toward Mt. Vesuvius, when a relatively simple issue like this cannot be resolved judiciously.

Shame on Comcast’s chief executive officer Brian Roberts, who summers up-Island and has ignored any requests to intervene. I’m sure he has more than adequate media services.

Shame on the Edgartown selectmen for not actively advocating for their citizens.

Shame on NStar’s Mr. Galvam for bartering for further concessions from Chappy, thus preventing media fiber being passed through the new conduit under Edgartown harbor.

Shame on Mary O’Keeffe, the spokesman for the corporate giant, Comcast. Somehow we’ve allowed Comcast to cherry pick the profitable areas of the Island, the Cape and western Massachusetts.

My wife says that I tilt at windmills. I like to think that in a just world, one free of insider trades and self-serving moral compasses, the big guys wouldn’t always win.

Let’s hope that our representatives to the Island cable advisory committee will advocate for their constituents.

 

Dennis Goldin lives on Chappaquiddick.