Services:

A loan from the united States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development division will help Allband build a state-of-the-art telecommunications network in Allband’s certificated service area. Allband plans to spend a little over 8 million dollars in two phases on the first all fiber to the home (FTTH) system in the state. Each customer will have a fiber optic cable run to their premise and will be capable of providing basic telephone and advanced high-speed Internet services. With the help of federal universal service funds, these services will be available at an affordable price and in addition, will provide new 911 services and vastly improved public safety communications in the area. Although there have not been plans to introduce television services in the first phase of construction, Allband intends to eventually offer a “Triple-Play” package which will include telephone, television and high-speed Internet services for one affordable price.

Services and Products

· Basic Local Telephone: $19.90/month

· Adjacent Exchange Calling: $0.10/month

· Domestic Long Distance: $0.09/min

· Unlimited Domestic LD: $24.99/month

· High-speed Internet: $30.92/month

· Wireless Router: $40 or $50 (one time)

Taxes and Charges

· Interstate End User Access Charge

· 911 Taxes

· State Use Tax

· Federal Excise Tax

All calling features including voicemail, three-way calling, caller ID, call waiting, etc. are free with our Basic Telephone service unless otherwise noted in the Calling Services Overview Guide. Services such as call waiting can be turned-off per the request of the subscriber.

Allband offers the ability to check your email, voicemail and change your calling features via our website at www.allband.org. This feature is available at no charge for our members.

High-speed Internet (up to 3 Mbps up/down) includes five email accounts, web hosting space, customized web portal and spam/virus protection. Pre-configured wireless routers are available at our cost and allows you to share your Internet connection wirelessly throughout your home.

Equipment Information:

Each member of Allband Communications Cooperative will have an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) installed on their house or business as shown in Figure 1. The ONT is a hardened, weather-proof device that is built to withstand the harsh weather of both winter and summer. This unit is supplied, installed, and maintained by Allband free of charge with service.

Two phone lines and a port for Internet access are available in each unit over a fiber optic cable, which will be buried and connected to the ONT on the premise of each customer. These units are typically attached to the outside of the premise or inside a garage and then grounded for lighting protection. Standard telephone and Internet cable from the inside of the premise will then be connected to the ONT for service.

Allband will work with each member to determine the best location for the NID and will ensure that each unit is installed correctly and to the satisfaction of each member. Additionally, Allband will consult with each member to determine if any additional inside wiring is needed and how to efficiently connect it to the ONT.

Each ONT must be connected to a battery back-up unit. If there is a power loss, this unit will supply power to the ONT, but restricts use to the phone line(s) only. These units are typically wall mounted on the member’s premise next to or below the ONT. The unit requires a standard electrical outlet and must be plugged in at all times. This unit is supplied, installed, and maintained by Allband free of charge with service. All wiring inside of the premise is the responsibility of the customer, but Allband will assist each customer with installaltion or sub-contracting if needed.

Where possible, Allband will install an electrical collar inside your electric meter if it is located on your house and near your ONT. This gives Allband the ability to draw power from your meter to power ther ONT and charge the battery. The collars give Allabnd the ability to power our ONTs even when the member turns off their breaker. These devices have been approved by Presque Isle Electric and Gas and use a small amount of power when charging.


A typical installation, Battery Power Supply (left) and Optical Network Terminal (right)	A Power Collar after Installation

Each Allband ONT is able to connect with traditional telecommunication wiring that may exist in each members premise:

Traditional Category 5 phone wire will be connected to the ONT and can supply phone access to any desired phone jack location in the premise. Each ONT can supply up to 2 lines per premise, or 4 if requested.

A Category 5 cable is required to connect a computer to the ONT for Internet access. It may be desirable for each member to hire an inside wire specialist to install Cat 5 wire in the premise if multiple computer locations are desired. If a member desires to network multiple computers with wiring or a wireless application, consulting can be obtained from Allband or an inside wiring specialist that is working on behalf of Allband.

If a premise has coaxial television cable installed, this cable can be utilized to provide Internet access and in unique situations, phone service. Allband or an outside contractor will provide consulting to best determine how premise wiring that is already installed can be utilized and if new wiring is required. Allband will provide a list of approved contractors when requested.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR EQUIPMENT OVERVIEW FLYER (.pdf)