An Open Letter to my ISP, Broadstripe (an Anne Arundel Broadband Company)
Dear Broadstripe,
I'm a geek, a total nerd. In two weeks I will begin a new job as a DevOps Engineer. This position allows for complete remote work - 100% work-from-home. There are many things that need to be in order so that I can perform my job from home. Among the most important of them is a solid, fast internet connection. So I got to thinking, and to writing this letter.
I wanted to take a little bit of time to thank you, as a company, for not selling out. While you have sold out once or twice, due to bankruptcy, that is not what I am referring to here. You are not Verizon, and you are not Comcast, and I love you for that.
My family has been Broadstripe customers for a long time. My parents were customers back in the day, when your name was Millennium Digital Media. When I bought my house and needed to choose an ISP, I also became a customer.
There have been rough periods. Incredible latency, dropped packets, poor customer support. Once while working with technical support, the technician recommended that I "go and check for leaks in my cable". I had to be certain that she did not mean leaks as in a leaky pipe. She did. "Make sure that packets are not leaking out of the cable, and if they are, replace the cable."
For years I petitioned Verizon to roll out FiOS to my street, and when they finally did, I had to weigh the pros and cons of leaving my local ISP. A 15 / 2 Mb/s connection from Broadstripe vs. a 300 / 65 Mb/s connection from Verizon.
I came to the conclusion that no amount of bandwidth can replace trust, respect and community. I am proud to say that I support a local ISP, and if I ever move into a new house, I'll need to make sure that Broadstripe is available.
I digress. My current 30 / 5 Mb/s connection is more than enough to allow me to work from home, and in the past year, your up-time has been magnificent.
I know it is hard being a small, local ISP, and I imagine that you have aspiration to become as wealthy as Verizon or Comcast. Please, don't - you would lose more of yourself than you know, along with a loyal customer.
Sincerely, Kyle Johnson