January 5, 1998 Time for another newsletter. We don't email everyone unless we have some fairly important words. Topics: 0) Billing Changes (Free Time) 1) Other Changes (More Hours) 2) X2 3) General Interest 4) Want Free Access? 5) Helpful Tips 0) During this billing cycle we have been doing well with a change to the time accounting system that will not count "off-hours" use of the system. All usage between midight and 7 am will not be kept track of for billing purposes. This is a wonderful provision for nighthawks or early risers. Why are we giving away 7 hours a day of free internet use to our customers? Nobody uses the internet during this time of the night, and our equipment sits idle. We figured it'd be nice to let people use it. It's also the fastest times to use the internet. Those popular websites which are too crowded in the evening or day are fast sailing during this time. If we had free access all the time, we'd have busy signals reminiscent of AOL or uncaring providers. We are careful not to end up in the same boat, as many subscribers absolutely depend on their ability to get on the internet. Businesspeople (especially) don't like to keep hitting redial. Allowing free access during the off-peak time, as we are doing, will actually more evenly distribute use of resources and make more lines available for use at peak times. Thus, everybody will gain. 1) Also take note that starting January 17th with the new billing period, the hours of included usage will increase. CURRENTLY, the plans are $20 for 30 hours, and $30 for 130 hours and 2 email addresses. We have carefully studied the prior month's usage and are confident that we have equipment and resources to support a change. We have been adding more lines, and have orders in for more. This will change for your benefit to $20/50 hours, and $30/150 hours, starting with the new billing period which will begin on the 17th of January. We've also studied, analyzed, and graphed usage info, and think that either the 50 or the 150 hours plan should satisify the needs of almost all (%99) of our dial up users' needs. 2) We have a group of X2 lines going in the 596 exchange. X2 is one of the two 56k technologies and is different from k56flex. Most X2 users get mid 40's to lower 50's Kilobits per second. This is working well, and we have ordered more lines (lots of them) for this purpose. We are going to let people use X2 for no additional charge. In return, we'd appreciate it if this special X2 number were used only by X2 equipped users. (Use the other lines for 33.6/28.8/14.4 as you currently do for normal dialup). If you obtain an X2 compatible modem, send a note to help@midcoast.com and we will provide the information you need to begin using this special service. (Please don't use the X2 lines for normal 33.6 at this time) X2 is the next best thing to ISDN for people who can call Rockland. If you are _IN_ Rockland, you can get 56K/112K connects every time with real ISDN (not X2). For this, there is no substitute. ISDN also gets you a second phone line. 3) MIS also has basic internet classes roughly every two weeks. We have a schedule in our office window, and on our www.midcoast.com homepage. For those with small amount of computer or internet experience, who want to be more comfortable with the internet, you may want to participate in a class. 4) Want Free Access? Our service is worth every penny, but there are still ways to reduce or eliminate your bill. They are fairly easy ways, and some customers use this method to their benefit quite regularly. Sign others up. In the past, we've offered $5 credit for each referral by using our referral form which is filled out and returned with the registration form. We're making it better. Starting this month, we're upping the prize to one month of access ($20 credit) for each referral. Repeat: Fill out the referral policy on our webpage and get someone to sign up with it, and you will receive a generous credit of $20. Some other internet companies are fattening the wallets of advertising businesses. We're different. We'd rather contribute directly to our own customers by offering this generous credit for getting the word out about our internet network and service. Nearly three thousand satisfied customers is good word-of-mouth advertising that can't be beat. 5) Helpful tips. If you are having trouble with your computer (such as not being able to go anywhere on the internet, or other internet trouble), and it used to work, the easiest thing to try is to shutdown your computer and start it up again. Sounds simple. It is. If you try the simple stuff before poking around in the more complicated settings of your computer, you might save lots of time. (I am speaking from experience) Looking for more speed (on or off the internet). If bringing up webpages or running other problems makes your hard drive work hard, you might need more RAM in your computer. Most modern software requires more RAM than most systems came with a year or two ago. A $75-$150 upgrade (some tiny circuit boards and some labor), can potentialy double the speed of your computer if it's more than a year old, and it only takes a few minutes. Many serious computer buffs know how to do this, or you can take it to one of several local businesses which are very experienced and efficient with upgrades. For PCs, Rockbound Computer in Rockland (596-7803), and The Computer Connection in Damariscotta (563-3098) can do this.