Marty’s photo of the day #4427: One of the disadvantages of living in the mountains of Montana is that reliable internet service is difficult to get. When Deb and I built our house, in 1996, we picked a spot on a ridge where we would have to cut down the fewest number of trees. That makes satellite internet service impossible, as those providers have their satellites so low on the horizon that a straight shot would require us to cut down some of our great old lodgepole and ponderosa pines—and we just won’t do that. Also, cell phone service where we live hasn’t been decent until the last few years.
Fortunately, our tall house sits on a ridge and was positioned perfectly for Speedconnect to beam internet from Missoula, 45 miles down the Bitterroot Valley, and hit an antenna atop the roof of our house. Speedconnect’s service was inconsistent and only marginally reliable, but it was a hell of a lot better than dial-up. We used that antenna system for more than fifteen years.
In the meantime, I owned Essen Communications Corporation, a telephone company that utilized CenturyLink landlines and serviced landline and DSL internet customers all over Montana. Despite that, we couldn’t give ourselves DSL, because we were too rural for that service! Even so, I lodged multiple requests and even grumbled to the Montana Public Service Commission that not providing us with DSL was an “uncompetitive practice.”
As time passed, three things happened: Speedconnect put a tower in the Bitterroot Valley that reached our house with a different system that allowed us to remove the antenna from our roof. That service was still mediocre, however. I shut down Essen Communications Corporation, after 19 years, so Deb and I could concentrate on pursuits we enjoyed more. And finally, my long ago request for DSL came through. Despite our remote location, CenturyLink buried fiber optic cable partway up our little private road, allowing us to get DSL service.
At that point, DSL (which is fast enough for streaming, but not screaming fast) became our primary internet service. We still kept Speedconnect as a backup provider, as Deb and I both do speaking engagements via Zoom and can’t risk losing internet—even for a minute.
What does all this have to do with the photo of the osprey? Earlier this month, we lost our Speedconnect backup service for good. A pair of ospreys built a nest in the Speedconnect tower, and when a piece of their equipment broke (again!) their technician was prohibited from climbing the tower to make the repair. At that point Speedconnect essentially said, “Fuck it! We’re pulling out of the Bitterroot Valley!” I didn’t believe their claim, so I hiked out to their tower to confirm and shot this photo while I was there.
So now, our improved, but still spotty, cellphone service will have to become our back up, as there is literally no other internet option that can reach us through the trees. And our trees will always take precedence.