Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Survey On Internet

The Prescott Community Freenet Association (PCFA) is asking users of the PCFA.ORG computer to complete a survey. The results of the survey will determine the future of the Internet access system.

"Since July 1995, we have been able to use the Internet connection furnished to the Prescott Schools by the Arkansas Public School Computer Network," said Danny Stewart, PCFA.ORG's system administrator. "The implementation of the new educational discounts on January 1, 1998, prohibit dial-up access for Internet service to the general community," Stewart added, "and that is exactly what PCFA.ORG does."

"The era for the free Internet access our users have learneed to enjoy is now ending. We are going to have to pay about $20 a month, which is about the same as the rest of the nation," he said.

PCFA.ORG users should check their e-mail and respond to the survey by Friday, October 31. The survey asks if the user would prefer to donate to PCFA $20 a month for three years or sign up without a long term commitment with the commercial Internet service provider selected by PCFA, also for about $20 a month.

The first option allows PCFA.ORG to stay "free" if almost every family using PCFA.ORG will contribute $20 a month. "I know that sounds like a contradiction," Stewart said, "but is essentially the same thing we do now except with more families contributing money."

Steward says it is possible to entice some business or industry to Prescott if the project cam remain a free network (freenet). The second option is to work with a commercial provider to come to town with a wider bandwidth connection in addition to local numbers.

"Our agreement with that provider will give the PCFA.ORG computer a free connection so that we can continue to develop resources for the community," Stewart said. "PCFA.ORG could probable give some severely limited dial-up Internet access."

The third option will happen if there is not enough commitment from the users to continue the service. "We'll go off line," according to Stewart, "and be back where we were in 1995."

In 1995, when PCFA.ORG started, there was no local telephone number to call for Internet access. Anyone wanting to use the Internet had to pay long distance changes in addition to monthly or hourly fees. PCFA.ORG changed both factors and in the process gained recognition throughout the area for its accomplishments.

"I know this is a big decision for a lot of families," Stewart said. "If the decision is yes, we must know by Friday. It takes about two months to get this kind of service into town and that's the maximum amount of time we have to make it happen."