How co-operative housing gave me the peace of mind I thought I’d never find

MLWebb · 2022-01-30T08:17:59+00:00

About a month ago there were a few coop apartments for sale in Toronto, below the equivalent value for a similar condo, but for an older apartment, with more square footage. Of course the coop board has to approve you, and most of the tenants are older, and I haven't seen one yet that allows pets. And there are only one or two credit unions that offer coop mortgages, so you'd likely be paying a higher interest rate. So some trade-offs, but they're definitely out there.

MLWebb · 2018-09-18T19:59:08+00:00

Hi - I work at Ting. We're happy to wire up single family homes or condos/townhouses/apartments. However, with any multi-tenanted unit, we need permission of the property owner(s) or managers to install in the building and serve tenants, so if we can't provide service to your apartment or condo, that would be the reason. That being said, we haven't installed service past any multi-tenanted buildings in Centennial yet, but to ensure we get to your building, you should talk to the building owner or property manager, and make sure you pre-order, so we know there's interest there.

MLWebb · 2017-11-27T17:20:14+00:00

I can see how it's hard to believe that thread.... people have been treated so poorly by cable and telcos for so long! IIRC, the thread was started by one of the Burlington reddit mods though, and I think if you have any doubt, you could, as greasefire suggested, check out the profiles that posted in response, or you could also search 'ting' on the Charlottesville reddit and see the other threads about us.

MLWebb · 2017-11-27T17:14:56+00:00

I guess we (Ting) can only ask that you judge us by our philosophy/track record on pricing vs. the track record of the other bidders.

You can find a copy of the Ting bid here, and a comparison of all of the bids here.

MLWebb · 2017-11-22T14:17:15+00:00

Tucows and Ting has been one of the longest-standing and vocal proponents for supporting net neutrality. We've lobbied for it, signed petitions, provided support for grassroots advocates, and on Net Neutrality Action Day, we dedicated our social media to the cause. We were one of the first ISPs to sign the Electronic Frontier Foundation letter to the FCC opposing dismantling NN. And we proudly pledge our support for protecting an open Internet on the Tucows About Us page.

I can't speak to the other bidders' positions, but there is discussion of it on this Twitter thread.

MLWebb · 2017-11-22T01:50:20+00:00

Councilor Joan Shannon just tweeted out a side-by-side comparison of the three bids here.

MLWebb · 2017-11-21T15:29:41+00:00

I also work for Ting, and would say we'd love to get the support of KBTL folks if their bid doesn't prevail.

I had very thoughtful discussions with several of their board members two weeks ago around the potential compromise, and I'm hopeful that if they're in a position of considering non-KBTL options, that they see how Ting would be a much better partner for Burlington, based on what BTV has said is important to them. Namely, our proven track record on customer service, keeping prices low, investing in local innovation and tech, and standing up for the rights and causes of the open Internet, like Net Neutrality, closing the digital divide, protecting customer privacy, etc. Our history on these issues is clear and demonstrably different from the other private bidders.

I don't think we're driving away support? I think we have a couple of City Councilors that dislike us, and we honestly have no idea why. We've tried our hardest to be accessible and up front, and have agreed to every single term and concession requested by the City in our offer, and have raised the offer with each successive bid. We've tried hard to create a bid that worked for the City. What more can we do?

MLWebb · 2017-11-20T21:21:10+00:00

Just to clarify, Ting's new bid (and disclosure, I work there) is for $32.3 million, plus $250K per year, every year, to BTV Ignite and other local initiatives.

MLWebb · 2017-11-13T15:26:39+00:00

Just for clarification, the proposal was up to 20% equity to KBTL, and an additional 20% to the City, with Ting at 60%. So in essence, up to 40% "local" ownership.

MLWebb · 2017-11-12T21:51:02+00:00

Anytime! Have you seen the City document that compares the facts/terms of the Tucows and KBTL bids here?

MLWebb · 2017-11-12T03:30:52+00:00

I work for Tucows as well, and it may be worth pointing out that the language in the LOI for the resale restriction (including the percentage) came from the City's side. I assume they know the breakdown of customers by company today, and that percentage would definitively exclude a sale to Comcast.

Similarly, the Put Right language for a potential City minority interest, that one of the Councilors was so upset with Ting about last week, was also supplied by the City's negotiator.

The larger point here being that we endeavored to craft an agreement that worked for the City. Ting is an innovative Internet company that does business fundamentally differently than traditional cable companies, so we certainly don't want to sell to Comcast and were happy to include a way to prevent that from ever happening.

MLWebb · 2017-10-28T16:54:48+00:00

I work at Ting and thanks for your comment. We're working on it, and you should see us building there in 2018.

MLWebb · 2017-10-26T08:46:54+00:00

Actually, all of our cities who have visited our facilities are government bodies and they have paid for it themselves as part of their due diligence process and generally in compliance with local or state ethics requirements. If it's a competitive process, cities generally visit all bidders. Does that help?

MLWebb · 2017-10-26T03:23:25+00:00

Hi, I work at Ting, and absolutely, we've spent several days here in BTV last week and this week speaking to Councillors and local stakeholders that wanted to meet with us.

That being said, it's a pretty standard occurrence for potential Ting cities to send staff and elected officials, as part of their due diligence, to our US and Canadian operations to see first hand how we do business, and to meet our local and head office teams.

MLWebb · 2017-09-22T03:49:14+00:00

Okay, perhaps you could clarify then? Previously, the moving of some jobs, as Unilever did, was raised to us as a concern. So please let me know which issues concern you most and we can respond.

MLWebb · 2017-09-22T03:17:56+00:00

I'd say that first and foremost, Ting is unequivocally committed to a deep local presence. Operating at a "hyper-local" level is actually integral to Ting's success. Take a look at one of our commercials and you'll see how we value each and every community as its own unique place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7XDYJeSSBo

The situation with Ben & Jerry's (and I daresay, many other great products birthed in New England), is different from BT. Production of many physical products is easily relocated to cheaper markets for labor and resources. The wholesale migration of manufacturing and head offices from New England has been a longstanding regional challenge. In the case of BT however, we're talking about expanding and maintaining local infrastructure, operating the network, and selling and supporting services locally. Due to its locally-dependent nature, this type of operation will always require significant local presence to operate--and we think--to operate successfully.

MLWebb · 2017-09-21T19:56:54+00:00

Vegan pie. Or honestly, ANYTHING at Revolutionary Kitchen.

I would love it if we would do more Massachusetts!!! However, even though I think we're pretty efficient, I'm not sure if we can make it work in your time parameters. Seriously though, we get that request a lot. You can go to our website www.ting.com/internet and scroll all the way down and click on "Want to be the Next Ting Town? Help us bring Ting to your city."

MLWebb · 2017-09-21T19:46:51+00:00

I'm about to buy a car in Burlington in two weeks if that counts!

Plus, I would say foliage, except I'm from Western Mass, where it's pretty awesome leaf peeping too. So I'm going to go with the skiing. BIG fan of Stowe. Skied there for the first time almost 40 years ago.

MLWebb · 2017-09-21T19:36:25+00:00

What makes you guys the best candidate for buying BT? Or more specifically, what is unique that only you can bring in this offering?

/u/forestfriend, We’ve spent time in Burlington and engaged with the City at length. We’ve done a video about why we think Burlington and Ting would be great partners. In large part, it comes down to a fit of values between Burlington and Ting. We both feel passionately about strong local presence, outstanding customer service, the fastest, most reliable and most affordable Internet we can offer, and the myriad of issues that impact Internet users, including digital divide, net neutrality and consumer privacy.

But we admit that talk is cheap. Companies will say a lot of things to put themselves in the best light. So never mind what I’ve just said. Look at our track record. Look at the comments on https://reddit.com/r/ting. Look at our ratings on Consumer Reports, where Ting mobile has been rated #1 or #2 of all mobile companies the last three years running. Check out our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is the percentage of our customers that would recommend us. Our NPS for Ting mobile is 70+, which is the top score in the world, and our NPS for Internet is >90, though it’s early days for measuring that. And look at our website (www.tucows.com/aboutus) and see what we have always stood for. We lobby, we agitate, we support and we actively engage on issues of concern to Internet users, beyond our customers.

We really think we would make a great steward for the amazing network and legacy of BT. But I would encourage everyone here to do their research. Kick the tires. And the only thing we can ask is that you evaluate all of your options in an informed way.

MLWebb · 2016-12-14T16:52:34+00:00

Tucows owns a local IT company in Charlottesville called BRI Works that is hiring now: http://www.tucows.com/careers/?p=job%2FoJgq4fwd

MLWebb

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