Council discusses AFN goals

Two months on the job, Joe Franell has a plan

By Vickie Aldous
Ashland Daily Tidings

The Ashland Fiber Network’s new leader has proposed a set of goals for the city service.

The first goal is to regain and then maintain the health and reliability of AFN’s infrastructure, Ashland Information Technology Director Joe Franell told Ashland City Councilors during a Thursday night meeting to discuss AFN goals.

Since taking the job two months ago, he has said investment in AFN’s infrastructure has been neglected.

As another goal, Franell is working on plans to maintain AFN’s existing Internet customer base.

“I’ve met with all the ISP (Internet Service Provider) owners or their representatives to make sure we come up with a strategy to ensure that,” he said.

The city council recently decided to phase out AFN’s money-losing cable television service over an approximate six month period while retaining high-speed Internet service. That has caused some residents to worry AFN could lose Internet customers if other companies offer special Internet and cable television package deals to AFN customers who are looking for a new television provider.

Franell said his third goal is to increase AFN’s customer base by offering new services.

In the long term, he said he would like AFN to operate at a profit. That revenue could then be reinvested in technology for AFN, used to help pay AFN’s $15.5 million debt or spent on other city priorities, according to Franell.

City Councilor Russ Silbiger said he would like Franell to develop a business plan for AFN. The organization has had a series of business plans since its inception in the late 1990s, but has failed to meet many of the targets set in those plans.

Franell said there is a danger in creating a plan that sets targets that are unrealistically high, but at the same time, a plan that sets targets too low is of little use.

Councilor David Chapman said he would like to see AFN service extended to those areas of Ashland that currently cannot receive service.

“One of the goals of the department should be to provide service to everyone who wants it,” he said.

Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or vlaldous@yahoo.com.

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