Utilities

I am feeling a little better about the utilities at Frisco Lakes. I
called CoServe which will supply electricity and natural gas. CoServe
is a co-op. I asked the representative why they were the sole supplier
of electricty and why the area was not deregulated. She said they had
an arrangement with Pulte to install the lines. Interesting! I got
information on the set up fees and deposits. She said the deposits
would be waived if I provided them with a credit reference letter from
my present utility. I called Entergy Texas as soon as I hung up, and
they are sending me the letter. I did not ask for what time period
CoServe would be the sole supplier.

I then called AT&T to find out about their Triple Pak which includes
phone, DSL and satellite TV for $84.93/month. First she looked up my
address. She said the reason that the website was saying that DSL was
not available was that they had never provided service in the area,
but from her maps it appeared that DSL would be available.

With Time Warner's RoadRunner I pay a monthly fee for the cable modem.
I do not own the modem. AT&T sells the modems. She told me it would be
$79.99 for the modem with a $12.95 shipping charge and then there is a
$40 rebate. She then told me that a WiFi router is built into the
modem. I said I already had a WiFi router that has a built-in print
server and told her how important the print server is. I have an old
Laserjet printer with a parallel connector that I attach to my WiFi
router. This allows me to move my notebook computer all around the
house and send things to the printer without the computer being
attached. She read the fine print and said printers could be networked
over ethernet. I explained to her I only have one computer on the
network and my printer is not ethernet enabled. Finally she told me
there was a standard DSL modem without the WiFi capability for $49.99.
That is what I need. I can plug that into my router and be back to
normal.

Then we discussed satellite TV which is from the Dish Network. She
said the satellite dish has to have a clear view of the southwest sky.
I told her Frisco Lakes is very restrictive, and I had read that the
little satellite dishes had to be installed on the back roof. My house
faces north so installing it on the south side should be O.K. You do
not have to buy the satellite receiver. They provide a receiver with
two tuners that allow two TV's to be simultaneously watching two
different channels. Their Triple Pak for $84.93/month includes 120
channels. She said a technician would come to the house to set up the
phone and TV service, but I would have to install the DSL myself.
There is a $49.95 activation on the TV and a $38.35 phone activation.
Then there is a $10/month rebate on the TV service for one year. Of
course taxes go on top of all of that. There is a 12 month contract on
the DSL service.

The Dish Network in the Triple Pak includes 120 channels. This does
not include any premium movie channels. After I got off the phone and
looked at the Dish Network website I realized that the 120 channels
does not include local channels. I found the section that discusses
local channels. Again I encountered the problem of the computer not
recognizing my new address. Finally I put in FM 423 and Lebanon Rd.
Then I got a list of the Dallas/Forth Worth Local Package. It costs an
additional $5.99 per month but looks like it would provide everything
I need.

These arrangements that Pulte has made with suppliers are beginning to
disturb me. They have Ranger American installing the alarm system. My
construction superintendent said I would void the warranty if I had a
company other than Ranger American provide the monitoring service.
There has been a discussion on this subject on the Frisco-Online
forum. Apparently Ranger American's fees are considerably higher than
other companies. My insurance company offers a discount with ADT. AAA
members get a discount with Brinks. The Frisco-Online forum people
seem to like a local company called Smith-Thompson that has the lowest
monthly charge of them all.

In addition Del Webb is installing something called Tubes in the Wall
in my house. This will allow their chosen exterminator to come to the
house and pump insecticides into the tubes without coming into the
house and spreading chemicals. This sounds like a good thing but again
I am concerned about how their charges will compare to traditional
exterminators.

The man from the landscaping company that Del Webb is using said they
would be offering 3 different lawn care packages but had not set the
pricing. From what I am reading on the Frisco-Online forum, there are
an abundance of people doing grass mowing in Frisco. Del Webb's chosen
company is going to be under pressure to provide affordable service.