MAIN now operated by Skyrunner.net

MAIN ceases business operations; web page to continue

MAIN has, for many years, sought to be a non-profit provider of Internet services to Western North Carolina.

Unfortunately, three intersecting trends hit MAIN hard:

• The spread of wired (and particularly, fiber) technologies into the metropolitan areas which provided needed revenues for MAIN through densely populated, and hence easier to maintain, populations
• The failure of anticipated technologies like 'white-spaces' to bear fruit within the expected cost parameters
• The failure of the economic recovery of recent years to lift the incomes of MAIN's client population

Due to these trends, which meant a slow decline in subscribers, MAIN was unable to replace aging equipment. After consideration, MAIN's board of directors realized that its only recourse was to turn over its network to a local provider which could provide a high level of service, satisfy its debts as best it could, and then cease to exist.

Thus, as of July 1, 2016, MAIN will no longer operate as a business entity. The web page will continue to operate as a source of progressive news, with a Facebook component, but all business operations have ceased. Thus:

• Your service will continue as normal, and all contracts and payments will be honored.
• The Board believes your service will improve, and plans are in the works to make that happen. Don Davis and the staff at Skyrunner are the best in the business.
• Florian Rumme, for many of you the 'face' of MAIN, will be working at Skyrunner, and so there will be someone at Skyrunner familiar with your set-up.
• For service calls, and payments, contact Skyrunner at skyrunner.net.
• Consider them, as a local provider, for all your local needs.

I would like to take a moment to thank you, MAIN's clients, for your support over these years. I would also like to thank, personally, members of our board and friends of MAIN over the years who have made a real difference. They include Ed Sheary, Patricia Furnish, Davyne Dial, Roger Derrough, Rusty Maynard, Paul Lundquist, and Donna Khan.

I have always thought English a little weak when it comes to formal farewells, and let me thus turn to French:

Espérant recevoir une réponse favorable, je vous prie d'agréer, mesdames et messieurs.

Mark D. West, Ph.D., Chairperson of the Board