POMPEY, Calif. (UPI) -- A man living in rural central New York said he was told by Time Warner Cable he'd have to pay $20,000 in installation fees if he wanted broadband Internet service at his home.

Jesse Walser, of Pompey, N.Y., said he built his home about 20 miles outside of Syracuse, N.Y., and 150 feet from a road with a cable line about 10 years ago.

"I didn't think it would be that difficult, because the cable was on my road," he told Ars Technica. I have phone. I have electricity. It's not completely Green Acres.

At the time, Time Warner Cable told him it would cost about $5,900 to extend a cable line to his house for Internet access. He opted out and instead first used a dial-up connection, then a cellular hotspot plan capped at 20GB of monthly bandwidth.

Recently Walser reconsidered the Time Warner option, only to learn costs had gone up — way up. The cable provider now says he'd have to pay $20,330 for aerial design, strand and hardware, splicing and electronics, and coaxial construction. He'd then have to pay a monthly bill on top of that.

"In cases where residents live in an area without access to services, Time Warner Cable and all service providers adhere to a formula regulated by the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) to determine if delivering our services to the location is economically feasible," Time Warner said in a statement. Our goal is to provide our services to as many residents who request them as possible, so we also survey areas that fall beyond the PSC requirements.

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