— by Chris Brems —
An aerial view of DBIUA’s current wireless Internet service in Doe Bay, with microwave connection from the mainland.
With reported download speeds of over 30mbps and upload speeds of 45mbps, all the benefits of high-speed broadband have become a reality for Doe Bay Internet Users Association (DBIUA) members.
“The fact that we can now actually watch an HD movie, without signal interruptions, is just amazing. Plus, sending and receiving emails with photographs no longer bogs down our computer,” said Bob Shipstad, Doe Bay resident and DBIUA member. “We certainly don’t miss seeing that little spinning ball on our TV or computer screen.”
“The service exceeds our expectations,” added Shipstad’s wife, Gael. “It’s put an end to our Internet frustration.”
With a $25,000 loan and many hours of volunteer work over the past few months, five Doe Bay residents – Tony Simpson, Shawn Alexander, Tom Tillman and Chris Brems, spearheaded by Chris Sutton – have brought highspeed broadband to the Doe Bay community. “This has been a total grassroots effort,” explained Sutton, DBIUA cofounder and board member. “We’re neighbors helping neighbors. The Doe Bay community repeatedly asked our local Internet service providers for better service; we received no solid answers or solutions. So, in the tradition of Doe Bay’s pioneer spirit, we rolled up our sleeves and did it ourselves.”
DBIUA’s service comes by microwave from the mainland and is delivered with wireless technology to members throughout the Doe Bay community. DBIUA’s service costs $75 a month with no cap on usage. The cost of DBIUA membership is $150 (refundable). Equipment cost is approximately
$125.
With a current membership of 25, DBIUA plans to keep its Internet service price at $75 a month for the next three years. After that, once its start-up loan is paid back, service costs will drop to the $50 to $60 range. “We have new inquiries every week. As more members join, our loan will be paid off that much faster,” said DBIUA co-founder Tom Tillman. “The Association is totally member-owned. It’s a nonprofit – no one is doing any of this to make a buck. Our goal is to provide a reasonably priced, stable Internet service to benefit our families, neighbors and businesses out here in
Doe Bay.”
For information or to become a member of the Doe Bay Internet Users Association, visit www.dbiua.org or contact info@dbiua.org
Many thanks to all who came together to make this a reality. We love our DBIUA service!
It’s been wonderful to be able to watch a 20 minute video in something less than the hour it would have taken in the past. Now it’s a 20 minute video in 20 minutes! Many thanks to the people who made this happen.
Thank you DBIUA team for REALLY delivering on the promises that you made. It is fantastic to have such fast reliable service. That you are all neighbors makes this collaborative effort all the more sweet. Doe Bay Men of the Year!
Kudos to Chris Sutton and the entire DBIUA team…the timeline from idea –> plan –> execution was truly impressive. Post launch support for us, in what is a logistically challenging part of the network, has also been outstanding. DBIUA has been, and continues to be, a terrific grass-roots case study and success story for neighborhood initiatives!
YES!!! The men of Doe Bay!!! (and the women!!!)
You put it together, we love it, and we thank you! You are making the internet possible for us! Merry
This was the only service available to us as Centurylink declined to provide internet, Hughes Satellite (after answering the phone “duud, How can I help you today maan”) wanted the price of ferry for the crew to come out and tell us if they could connect us, and OPALCO continued to promise “soon”. We have been very happy with the service and with the prompt, friendly, and informative responses from Chris as we connected first our yurt and now our new home.
This would be a good reason to move to Doe Bay and say good bye to CenturyLink once and for all.
I need to talk to DBIUA about better service at my home in Eastsound.
Who are those guys?