The following note from Ken Collins was posted on the MI Nextdoor and Yahoo mailing lists. If you are subscribed to one or both you can read them here:
Click here to view WAVE's subscriber plans for Port Hadlock. Our plans should be comparable. Click here to view WAVE's web page. Click here if you have comments/questions about this web page.
Ken Collins note
If you are frustrated with slow internet speeds, you have an opportunity to let WAVE know that you would be a potential customer and that there is an excellent business opportunity for WAVE on Marrowstone Island. The person to contact is Michael Brown, mibrown@wavebroadband.com
Please act on this now. If we can get 100 to 200 people to send an email, I think WAVE will be persuaded to make the investment.
I was part of a meeting yesterday in Port Townsend with Mr. Brown that focused on improving broadband service in the downtown area, but it was a good opportunity to raise the issue of service to Marrowstone Island. It seems very clear that WAVE wants to grow its customer base and is willing to invest in extending the fiber optic cable system, which they are already doing in various parts of the county. As I have earlier reported, the PUD will bring fiber optic cable to the base of Marrowstone Island to connect its own switching equipment. If WAVE connects to this cable, they can then hang fiber optic cable on the utility poles and create a fiber optic backbone for the island to which we can be connected. We should then be able to get speeds of 10 Mbps over our regular phone lines, which would be more than adequate for streaming video and general household usage. If anyone needs greater bandwidth, they can have WAVE do a fiber cable to their home and get speeds between 50 and 100 Mbps, but this will cost more money for installation and monthly fees. Otherwise, the cost should be competitive with what we are paying now for terrible service.
I remain committed to helping resolve this problem. While there are several avenues to make this happen, working with an ISP like WAVE that already has a significant presence in the county seems like it would be the fastest and least expensive for island residents. This is the opportunity for you to advance the cause by adding your voice. Please email Michael Brown.
Regards,
Ken