Skamokawa man aims to provide better local internet service

Skamokawa resident David Blalock is trying to form a business to provide high speed internet service to Skamokawa, Cathlamet, Elochoman Valley, and Puget Island.

He has started a firm, Smokey Waters Communications, and hopes to be serving customers by June 1.

"A hard date is not possible to pin down at this point," he said this week.

Blalock is looking for partners and/or customers to commit to the venture. So far, a half dozen have shown commitment. He added he'd welcome expertise in business and legal fields.

However, he figures he'll need at least 125 customers to get the project up and running.

" . . . if we don't get the minimum number of customers we need to make this boat float, this ship will never sail," he said.

Internet users in rural areas of the east side of the county are often frustrated with slow internet speeds, Blalock said. Customers relying on service based on telephone lines often find their speed dropping in late afternoon when more people start connecting. Telephone lines are often old and worn, and this slows service or adds interference that disrupts service further.

“Big phone doesn't allocate enough bandwidth to the area," Blalock said. "The more ways you slice the pie, the smaller a slice everyone gets. And they're not going to up our bandwidth allowance because every megabyte costs them money. It's far more cost effective to focus their network's capacity toward cities than rural areas.

"So, during peak use, service is degraded. And in some areas, there is no alternative service except dial-up over the phone."

Blalock said he has been conferring with the Northwest Open Access Network (NOANet).

"They are the company that put that fiber line down SR4," Blalock said. "They are a non-profit company that was started to provide broadband access to under-served areas, namely areas like us. They don't sell internet access directly to consumers; rather they sell bandwidth wholesale to local companies that service their local community.

"It looks like 100megs of bandwidth will cost $2500 a month. If I'm charging $20 a month like I've advertised, that means I need 125 customers to cover the monthly bill. Now 100 megs is more than enough to service 125 customers."

As Blalock understands Washington utility law, he'll be able to use existing phone lines to carry signals. They should have enough capacity to handle the bandwidth he plans to provide.

Blalock also has experience with this kind of system. While living in Portland, he served eight years as president of a neighborhood internet cooperative.