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Fundraiser launched to get better internet access for Point Roberts

A Point Roberts man has started a gofundme page in an effort to get better internet access for the tiny U.S. peninsula just across the border from Tsawwassen. Bob Hillman started the fundraiser at: https://www.gofundme.
Point Roberts sign
A Point Roberts man has started a gofundme page in an effort to get better internet access for the tiny U.S. peninsula just across the border from Tsawwassen.

A Point Roberts man has started a gofundme page in an effort to get better internet access for the tiny U.S. peninsula just across the border from Tsawwassen.

Bob Hillman started the fundraiser at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/isolated-community-highspeed-broadband after he says the broadband internet connectivity, which is poor to begin with, has been slammed by the explosive demand created by COVID-19.

“According to the State and Broadband Now the average download speeds here average less than 8 Mbps! That's far below the State standard of 25 Mbps and the US Federal standard at 50 Mbps. According to industry sources and the FCC, Internet traffic is up 40 per cent as a result of our current national emergency,” he told the Optimist in an email. “Now with COVID-19 and the new realities of remote work, education and telemedicine this small community is really hurting and I've put together some of my resources and launched a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) to provide a minimum of 50 Mbps speed, low latency ad coverage across the entire land mass of Point Roberts. The network will be constructed and operational by mid-summer.”

He said the new facility will be state-of-the-art, super-efficient and will provide residents (year-round and part-year) and the public with much greater connectivity to support their remote work, distance learning and telemedicine.

“It will also provide the means to support their gaming and video streaming needs,” he adds. “Cottage-owners will have summer usage and ability to employ video doorbells or such for remote surveillance in the winter.

COVID-19 is today's problem and, while it will eventually be defeated, the costs and misery it is creating is likely to affect us all and have a long-lasting impact on all of our lives. This is a threat that has the whole population on the front lines and it demands our best, not business as usual. I for one will not wait for the government or our local telephone company to act.”