Straubmuller is president of the Pamlico Information Network Enterprise (PINE), the nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation behind PineLink, a wireless high-speed Internet service for residents of Pamlico County. Like many of PINE's volunteers, Straubmuller puts in long hours to connect his neighbors to the Internet -- all he wants is for the possibilities the Internet offers to be available to Pamlico County's businesses and citizens.
PineLink rose from the efforts of e-Pamlico, part of a statewide grass-roots effort led by e-NC to bring high-speed Internet services to all areas of North Carolina.
"We studied Pamlico for a year," said Jerry Prescott, an e-Pamlico and PINE volunteer, who is a member of PINE's board of directors. "We met with Sprint and Time Warner to see when they would bring service to more than just the businesses off the main roads. They said they had no plans to install high-speed broadband off the main roads, so we decided to create a nonprofit to do what the for-profit companies wouldn't."
Local students, especially Alex Goodwin, researched Internet options. Retired engineers, including Dr. Robert Couranz, who joined PineLink just before the first site was installed, have worked to improve its design and reliability.
PINE Treasurer Bud Aldridge pointed out that fiber can't be put in the ground affordably for this particular application, "but you can do wireless."
In May 2003, PineLink started serving Oriental, N.C. PINE rented space for its first transmitter on a cell phone tower and began building two towers of its own -- one in Vandemere and the other in Dawson's Creek -- for two more transmitters.
At that time, PineLink had 30 community customers. Today it has more than 180 community customers and more waiting for service. The nonprofit operates a 24-hour hotline as well.
"I know at least three people on the wait list. Everyone wants it," said PineLink customer Julie Rahm, a partner with EagleForce Associates in McLean, Va., who works part time from her home in Oriental. "It is hard to imagine they do so much for so little."
Currently PineLink charges $24.95 per month for basic residential service (256 Kbps) to $64.95 per month for the premium business package (1 Mbps). The fees cover the basic cost of service and ensure service expansion.
"I am so thrilled and grateful that they're in town," said Rahm, a software developer. "They're the best game here when it comes to broadband."
All PineLink Internet service speeds are symmetrical upstream and downstream. The ability to download information as fast as she can upload it is particularly critical to Frieda Hudson, publisher of the Pamlico News.
Hudson and her staff download large advertising files for the paper in seconds -- an activity that used to take 10 minutes per file when she had dial-up service.
"Before, it would take me four hours to get the paper to the printer between sending and resending the different pages individually. I learned the hard way not to send files bigger than 1 megabyte," she said. "Now it takes me two to three minutes, and I can send the whole paper at once."
Hudson compares PINE to the rural electric and telephone membership cooperatives that brought critical services to rural areas when for-profit companies wouldn't.
"In the mid-1950s, there were parts of Pamlico County that didn't have electricity -- and wouldn't -- because we weren't a moneymaker," said Hudson. "A group formed and called themselves Tideland Electric Membership Cooperative, and they extended service throughout the area.
"PINE has done the same thing," Hudson continued. "They've formed a nonprofit and brought services to us that otherwise we wouldn't see for another 10 years."
Adding Exposure
Ten years ago, B&B Yacht Designs of Vandemere, N.C., was one of the first companies in its industry to have an online presence. Today the company conducts 90 percent of its business online, selling stock and custom plans for boat builders.
On its Web site, B&B can point visitors to an independent online forum created by customers and to the online journal of Joe Nelson, a B&B customer who asked the company if he could take visitors through the step-by-step process of building a B&B boat.
"The Internet has given us exposure that boat companies would kill to have," said Carla Byrnes, who co-owns B&B with her husband, chief naval designer Graham Byrnes. "Early on, people knew boats by their designers' names. Since the 1980s, companies have used teams of nameless designers. But the Internet has put Graham's name out there again. People know his boats by his name."
While dial-up worked for B&B for several years, the service had its difficulties and was relatively slow. With only one business line, it was impossible to be online and on the phone with a customer at the same time.
"For a small business, installing another phone line is a big expense," said Byrnes. "With PineLink, I can be talking to my customer while we're both looking at the same Web page."
PineLink's fast service is affordable because of volunteer drive and dedication, grant and loan money from e-NC and Pamlico County, and PINE's 501(c)3 status. The e-NC Authority contributed $263,000 to the project. In February, Pamlico County provided PINE with a $42,500 low-interest loan so the nonprofit could purchase additional modems and clear the backlog of customers.
"The installs will go quicker this summer with longer days and better weather," said Straubmuller as he assessed the work ahead. "We'll have another 200 people online by then."
