Matthew Douglas - Broadband Manager, Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Public Utilities District (HVPUD)
Matthew Douglas
Matthew "Speygee" Douglas is the Broadband Manager for the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s Public Utilities District, served by Acorn Wireless. His journey has been centered around the Internet, with web development and information technology as a starting point for his career. Working at K’ima:w Medical Center in Hoopa, he maximized a 9 Mbps connection for 150 staff members, always looking for ways to increase capacity.
When the Hoopa Tribe formed their COVID-19 Response Team, Douglas was asked to be the Public Information Officer. He created a website, podcast, hotline, flyers, and a radio spot to continuously disseminate updates to the community. Looking at the analytics of each channel, he quickly realized that they were not getting close to the views per capita that would qualify for meaningful communication (~10% of the population). It was apparent that the community needed enhanced connectivity.
He then assisted the Tribal Council in creating a broadband effort under the Public Utilities District with an initial investment of 2 million dollars. The Tribe now has a WISP with ~200 homes connected. The goal for the future is a 100-mile fiber-to-the-home project with multiple paths to the Internet for increased reliability. Bio from cenic.org
