Shinnecock tech firm joins Canadian company in broadband venture

An energy and technology company from the Shinnecock Indian Nation has formed a joint venture with a Canadian telecommunications firm to launch a broadband center to offer low-cost internet access, service and manufacturing, officials said.

Shinnecock-based Waa Nee Shee Energy LLC formed the venture in February with Mage Networks of Alberta to launch the center, which promises to share technology, manufacturing and workforce development as the partnership pursues broadband internet throughout the region, including beyond the Southampton reservation. It’s Mage’s first entry into the New York market.

Phil Brown, president of Waa Nee Shee Energy, said his hope is to bring the center to the nation’s territory and employ up to a dozen Shinnecock members to work there. He estimated the cost of the service at between $40 and $60 a month. Brown also serves as housing director for the Shinnecock Nation, which is not affiliated with his private company.

The venture would make Waa Nee Shee Energy an internet service provider, or ISP, integrating equipment for use at some of the more than 700 homes that could sign up to receive the signals with tribal government approval, which remains pending. Brown said the plan, which still requires initial grant funding of about $500,000, is to base the center on the nation's territory, but eventually to offer the service to surrounding underserved communities.

The service also would operate as an intranet, linking Shinnecock members within the community, and provide for a range of telecom, internet and streaming services, if the Shinnecock government approves such a relationship.

It also would provide workforce training and employment for both Shinnecock members and those from surrounding communities, Brown said.

Billing and back-office operations would be handled by Mage from its Alberta headquarters, said Ron Tabbitas, a partner in the venture at Selden-based Dynamic Supplier Alignment Inc., who has worked with the nation on housing initiatives.

Waa Nee Shee officials foresee construction of a 10,000-square-foot building on the territory to start operations and envision additional locations outside the reservation. It is partnering with Ignite Long Island, an industry group, to help secure funding for the operation, Brown said.

The Shinnecock nation has already been awarded a federal grant of about $8 million to bring high-speed fiber connections to tribal facilities and homes on the reservation. Brown said that with the new wireless internet service, the center could save the nation money by building out the fiber optic network and using Mage’s signals for wireless connections to individual homes without disturbing ground.

Jamie Moore, president of Ignite Long Island, said his organization will be reaching out to state, federal and Native American government sources of public funding to help get the center off the ground.

"It’s an ideal situation where if you make a smart investment you can bring generational change," he said. Securing funding sources is "not insurmountable. They’re in the right area for where people are looking to government" to make such investments.

Sayed-Amr El-Hamamsy, president and chief executive of Mage Networks, said the company already works with Canada’s First Nation native communities and is looking to expand into the American market. 

"Our whole purpose is to connect the unconnected and help the economic standing of the areas we go into," El-Hamamsy said. The company’s proprietary network technology stitches together fiber, satellites, cable and other wireless signals to deliver connectivity to areas that otherwise might not have access or have to pay higher prices.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.