Bringing High-Speed Internet to Douglas County
Douglas Fast Net (DFN), a subsidiary of Douglas Electric Cooperative in Roseburg, Oregon, has been delivering reliable telecommunications services to Douglas County since 2002. As demand for high-speed internet grew, DFN recognized the need for a more efficient and scalable network solution.
For years, DFN operated under a traditional broadband model, relying on multiple backbone providers. This approach required paying multiple vendors for transport and maintaining expensive routing equipment at peering facilities in Portland and Seattle—far from the communities DFN serves. While this model was common for rural networks, it presented challenges in cost, reliability, and performance.
“We’ve struggled to reliably serve high speeds rurally. If you are out here, you know there is a huge demand for connectivity.”
— Todd Way, General Manager of Douglas Fast Net
To improve network performance and reduce costs, DFN adopted a more strategic approach. Instead of continuing to expand its vendor list, DFN consolidated services with a single provider: LS Networks. This shift allowed DFN to enhance redundancy, streamline operations, and deliver faster, more reliable internet service to its customers.
“We’ve struggled to reliably serve high speeds rurally. If you are out here, you know there is a huge demand for connectivity,” said Todd Way, General Manager of DFN. “We provide connections and access to information for home schools, health clinics and small businesses. We see what an important difference good network access makes in our community.”
DFN found a way to transform connectivity with greater redundancy and lower cost. Instead of the traditional approach of adding vendors, the company consolidated to a single vendor: LS Networks.
