Good news on PUD fiber- Wenatchee World article 10-2-07
WENATCHEE - Fiber-optics-starved residents of Plain, Lake Wenatchee and a
part of Entiat are scheduled to get Chelan County PUD fiber-optic service by
mid- to late 2008, PUD officials said Monday.There are about 2,500 potential
hookups in Plain/Lake Wenatchee and about 200 in Entiat, said John Smith,
the PUD’s utility services director of engineering and technology.Smith told
commissioners that people who live within the first seven miles of the
25-mile Entiat Valley should have fiber service available by mid-summer.
Residents of the Plain and Lake Wenatchee areas, in or near Chumstick
Canyon, will have service by summer or late fall.Fiber to Entiat Valley’s
remaining 18 miles - or about 400 potential residents - will require
additional equipment that won’t likely be installed until 2009, Smith said.
The PUD has shifted its fiber focus to rural communities because
Commissioners in June directed PUD staff to focus on rural areas, even
though it meant waiting longer for the service to break even..Fiber is
already available in the county’s densely populated areas.Residents of
Plain, Lake Wenatchee and Entiat have been among the loudest to clamor for
fiber. They have no other access to fast Internet service.
Customers on the PUD fiber network can subscribe to Internet, cable TV and
telephone service by contacting local service providers. Smith said PUD
officials will ask commissioners in the coming weeks to divert $750,000 from
next year’s budget to allow crews to begin installing the fiber system’s
backbone or main infrastructure in Plain and Lake Wenatchee this year,
before winter. If commissioners approve the funding, residents of those
areas should be able to hook up by next summer. If not, they’ll have to wait
until late fall of 2008, Smith said.
Christine Pratt: 665-1173
pratt@wenworld.com