Chelan County PUD adds to its fiber optic reach!

Posted on August 28th, 2008 by Al_Lorenz

The Chelan County PUD announced that they now serve over 25,000 homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Chelan County with fiber optic services. This is an amenity we often forget to mention to folks, that the latest in broadband services including video (television), internet and phone services are available to many areas in Chelan county reliably and at reasonable pricing. For many, such access is the key to being able to live and work in our area.

Here’s the announcement:

Chelan County Public Utility District announced today that fiber-optic access is now available to more than 25,000 homes, businesses, schools and hospitals throughout Chelan County, a rural county in north central Washington state.

The District began construction of the fiber network in 1999 and the work continues. The plan is to bring fiber access to 95 percent of the public utility district’s (PUD’s) home and business customers, about 40,000 premises by 2012.

In 2008, the District increased building to the more remote areas of Lake Wenatchee and Plain, north of Leavenworth in the east foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Total capital construction on the wholesale fiber network throughout Chelan County is expected to be $12.5 million for 2008.

This innovative fiber-optics network showcases a collaborative effort by public and private entities to construct and maintain this rural community network that covers 3,000-square-miles.

Seventeen retail service providers offer a competitive choice for high-speed Internet, television and telephone service over the District’s fiber network. So far, more than 7,500 end-users have taken advantage of the access to connect to the network through authorized retail fiber service providers.

Chelan County PUD serves about 43,000 customers, providing essential utility services including affordable electricity, water and sewer. Now, through local service providers, it also offers affordable, wholesale fiber-optic telecommunications services.

For more information about the PUD’s fiber network and for a complete list of service providers, visit www.chelanpud.org/fiber or call 509-661-4151.