Projects that will give Clallam and Jefferson counties a foothold in the future of high-speed Internet connectivity are expected to go online this summer, and no later than August 2013.
The Clallam County Public Utility District is hanging broadband fiber lines and antennas on electrical transmission poles from existing fiber in Port Angeles to Sappho and Forks.
A microwave system will be built, originating in Port Angeles and ending at Neah Bay, with a repeater site to be located near Clallam Bay.
All three sites will use existing buildings and towers, but the Neah Bay end of the project is being redesigned.
“There have been some challenges in the new design,” said Angela Bennink, marketing and outreach manager for NoaNet, the nonprofit open-access broadband network that is working in partnership with Clallam, Jefferson and 14 other public utility districts in the state to provide reliable high-speed connectivity throughout the state using federal economic stimulus grants.
NoaNet — which stands for Northwest Open Access Network — is a wholesale-only carrier that works with retail service providers to deliver broadband service to customers.
Bennink explained that the original design was to have two microwave dishes on Coast Guard towers in Neah Bay.
However, Coast Guard leadership changed there and the new administration objected to the size of the proposed dishes.
A new option is under consideration, she said.
Clallam PUD’s Sequim-to-Blyn broadband project, which was finished in April, includes some fiber lines and a new wireless microwave link across Sequim Bay.
The city of Port Angeles project will provide access to high-speed broadband on wireless infrastructure on existing city light standards and electrical system poles.
It is a dual-band wireless system that will support both a secure public safety network and a public access network serving a number of locations within the city limit.
“It is not economically practical to bring fiber to every home,” said Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher, who is overseeing $2.6 million federal grant-funded “mesh network” wireless system under construction inside the city limit.
The city already has more than 80 miles of broadband fiber in place, and wireless routers will, in effect, broadcast connectivity.
“It’s going to be a tremendous benefit to the public safety community,” Gallagher said.
“From our perspective, it brings huge efficiencies to our [communication] system.”
For example, he said, police officers now use a radio dispatch system that allows only one officer to speak at a time.
Wireless broadband will allow all public safety representatives to talk at once, plus use laptop computers at the same time anywhere in the city.
The Port Angeles wireless system is designed so if one router goes down, it will automatically reroute without interrupting the link, Gallagher said.
“All routers talk to one another,” he said. “If one goes down, the mesh figures it out and reconnects through another router.”
CPI of Port Angeles is installing the citywide wireless system.
Internet service provider OlyPen plans to charge between $17.95 and $37.95 per month for access, depending on speed, which will range from 1.5 to 6 megabits per second.
One-hour free access will be offered every day. Access also will be free for 24 hours 12 days a year. Those days are yet to be determined.
Jefferson County
The Jefferson County PUD’s broadband project under way includes about 46 miles of fiber installation as well as wireless facilities at several sites within the county that can’t be reached cost-effectively with fiber infrastructure.
The fiber-optic line installation includes 39 miles of installation on existing poles and about 7 miles of underground fiber construction.
The Jefferson PUD is working with a large group of stakeholders, including Jefferson County, the city of Port Townsend, JeffComm, Jefferson Broadband Coalition and private Internet service providers.
Jefferson and Clallam counties two years ago were awarded $6.5 million in economic stimulus grants that were given to rural communities nationwide.
The grants were backed by the Obama administration and announced by then-Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Locke, former Washington governor, is now the U.S. ambassador to China.
Jefferson County received a $3.2 million grant after forming the Jefferson County Broadband Coalition headed by the county’s economic development arm, Team Jefferson.
The grants were funded by the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, stimulus dollars to improve Internet technology in remote rural areas.
Jefferson County will be the first to receive connection and will include all libraries, schools, community centers, fire and emergency management programs, Jefferson Healthcare hospital, WSU and the city of Port Townsend, as well as county government and the Port of Port Townsend.
The coalition is made up of more than 20 government and business entities, including Jefferson County Public Utility District, the city of Port Townsend, the Port of Port Townsend, Brinnon, Quilcene, Chimacum and Port Townsend school districts, county and city libraries, emergency services, Fort Worden State Park, Jefferson Healthcare hospital and the county courts.
Bennink said crews from Pace Engineering have finished staking and are completing the detailed engineering for the fiber optic construction on state Highway 19 through part of Chimacum.
Jefferson County Public Utility District Webmaster Bill Graham said NoaNet and Jefferson County PUD have finalized a pole attachment agreement with Puget Sound Energy, the power system of which PUD will assume operation next year.
Work on Puget Sound Energy power poles for aerial fiber will likely not begin prior to September, Graham said.
The Peninsula was part of a broader effort involving $45 million in participant contributions and nearly $140 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal grants to construct more than 1,300 miles of new fiber-optic cable, delivering enhanced, affordable broadband service to 55 economically depressed communities encompassing 538,559 households and 103,230 businesses across 25 Washington counties.
NoaNet is installing infrastructure from Walla Walla to Neah Bay, and Bellingham to far Eastern Washington.
For more information, visit www.noanet.net.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
