Washington State neighborhoods to get broadband

NoaNet (Northwest Open Access Network) is going to lay over 1,000 miles of fiber to bring broadband to rural areas that do not have access to any broadband services. NoaNet is a wholesale communications company that is set up as a non-profit.

NoaNet received $140 million in federal stimulus grants.  The total project cost is expected to be $183 million.

In the last fiscal quarter, over 50 jobs have been created.  NoaNet expects a lot more jobs to be created through the next summer to ramp up installation for the project that is expected to take three years.

Greg Marney, the CEO of NoaNet said “This broadband initiative will create immediate jobs during construction and attract economic investment to rural areas that have struggled from limited access to broadband.”

Some 170 rural towns will receive broadband.  This includes over 2,000 public institutions such as schools, libraries, health services, hospitals and emergency service groups.

Some of the areas being built up are Clallam County, Colville, Pacific County, and Walla Walla.

In the past, rural communities have had a hard time getting companies to bring them high-speed broadband services because there was no way for them to ever recover their investment in the infrastructure.  Now that the stimulus grants are providing some of the funds, most broadband providers are concentrating on construction in rural areas.