This week, like every week, has provided more fiber to the home build-outs, and increased speeds to the most rural Yakima residents. As newby’s to the field of fiber we are working on splicing, drops, and debating what we should charge for installs. Rural homes tend to be hundreds of feet from the road which adds an expensive variable from our standard installation price. One home installed today near the end of Thompson Rd. in Cowiche was 500′ from the road, and is about as rural as can be.

At the same time we have ran and lashed over a mile of fiber on Wide Hollow Rd. this week. There are four parts to building a fiber network; 1) Engineering, permits, and design, 2) Installing strand, trimming vegetation, hanging fiber, and spare loops for tension relief, and/or splice cases, 3) Splicing vaults, pedestals, and splice cases, and 4) Running drops for homes and businesses. Many people call us when they see our trucks running fiber, but realistically it’s still months until we can provide the drops and installation.

We are going as fast as we can, we realize you are suffering through Lumen (CenturyLink) or Ziply DSL, but don’t jump on the Starlink bandwagon. Half of those who have left us, even on our wireless network, have chosen to come back. Starlink’s network will continue to slow down with increased users, and their prices go up like Spectrum’s does. Waiting for our fiber is the best answer! Building is going a bit slower than we like, but we won’t take Government money with the many conditions they put on it. So our Wireless income pays for the next technology, just like Wireless was paid for by Dial-up customers. Always reinvesting to speed up our network is the goal to a fiscally responsible and self supporting network, at stable pricing, and management, employing local workers, we are responsible for millions of dollars back into our local economy.

Cowiche is currently installing fiber, Wide Hollow will likely be early Spring., and Naches this Winter.