PEND OREILLE: Murray Announces Major Rural Broadband Grant for Northeast Washington State

(Washington, D.C.) – Today
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced a major federal grant of $27 million
to the Pend Oreille County PUD Broadband Network project to bring high-speed,
affordable broadband to underserved areas of Pend Oreille County in
northeastern Washington state. The fiber-to-the-premises network will deploy
approximately 526 miles of fiber-optic cable to deliver last-mile broadband
Internet services and facilitate critical network redundancy in this rural
area. The project plans to offer affordable, high-speed broadband access to as
many as 3,200 households, 360 businesses, and 24 community anchor institutions.

“This investment will
connect Pend Oreille families and small business owners to the critical
broadband services already available in cities and towns across the country,” said Senator Patty Murray. “In today’s economy, broadband access is no
longer a luxury, it’s a necessity A
community’s ZIP code should never limit its access to high speed internet for
local families and businesses. I fought hard to include rural broadband funding
in the Recovery Act because we need to make sure we don’t leave Pend Oreille or
any rural community behind.”

 The Pend Oreille County
PUD Broadband Network will also:

• Stimulate
  economic development and growth in this economically distressed, low-density
  area of Washington state by improving access to high capacity, affordable
  broadband services;
• Enhance broadband
  capabilities for health care facilities, higher education institutions, and
  government offices;
• Provide wholesale
  service speeds from 10 Mbps up to 1 Gbps to other carriers and service
  providers, and retail speeds of 1 Mbps to 1 Gbps to households, businesses, and
  critical community facilities.

 Senator Murray is a
longtime supporter of expanding broadband access to communities throughout
Washington state. Senator Murray has introduced and supported several bills
that aim to bring high-speed internet access to rural areas including the
Community Telecommunications Planning Act, the Broadband Internet Access Act
and the Rural Broadband Enhancement Act. She has also worked to include funding
for access programs in the Farm Bill and Recovery Act. Senator Murray has also
chaired conferences around the state, aimed at helping small and rural
communities take advantage of new telecommunications technologies.