LONGVIEW — The Port of Woodland is moving forward with a $1 million plan to bring high-speed internet and better cellphone coverage to rural communities in southeast Cowlitz County.
Port commissioners voted unanimously April 19 to direct Executive Director Jennifer Keene to begin applying for federal and state grants to fund the project.
Under the proposal, engineers will work with the Cowlitz PUD to place 28 miles of fiber line on 500 poles along state Highway 503 all the way to the Cougar.
First proposed in June 2016 by Commissioner Paul Cline, the dark fiber plan was initially considered a long-term project. But with the port’s acquisition of 153 acres at Austin Point facing a legal challenge by Columbia Riverkeeper, the port is pursuing the dark fiber project first.
The port initially completed a feasibility study along two routes. It determined that the Woodland-to-Cougar route offered the greatest return on investment. The route would also serve a larger population of residential, commercial and governmental needs, according to the study. A second route tracing the Columbia River could be added later.
Woodland port officials worked with other officials from ports in Ridgefield and Whitman to model the project after similar dark fiber installations in those communities.
The Legislature appropriated about $15 million for rural broadband improvements during the recent legislative session, and the project should also meet federal grant guidelines, Keene said.
A project timeline will be established once funding is secured, she said.
Keene said many households and businesses in Cougar and along state Highway 503 only have dial-up internet and lack cellphone service.
Small businesses struggle to process credit card payments, and entrepreneurs struggle to run websites from their homes, Keene said.
“A lot of people there struggle to watch a simple YouTube video,” she said.
Keene said Cowlitz-Skamania Fire District No. 7 officials have also told her that lack of cell coverage is a public safety problem.
“You have people get up there who are climbing the mountain and driving around using U.S. Forest Service roads, and it’s very unsafe,” she said. “They can’t find people because they can’t ping their location, let alone can they call to get help.”
The new dark fiber line would change that by adding 244 strands, with each strand representing a potential lease to an internet provider such as Comcast or cellphone service provider such as AT&T.
The port would lease the lines to providers, which would in turn use the lines to provide enhanced access to businesses and homes. Companies could also use the fiber strands to establish cellphone towers.
Revenue from the project will go to other capital projects and be used to further reduce property taxes, Keene said.
