Helping KPUD help communities unserved/underserved

KPUD is working with Washington State Department of Broadband to secure (BEAD) funding to build out middle mile infrastructure to reach nearly 6,000 homes in Kitsap which currently have no broadband. Centurylink DSL does not qualify as broadband. KPUD needs ISPs on their network to commit to stable pricing, support for low income households, and reporting to the WA state BEAD coordinator.

The funds are coming from the Federal government; each state must distribute and prove that the funds were used to connect previously unserved people within a timely (less than 2 years) timeframe.

This is pretty exciting for us; it means we will see rapid growth in areas where it simply was impossible to build to in the past due to cost. We commited to not raise our rates beyond CPI-U (Consumer price index for urban areas) for the next ten (10) years. No other ISP will sign up for ten years; the requirement was five. We are in this to serve Kitsap residents for the long haul. We are not the cheapest on the network, that is because our fee is sustainable. We can sustain CPI-U increases as needed and preserve the stability of Net253, which means we preserve the stability of your amazing internet experience.

We tried to participate in the FCC Emergency Broadband fund, but the paperwork was so insane by the time we were registered the funding had already been announced to be phased out. This time, the BEAD coordinator is a WA state office, so I am hopeful we will have some sanity in governance.