Low earth orbit satellite technology recommended for majority of county
The Washington State Department of Commerce and Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO) announced on Monday the names of businesses across the state of Washington whom they will recommend for funding through the Broadband Equity and Access Deployment (BEAD) federal program. None of the bids for fiber-to-the-home from Mason PUD 3 were accepted for the program, including one partnership bid with Hood Canal Communications.
Click here for Commerce’s news release on the BEAD funding.
For a majority of Mason County, WSBO recommended Space Exploration Technologies Corp (Space X/Starlink) and Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services for funding awards, both of which are low earth orbit satellite technologies. Both Starlink and Amazon submitted the lowest bids for services per location.
Although PUD 3 did not receive any BEAD awards, the utility will continue to pursue funding to expand their broadband fiber network to homes and businesses across Mason County. The projects currently underway will continue, such as those in Cloquallum Communities and the Three Fingers areas, which were previously partially funded through state and federal grants; along with PUD 3’s Fiberhood Program.
“Although we are disappointed that we did not receive funding, we hope that the awarded projects will serve as a stop-gap measure until each home is connected with a future-proof dedicated fiber connection on PUD’s open access public infrastructure,” CEO Annette Creekpaum said.
The Washington State Broadband Office will submit its list to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) by Sept. 4. Final determination is expected in December.