Four-Year Fiber Expansion Work Plan
Chances are, you or someone you know has asked about getting PUD 3 fiber to their home. You’re not alone; PUD 3 has been receiving requests for fiber-to-the-home connections for about 20 years! Over the next four years, the size of our network will more than double. Here’s how we’re going to get it done…
Telecom’s (estimated) 4-year work plan can be found on the outage center wall in the Engineering room.
CERB Rural Broadband
Over the last year, we applied for and received two rounds of funding through the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) for their new Rural Broadband Program. The total amount of funds is approximately $2.8 million, half grant and half low interest loan. Altogether, this will build a fiber-to-the-home network to over 1,200 homes and businesses in rural Mason County that do not have broadband service today. These customers will be treated exactly like our Fiberhood program: active connections will pay the Construction Adder ($25/month for 12 years) to recover the loan costs and match requirements of the project. We have four years to complete all of these neighborhoods, which will take close coordination between engineering, purchasing, operations, and telecom. I believe we’re up for the challenge!
CERB Neighborhoods
Round 1 Areas
Southwest Mason County - Ripplewood, Fish Hatchery, Ford Loop Road, Satsop Maple Glen, Haven Drive, Schafer Park, Matlock-Brady Road, Middle Satsop Road, Satsop Road, Lillie Road
Tahuya Peninsula - Tahuya River Valley (TRV: Tahuya River Dr, NE Snowcap Dr, Waterhill, etc.), Haven Way, Lake Christine, NE Park Lane
South Island Drive - on Harstine Island, including Chapman Road.
Island View - in Grapeview, including Orchard Beach
Round 2 Areas
Phillips Road - off of Lynch Road, including Windsor Crest, Ashley Rd, Dusty Ln, Home Port Ln, Willow Ridge Ln, Majestic View Dr, Connections Ln
Panther Lake - TriLakes, including Bear Creek Dewatto Road to Panther Lake Road
Tiger Lake - TriLakes, including Tiger Lake Rd, Tiger Mission Rd, Dogwood Rd, Laurel Rd, Dale Dr, Tiger Way, Mountain Lake Dr, etc.
Mission Lake - TriLakes, including N&S Mission Road, Ridgecrest Dr, Diagonal Dr, Mission Lake Shore Dr, Critter Creek Ln.
Dana Drive & Brisco Point - on the southern tip of Harstine Island, including Dana Dr, Squaxin Dr, Camus Dr, Peale Dr
Totten Shores - off of Lynch Road, including Totten Shores Dr, Somers Dr, Tottlyn Rd, Johns Rd
What’s the Construction Process?
Building a fiber-to-the-home network isn’t as simple as just hanging fiber on the poles. We have a four-step process that ensures we are building a sustainable network that’s future-focused. We are also looking out for opportunities to perform maintenance on aging electrical infrastructure, and ensuring we are in compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC). Each of these steps are performed for each of the neighborhoods listed.
Electrical Make-Ready Engineering - An engineering designer (often, Mike Dahman) will get a designated service area from telecom. He will use a device called the “IKE” to identify existing equipment on the poles and clearances between the road and the energized conductors. He’ll also evaluate the area for pole health and other potential issues. He’ll write up work orders to have operations either replace or re-frame poles.
Operations Make-Ready Work - Line crews (and sometimes dirt crews) will perform the work called for on the work orders. This will provide a clear work space on the poles for the fiber to be installed and worked on. In some cases, we’ll replace older power lines that were buried directly in the ground with new lines in conduit. We always place an additional conduit for future fiber when working on underground utilities.
Telecom Network Design - While engineering and operations are working on the make-ready work, telecom engineering will identify locations for distribution huts that will serve the area, create network designs of fiber counts and layout, and assign each parcel to an RC “ready-to-connect” terminal. This ensures there is enough capacity to serve all existing customers, with an eye towards future growth in the area.
Telecom Contract Construction - Once the make-ready for each neighborhood is complete, our purchasing department will conduct a competitive bid process for an outside contractor to perform the work of building the RC network based on telecom’s design. When the low-responsible bidder is selected and the contract is awarded, the actual fiber network construction can begin.
Once the network is complete in each Fiberhood, telecom sends the customers a welcome packet that includes a construction application. This is to connect the fiber from the RC network at the street to the home. Telecom engineering designer, Stan, will often meet with a customer on-site to establish this path and walk them through the process. Our communications technicians perform this fiber connection on private property.
What’s the USDA RUS ReConnect Program?
For many years, PUD 3 did not qualify for federal broadband assistance programs. Through our efforts locally and in Washington D.C., local governments that are restricted to wholesale-only (Washington PUDs), became eligible to apply for ReConnect funds… so we did!
Our application was submitted at the end of May 2019; we don’t expect to hear if we were successful until later this summer. If we are successful, we’ll bring fiber to 250 additional homes in the Three Fingers area of Grapeview: Stadium Beach East & West, Fox Run Ln, Leffler Loop, and Wilson Way. This entire area has underground power, and most of it is direct buried in the ground. Our application through the ReConnect program includes engineering support, heavy equipment operator support, and a new directional drill. We’ll be able to replace the power lines at the same time, which adds to the value for the community. Just like the CERB programs, these areas would be considered Fiberhoods. If we are awarded the 100% grant, we will have five years to complete the project.
What about Fiberhoods?
Our Fiberhood program is going great! Collins Lake, Island Shores (Harstine Island), Little Nahwatzel, and Murphy Duramen (between Lake Limerick & Emerald Lake) are connected. Mandy Lane (near Island Shores), Grape Lane, and Zephyr Roos (between Benson Lake and Mason Lake) are under construction, and another handful of Fiberhoods such as Deckerville, Channel Point, and others are getting close to their goal of 75% commitment. You can see the list of available Fiberhoods and other program details at www.pud3.org/fiberhood.
What are the PINK DOTS? Go to CIS > Notes > (add) Telecom Inquiry to find out or add yours!
What else is Telecom up to?
In addition to the Fiberhood projects above, we’re also working on meeting our responsibilities through an interlocal agreement with Grays Harbor PUD to interconnect our fiber networks; we’re building fiber to many of our system monitoring and control devices for the new SCADA network under GridMod; and performing maintenance on the existing fiber plant by installing distribution huts, creating access points, and responding to customer requests for line extensions.
These are some of the additional areas where we are doing work to improve or extend the fiber network:
Island Lake Road - From Springs Rd to Island Lake (not including Beaumont Dr & Lilly Pond Ln); to replace damaged cable (rodent & car vs pole). This area was connected mid-July.
Arcadia Road - From Lagoon Lane to Lynch Road; to create a loop feed for the Totten Substation and Colo. We hope to have this area connected later this summer.
Harstine Pointe SOUTH - Nantucket, Cutty Sark, Barnacle Blvd, Liberty Road; Harstine Pointe Water & Sewer paid for a line extension to connect some of their system monitoring equipment for an upcoming compliance benchmark. We hope to have this area ready to receive customer applications later this fall.
Hurley Waldrip - Hurley Waldrip, Elk Ridge, Lambert Lane; to turn down the end-of-life 900 MHz wireless system and provide conduit for future power replacement.
Highway 108 - From Little Creek to the Grays Harbor county line; to fulfill the requirements of the GHPUD interlocal agreement.
Shelton-Matlock Road, Hwy 101 to Dayton Airport Road - Includes side streets that have overhead power; to connect SCADA equipment and to make progress towards an alternate route to the Matlock area.
Howard Cove - Howard Cove and the Harstine Bridge Area; to establish a master hut for Harstine Island and to connect a handful of SCADA reclosers and regulators on Harstine.
As you can see, there’s a lot going on in the world of Telecom these days! If you have any questions, feel free to come talk to anyone on the telecom team. Be sure to swing by to check out our (estimated) 4-year work plan, found on the outage center wall in the Engineering room.
Get Connected!
So where is the network available today? These are called our Ready-to-Connect areas and they include:
Businesses in Shelton, Belfair, and Allyn - We’re connecting businesses with available capacity, but residential customers in these areas are generally considered “already served”.
Port of Shelton - Sanderson Field & Johns Prairie Industrial Park
Northcliff - including Northcliff, Barnhard, Jones Ct, Elizabeth St, Sidney St, James Dr, Roy Blvd
Alpine Hill - behind Olympic College, including Lacrosse Way & Ct, Pershing Ct, Muncaster Dr
I Street - west of Monroe on Mt. View in Shelton
Island Lake - all the way around the lake
Lynch Road - Lynch Road, Hudson Road, Allen Road, Sells Dr, Bay East, High Rd, Low Rd, Bluff Loop Rd
Alder Road - off of Arcadia Road, including Alder Manor
Lagoon Lane - off of Arcadia Road
Morgan Road - off of Arcadia Road, including Wolden Rd and Skookum View Dr
Lake Nahwatzel - most of the lake, including Olympic View Dr, Morrows Ln, Little Nahwatzel (Fiberhood); NOT including Outlet Creek or West Nahwatzel Dr. (URD, no conduit)
Mary M Knight - near the school including Matlock-Brady Road, NOT including Forest Green Ln (URD, no conduit)
Matlock - near Matlock Store
Bucks Prairie - by the Buck’s Prairie Store and Fire Station
West Spencer Lake - On the boat launch side of the lake, only south of Spencer Glen to Pioneer School, NOT including Fredrick Dr (URD, no conduit)
Island Shores (Fiberhood) - on Harstine Island, including Plantation Way and Leaf Ln. NOT including Beach Shore Dr (URD, no conduit)
Woodland Beach - on Harstine Island
Emerald Lake - Emerald Lake Dr, Restful Rd, Leisure Ln, Carefree Court, Peaceful Place
Some areas of Lake Limerick (left side of Mason Lake Rd) - Parts of Ballantrae, Connemara Way, Ballycastle, St. Andrews, Penzance, and more…
Sherwood Creek - just south of Allyn
Collins Lake (Fiberhood) - on Tahuya Peninsula, including Mountain View Pl, Collins Pl, Sundown Dr, Creek View Pl, North Shore Pl, Pine Tree Ln & Pl, Hilltop Ln
Haven Lake - on the Tahuya Peninsula, including Haven Way & Pl & Ct, Rhododendron Blvd, Haven Lake Dr, Tahuya Blacksmith Rd, Vista Pl, Leahy Pl
Wooten Lake - on the Tahuya Peninsula, including Tahuya Blacksmith Rd, Mountain View Dr, Craig Sorger Ln
If you know someone who lives in these areas, be sure to let them know that they can get connected to some of the fastest internet available anywhere in the USA!