Fiber installation costs to increase

Internet service providers wanted six months

EPHRATA - Internet service providers are not likely to have a six month delay before being required to start paying new installation costs to connect to Grant County PUD's expanded fiber-optic network, PUD commissioners said Monday.

Two PUD commissioners said 90 days is the longest the PUD can wait to implement proposed higher connection fees.

PUD project specialist Warren Miller told commissioners about the group of about 20 providers he met with last week who were concerned about the proposal.

The providers told Miller they believed the fees would prevent customers from signing up for the service, but the providers would be open to a gradual increase, Miller said.

The increases are being looked at because the utility doesn't want to subsidize the fiber program. State law prevents public utilities from directly selling Internet, but Grant PUD is able to supply a fiber network area providers can connect to.

The PUD's fiber network is being increased over the next five years by adding 15,000 more connections. The fiber build-out was stopped for two years for more study on the matter.

New costs have not been officially set, but Miller mentioned providers' concerns on Monday regarding $200 or $300 for preliminary set-up costs.

The increase to current fiber customers is expected to be $2 per month, Miller said.

The proposed costs providers are worried about include installation fees for the necessary equipment at a customer's home or office called the gateway and VLAN (virtual local area networks).

Before the fiber build-out stopped two years ago, the PUD installed the gateway for free.

The providers also told Miller the PUD wasn't out of line with the rates for a gateway access fee, but the deadline of June 1 for implementation was too short, Miller said.

Installing the gateway requires someone with a two-year apprenticeship, which not all providers have earned.

"The guys that can do it now, are worried that the guys that can't do it won't do it," Miller said. "They want us to monitor the installation."

When asked by Commissioner Tom Flint, Miller said staff is working on a level of service agreement that would likely be between providers and the PUD.

The agreement would set the minimum requirements a provider would have to meet to connect to the PUD's network, Flint said.

Commissioner Terry Brewer said he thought the consensus of the commission last year was to reach a point where the system's operations and maintenance were covered and the utility wasn't subsidizing the fiber program, he said.

"I was not at all surprised by the revenue projections when they were brought to us," Brewer said. "For the residential increase, I think the value is there."

Regarding the providers, "if they can't manage their own business, they may be in the wrong business. I don't think it's without reason we're talking about these increases."

Brewer also said six months was too long to wait to implement the VLAN charges and 90 days is the longest the utility can wait.

Miller also said the PUD will need to spend some time with Grant County government and the Grant County Sheriff's Office to talk about what the county entities' plans are and what is currently being done with Internet services.

It was said at last week's provider meeting that government Internet costs could increase from $500 to $8,000, which is "not necessarily true," Miller said.

Flint said the utility needs to consider a stepped increase, but agreed with Brewer that 90 days to implement the changes was sufficient.

PUD Assistant General Manager Chuck Berrie said staff should present any changes to commissioners before staff speaks to the providers again. He also mentioned the possibility of a formal hearing before commissioners about the issue.