PUD expands fiber to MarDon area

MARDON RESORT - If you happen to see men and machines installing fiber optic lines in the MarDon area, that's the Grant County PUD expanding phone, TV and high-speed Internet availability into small and rural communities.

According to PUD publicist Thomas Stredwick, the PUD just completed the Knolls Vista area of Moses Lake and is working in the Mae Valley and MarDon areas. The PUD anticipates having Mae Valley done some time in September and the MarDon area done in late 2013 or early 2014.

There is no cost to bring fiber to a property, Stredwick said. The only cost homeowners incur is when they contact a service provider to get a gateway box connected to the home.

"The fees associated with this would be something to ask one of the local service providers," Stredwick said.

Normally, homeowners can refuse the service, Stredwick said. If refusal would prevent neighbors from having access, the PUD would utilize easements that are in place.

"Typically, if a customer was not interested in us bringing high-speed internet connectivity, we would just stop at their transformer," Stredwick said.

According to Stredwick, the PUD will repair quickly any damage caused during installation. He said damage is avoided by requesting locate services, which the PUD provides when someone calls 811.

"All locate services are done by our crews. So we know where underground utilities are located," Stredwick said. "Some utilities, like irrigation, are a bit more difficult to identify. So we work with the irrigation district and the homeowner to be sure we do not disturb any of those buried pipes."

According to Stredwick, the work at MarDon is bringing a state-of-the-art high-speed fiber optic network to assure that people who live here have access to the best Internet, television and telecommunication services available.

For fee information for services available on fiber, homeowners will need to contact local service providers. The PUD does not bill the customers for monthly fiber service.

Whether a homeowner needs to modify wiring to accept fiber is a home-by-home matter. This, too, would be a question for a service provider, Stredwick said.