High-Speed internet grant will extend access into Gorge – Grants help rural networks

Washougal will be the gateway to ultra high-speed Internet access for libraries and hospitals in the Columbia River Gorge as part of an $84 million federal recovery act grant awarded this week to the Northwest Open Access Network in Washington.

Stevenson-based Internet service provider Sawtooth Technologies will receive $3.7 million of the Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program grant to lay 1-gigabit-capacity fiber-optic cable to rural Skamania and Klickitat counties in the next three years.

Building on a high-speed network under development for the Washougal School District, Sawtooth will lay new cable following Highway 14 east from Washougal and through the Washington side of the Gorge.

By Libby Tucker
Columbian staff writer

Full Story: http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/mar/05/high-speed-internet-grant-access-to-be-extended-in/

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Grants help rural networks

Port of Whitman, CdA Tribe get funds for broadband

The Port of Whitman County and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe are each getting federal stimulus money to provide fiber optic networks to businesses and residents.

The port’s $9.8 million award is part of a larger statewide stimulus pot of $84 million for broadband projects announced recently by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Tom Sowa The Spokesman-Review

Full Story: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/mar/06/grants-help-rural-networks/