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High-Speed internet grant will extend access into Gorge
Mar 05, 2010 (The Columbian - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
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.
The network will be connected to regional and statewide hubs to bring advanced telecommunication services to the area.
"We'll be able to send (broadband) traffic from the Columbia Gorge through the fiber into Portland to give a completely new route for data," said Brian Adams, manager of SawNet, Sawtooth's Internet service.
The service will initially link all of the area's hospitals to create telemedicine services that allow rural practitioners to share information and resources.
Private, "last-mile" service providers will then have the opportunity to provide wireless or fiber-based connections to homes and businesses.
Sawtooth's goal is to eventually expand the fiber-optic backbone to libraries, community colleges and hospitals throughout Clark County, so that rural hospitals will have a direct connection to resources in Vancouver and Portland.
"A person's ZIP code should never limit their access to learning, high-quality health care or a chance to grow a small business," U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. "Broadband access is no longer a luxury, it's a must. ..."
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