Draft:Washington Broadband

Washington Broadband, INC doing business as Washington Broadband, is an American Broadband company based in Yakima, Washington. Washington Broadband is a Privately Held Corporation which is Yakima-based. Washington Broadband consists of four types of service.  Wireless Fixed Internet using Licensed and Unlicensed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) using licensed, and unlicensed spectrum. Cable Internet using a DOCIS 3.0 format, and Fiber Optic to the Home using GPon, and XPon format. Washington Broadband also has a sister company Washington Telco, LLC, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) licensed in Washington State as a Voip style of telecommunications company. Washington Broadband has been most proud to have built all technologies using their own funding, refusing to accept federal subsidies, or grants due to the many conditions the government places on Internet providers for taking those funds. This means that rural areas that have as few as 10 people per square mile have been extended Wireless and Fiber Internet privately funded to assure that government cannot intrude into clients Internet.  This company is building an estimated 30-50 miles of additional rural fiber to the home every year.   As most of the areas built have copper phone DSL with degraded lines, all areas that fiber is built has a far above take rate by customers switching over to gigabit speeds, usually for less cost than the very underperforming DSL Internet.

Washington Broadband, along with Washington Telco serve thousands of Yakima County residents, and is wholly owned by Yakima Businessman, Forbes Mercy who has provided services for 30 years, from Dial-up to now multi-gigabit speeds.

History

The operation began in 2001 strictly as Wireless with some leftover Dial-up customers from the original company Northwest Info Net which started the first local Internet company in Yakima, the Tri-Cities Washington, and Lewiston Idaho in 1994. In 2014 Washington Telco was born to deliver telecommunications along with Internet service.  In 2016 Washington Broadband purchased J&N Cable Yakima division adding 60 miles of cable running from the Nile Valley to the North Selah area.

The cable network was originally built as a one-way TV delivery network.  In order to provide two way DOCIS Internet, in 2016 Washington Broadband started to overbuild and supply gigabit service to make the cable network operational, and in locations where the cable quality was degraded, replace it with fiber to the home.

From 2016 forward ongoing construction with a self-building construction crew, and occasional hired Contractors have continued adding fiber to the home, and overbuilding their own cable networks.

The areas covered for the Wired Network of fiber and Cable are: West Valley (Yakima), Cowiche, Tieton, Naches, Gleed, and Selah.  The Wireless network, now upgrading to 100mbps download in accordance to new FCC standards, covers 250 square miles from Tampico, to East Valley (Yakima), and from Selah to Zillah, Washington.

Due to the local ownership, and service, Washington Broadband enjoys a churn rate of 1% with loyal customers passing on overbuilding corporations commonly funded by federal funding not being held accountable to overbuilding requirements or enforcement of those requirements.

Washington Broadband averages 12 Employees all locally in Yakima for full self-sufficiency for the construction of all networks used by the company.

References

• https://wabroadband.com