ToledoTel Meeting With Winlock Citizens to Discuss Internet Options

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Residents in the Winlock area are tired of slow Internet, but many are hopeful an April community meeting with representatives from ToledoTel might lead to progress to improve the situation.

Michelle Conrow, who began the Winlock Needs Internet blog and Facebook group, said the meeting has two general purposes — for the community to express its interest and to determine if ToledoTel can potentially fill Winlock’s need.

The meeting with ToledoTel scheduled is for 6 p.m. on April 7 at the Winlock Community Building, 607 NW Kerron Ave.

Winlock City Councilor Tim White helped to set up the meeting.

White said he personally has poor Internet service, but got involved to get better service to make the town more appealing for economic development and attracting businesses and telecommuters to the area.

“As far as I believe, this could be a good economic opportunity for Winlock,” White said.

Dale Merten, ToledoTel’s chief operating officer, said a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant is the best option for ToledoTel to build out its fiber in Winlock, and the more support ToledoTel has, the better chance it has of being awarded funds.

He said the USDA offers about $30 million through its Community Connect grant program for unserved or underserved areas. However, agencies across the nation compete for a slice of the $30 million.

ToledoTel actually has had fiber in downtown Winlock for six to eight years, and the Winlock schools are also connected, but building that fiber takes money.

ToledoTel finished connecting every home and business in Toledo with fiber — offering 1 gigabit speeds — for $18 million at the end of last year.

The telecommunications company also recently completed laying fiber in downtown Morton and uses an antenna to provide wireless service to those customers who can see the tower. Merten said the 100 megabit service is limited to the city limits.

For the Morton project, ToledoTel is leasing fiber from the Lewis County Public Utilities District. The cost to build out the rest of the system and set up the antenna was “significantly less” than building fiber out through the whole town, Merten said.



However, many residents reporting poor Internet service live outside of the city limits, and because trees and hills can get in the way of a signal, a similar project in Winlock would likely only serve a portion of the city.

Winlock Mayor Lonnie Dowell said he is hoping for a big turnout at the meeting. He said as mayor he has to take care of the area inside city limits, but that it would be good to get ToledoTel to Winlock.

Merten said CenturyLink, the main provider in Winlock, is still an option that customers need to consider.

Conrow said citizens haven’t had much progress in getting improved service through the company. Residents have said they were told by CenturyLink that the system is maxed out.

The Federal Communications Commission is making efforts to improve Internet in rural communities and awarded CenturyLink money through its Connect America Fund Phase II.

The company received $24.4 million for Washington state, and $1.3 million to improve Internet for 3,800 locations in Lewis County specifically.

There are specific accepted areas where the funds can be used. Some areas surrounding Winlock are in approved locations. Unapproved areas are either served by another carrier or the cost-per-location is too low or high.

Conrow said over the past couple months the number of supporters of improving Internet service in Winlock has grown.

She has also been in contact with the office of Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, about the issue.

Residents of Winlock and citizens who live in the surrounding area, whether they have good or bad Internet service, are encouraged to come.

“We’re just trying to get everybody to come out to it,” Conrow said.

For more information visit winlockneedsinternet.com or email winlockneedsinternet@gmail.com