Asotin County Aims to Finance Fiber

Washington’s Asotin County Board of Commissioners and the City of Clarkston are prioritizing a 2018 budget proposal that will fund connecting to an existing fiber optic network.

Building Into the Future

The plan is to take advantage of the fiber optic lines laid by Port of Clarkston over the last few years. It’s estimated to cost around $50,000 and will connect the municipalities remote central management systems such as city hall, police and fire agencies, community services building, and the county jail.

Beyond better connectivity, the fiber will provide a more reliable level of security for all the connected municipal entities while providing a single countywide server for centralized storage and backups. Community leaders also expect to cut telecommunications costs because they will no longer need to pay for expensive leased lines from incumbent ISPs.

It’s unclear how much Asotin County and Clarkston will save on their internet service if they successfully connect to the fiber optic network. That said, the initial build-out costs to connect are substantially lessened, thanks to Port of Clarkston's recent fiber initiative.

A Fiber Loop Expands

This summer, Port of Lewiston and Clarkston settled on how they would connect their respective fiber networks, settling on the point of connection and the logistics for the conduit. Today both municipalities are offering dark fiber connectivity to community anchor institutions, local ISPs, and businesses.

Neighbor to Port of Lewiston and Clarkston, Whitman County has operated a similar network for over ten years. The three municipalities have formed a loop connecting Idaho and Washington state. With the possible entrance of Asotin County, the connectivity web in this pocket of the Northwest will expand even further.

Image of Asotin County map courtesy of Fred Smoot and the Washington US GenWeb Archives.