It’s the internet ‘dark ages’ in large tracts of Pierce County. Leaders hope to change that
Four days to download a video game. Forced to walk to the neighbor’s for WiFi. Streaming movies using cell data. Children doing homework in a Burger King parking lot for internet access.
Not unusual for some areas of Pierce County, like the Key Peninsula.
“We had absolutely no idea that we were moving to the dark ages,” Kathleen McWalczak, who lives in Lakebay, told The News Tribune.
An audit commissioned by Pierce County earlier this year concluded that internet speeds are about a third of what service providers said they would deliver in many areas, meaning consumers are getting much less throughput than they’re paying for.
Internet access is as crucial as access to education, water, sewer and electricity, the audit said, but bandwidth on the Key Peninsula and in Frederickson can drop to as low 1.5 megabytes per second, much lower than the national standard of 25 mbps.
The County Council passed a resolution recently that creates a broadband strategic plan, which will start a conversation with broadband providers, businesses and the community within the next 90 days.
Councilmembers also are talking about creating at least two positions — a consultant to review policies and regulations, and a strategist — to address broadband issues.
Advertisements for the jobs should be out in following weeks as the government starts to change policy and regulations like zoning codes to allow for the county to lay conduit, Council chairman Doug Richardson said.
The goal is to incentivize competition for better internet at better prices, said Councilman Derek Young, whose district encompasses Key Peninsula.
“We think what’s available now is hurting our constituents, and we are going to push for this,” Young said.
Meantime, CenturyLink, the main internet service provider on Key Peninsula, said “significant investments” are being made “to bring broadband access to every corner of our service territory where it is feasible.”
‘Terribly frustrating’
Access to the internet in rural areas across the nation is growing.
The federal government announced this month that it is spending $524 million on broadband initiatives in sparsely populated regions. The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, called high-speed internet access a priority.
The southern stretch of Pierce County has access to fewer than two providers on average, according to a national broadband dataset.
As technological dependence increases with 5G wireless deployment, including sensor networks, smart-home applications and autonomous vehicles, the need for better high-speed internet increases, according to the Pierce County audit, which was prepared by Magellan Advisors at a cost of $83,000.
Jim Pessolano on Fox Island isn’t getting any internet.
Pessolano and his family have canceled Netflix and other streaming services because they can’t get them to load. Pessolano can’t watch his beloved Red Sox, nor can his wife stream her mystery shows. If he wants to watch a movie, he has to choose from the ever-dwindling choices on-demand, which isn’t always a guarantee on satellite.
“I get that we are living in the country, but it’s not like we have outhouse,” he told The News Tribune.
CenturyLink has told him it doesn’t have enough bandwidth to support his home with services, and Comcast has said it does not have infrastructure in his area.
Pessolano said Comcast told him it would split the $50,000 fee to dig a trench, install the cable and provide broadband service.
“I’d go buy cable, and a neighbor and I talked about renting a trencher to do the work ourselves,” he said.
For $80 a month, only one device can be streaming at a time for Sue Woolsey, her husband, the landlord and the landlord’s son, who live on the peninsula southwest of Key Center. Everyone has to agree on a movie to watch together or the internet will freeze up, Woolsey said.
“It’s terribly frustrating,” Woolsey said.
Asked about customers complaining they receive lower broadband speeds than paid for, CenturyLink spokesperson Kerry Zimmer said speeds vary based on factors outside CenturyLink’s control, such as customer location, the quality of the customer’s computer and network, and the websites accessed.
CenturyLink declined to provide how many complaints they’ve received from Key Peninsula customers this year.
Lack of high-speed internet is not just a problem in people’s personal lives.
Councilmembers often mention that economic growth is key in Pierce County, but low internet speeds have stifled investment.
“Lack of choice, low speeds and relatively high costs appear to be barriers to expanding economic opportunity in Pierce County,” the audit said.
Richardson called the increasing high-speed internet access in the unincorporated area an economic priority.
“A lot of companies need to locate high-speed internet to operate and for children to do their educational needs on the internet,” the chairman said.
Young said some businesses had chosen not to come to Pierce County due to the spotty and lagging WiFi. Asked which companies, he responded that he wasn’t sure because businesses meet confidentially with the economic development department.
Irene Hartle, a Key Peninsula resident, said she is worried about working from home as more companies turn to remote workplaces.
“Never know if I will even have WiFi. DSL is awful,” Hartle posted on Facebook. “My biggest fear is they will want us to work from home and I would lose my job.”
The county’s plan
The county is considering embarking on a private/public partnership like the Click network in Tacoma.
Click is owned by the city, which also owns the physical network of wires and other equipment. Tacoma officials are in negotiations with Rainier Connect to run the business operations, marketing and customer service of the network. Some people have challenged the city’s plans.
The county’s initial plans call for providers to install branch lines to connect to a county-owned central “middle mile,” which would be the regional backbone of a fiber-optic network.
If Pierce County used public assets like existing utility poles, towers and buildings and installed a conduit, the council believes it would encourage a competitive market for providers to install their fiber. More providers mean lower prices and faster internet for customers.
CenturyLink believes the best approach is to explore solutions with existing internet service providers, the company’s Zimmer said.
Strategies implemented across the county probably wouldn’t look the same, Young said. The county could consider partnering with Peninsula Light for infrastructure on the Key Peninsula, for instance, while areas surrounding cities could benefit from public utility districts.
How any revenue would be split is an open question.
“What we know right now is that if we let the market do it on it’s own, they will not serve the public and their prices will be high,” Young told The News Tribune.
Magellan Advisors recommended Pierce County move as quickly as possible, and Young said the council is unified in doing so.
Some Key Peninsula residents feel that it’s time the government intervened.
Woolsey, who calls her provider “CenturyStink,” is tired of paying for a landline she wouldn’t use if the house had better service.
“Kick them in the rear. It shouldn’t cost $10,000 to put up a line for five people down a road,” Woolsey said. “Rural America has gotten the short end of the stick.”
She now refuses to live anywhere without high-speed internet.
“It’s a dealbreaker,” Woolsey said. “It could be perfect, but if it doesn’t have high speed, I won’t consider it.”
