Chelan PUD To Survey Customers On Broadband

Chelan County PUD will be sending out emails in the next several weeks asking customers about their internet usage.

The PUD provides the wholesale fiber connection which is used by internet service providers to offer broadband on the retail level.

Chelan PUD spokesperson Rachel Hansen says they're interested in what customers need, even though they don't serve them directly.

"We're kind of asking, 'well how much bandwidth do you need, and is this internet speed adequate for you needs,'" said Hanses. "That's something we'd like to know, because there are things, we can do to adjust that if need be."

The survey from the PUD is expected to be completed by the end of August and will be used to determine satisfaction of internet users, including those connected to their fiber technology.

It was last performed in 2017.

Chelan PUD has laid fiber optic infrastructure that is available to 79 percent of the households in the county

About 30,000 buildings have access to the PUD's fiber system and almost 12,500 buildings are connected to one or more types of service such as internet or video through Local Service Providers that partner with the PUD, such as LocalTel or iFiber Communications.

Trina Heuchert with the Chelan PUD Fiber Department says they offer their internet service providers speeds of 100 megabits a gigabits per second.

"Our service providers repackage that and sell it in their own plans and packages," said Heuchert. "Often times they mimic exactly what we have, but sometimes they may have something different. So, these are the speeds that we offer for our service providers to resell."

Heuchert says a gigabit is normally reserved for large businesses that have a high demand for bandwidth.

She also says Chelan PUD is the only source fiber delivery of broadband service in the county, which is the highest speed of delivery available in current technology.

If customers are contacted and want to confirm the validity of the survey, they can visit chelanpud.org/contactus.