Providing some long-awaited good news for county residents who have struggled at times to fully engage in the work from home model, the Clark County Council recently authorized the county manager to sign a contract with Comcast that will result in the installation of broadband fibers in a stretch of just over 30 miles. Specifically, the location will stretch from approximately the Northeast corner of Battle Ground Lake to Northeast 220th Avenue.
To learn more about this exciting agreement, we spoke with Samantha Ridderbusch, the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Comcast’s Pacific Northwest region to uncover just how this project came about as well as what to anticipate in the upcoming months.
“I have been with Comcast for just over two and a half years and within the industry for over seven years,” says Ridderbusch. “I primarily work with our local jurisdictions, such as cities and counties, and we focus on our engagement efforts, compliance, permitting, and ensuring that we’re being good partners to the areas we serve.”
Ridderbusch then went on to communicate how this agreement came to fruition, noting how a combination of passionately relentless county efforts alongside new financial opportunities brought this project from a pipe dream to a reality.
“Comcast is always looking for new opportunities to expand our footprint,” says Ridderbusch. “There was a heightened awareness of opportunity with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The fact that the federal government was looking at this and identified unserved and underserved parts of the country became an opportunity to willingly invest some dollars. It allowed providers like us to look at some of the areas that didn’t quite make the return on investment or meet the business model with a new lens.”
Specifically, $5.21 million for this expansion is being funded by a public-private partnership between Clark County and Comcast, with the county itself contributing $3.65 million of federal funding through ARPA.
Ridderbusch also credits the passion of Clark County Councilor Gary Medvigy for being a strong and outspoken advocate for expanding broadband in the county., However, just what does “broadband” mean? “Broadband is essentially your internet connection,” says Ridderbusch. “This project specifically will be a fiber-rich network that will be capable of providing multi-gig speed internet to the service area. That means folks will be able to get online and do everything they need to be doing without the concern of bandwidth.”
This specific project by Comcast, servicing a primarily rural area that’s residential, was in response to an RFP by the county in October of 2022, working these last couple of years through the contracting pieces to ensure timelines, agreements, reporting and outcome metrics, and other legal aspects.
“Today we have currently submitted our milestones 1-3, which are part of the contract,” says Ridderbusch. “It just ensures that we’ve done all of our due diligence. Once that all happens we’re hoping to start construction in the coming weeks once the county is happy with all of the milestones that we have met.”
Now, one important piece of information to note is that this will be a connect-as-they-go along the project path, meaning that broadband will slowly become available across the territories of construction, with homes and businesses expecting to gain access sometime in the early to late Winter season. Construction of the entirety of the project will go through the Summer of 2025.
“It’s exciting for us (Comcast) to be partnering with the county,” says Ridderbusch. “The goal is to be completed by next year and the more that we’re able to expand our network the closer we can get to other communities, which is another great opportunity for Comcast to bring services into other areas.”
Hoping to learn more about the construction and how it might affect you? Comcast plans to launch an online resource center once construction is underway where you can learn more about the network build in your area, including a FAQ section and product and service details.
