Top Stories of 2017: Pioneer fiber expansion

Rural Whitman County residents can expect faster broadband speeds coming their way as Pioneer Telephone has already started upgrading its lines to fiber optics.

“Everything seems to be going pretty smooth,” said Dallas Filan, Pioneer Telephone general manager.

Thanks to grant money from the state’s Universal Service Fund, in conjunction with federal funds, Pioneer is undertaking an upgrade from copper to fiber to serve residents in its 800 square mile service area. The total job to make the move is expected to cost about $8.5 million. According to Filan, it works out to about $26,000 per home to bring in the fiber.

The improvements will provide rural customers that same access as someone in Spokane. The government funding means they will only have to pay about the same for that access as Spokane residents.

This first year 21 miles of fiber were laid between LaCrosse and Hooper. Customers will go from having 5.5 megabyte download speed to 25 megabyte.