A3
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Hillsboro launches state’s largest city-run internet service
By MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Hillsboro’s new, city-
backed fi ber-optic net-
work formally launched
last week , serving just 780
homes and businesses in a
single neighborhood near
Shute Park with internet
and phone service called
HiLight.
Over the next decade,
though, Hillsboro plans to
expand the project to estab-
lish Oregon’s largest pub-
licly run fi ber network with
prices and speeds that best
those offered by the private
companies that currently
dominate the market.
The city has commit-
ted $28 million over seven
years in hopes of offering
its citizens and businesses a
better deal and making fast
internet access available
to households who can’t
afford similar packages
from Comcast. It has spent
more than $9 million so far.
Public telecommunica-
tions networks have a spotty
track record in Oregon and
elsewhere, with local gov-
ernments struggling to keep
up with evolving technol-
ogy and to overcome com-
petition from well-fi nanced
corporate rivals.
The city maintains it
has a unique opportunity to
make this project work. It’s
collaborating with the Hill-
sboro School District and
connected 44 school facil-
ities to its fi ber network
last summer. And HiLight
will focus initially on the
emerging s outh Hillsboro
development, because it’s
cheaper to run fi ber-optic
lines in conjunction with
new construction.
With a population just
over 100,000, Hillsboro is
home to both Intel’s mul-
tibillion-dollar
computer
chip factories and to impov-
erished farmworker com-
munities. The city hopes
HiLight can straddle that
divide by serving its diverse
populations.
“This access to HiLight
Over the next decade, Hillsboro plans to expand the HiLight project to establish Oregon’s largest publicly run fi ber network with prices and speeds that best
those off ered by the private companies that currently dominate the market.
is going to mean a lot to
families that have not had
internet access that they can
afford,” said Hillsboro City
Councilor Olivia Alcaire.
HiLight charges $55 a
month for internet speeds of
1 gigabit per second , in line
with what Comcast charges
for speeds a tenth as fast.
Both Comcast and HiLight
offer substantial discounts
for low-income families,
around $10 a month, though
HiLight’s discounted speeds
are much faster.
With a national footprint
and annual profi ts of more
than $13 billion, though,
Comcast has the techni-
cal and marketing muscle
to compete in any way it
chooses to.
“Other jurisdictions have
abandoned these types of
efforts after fi nding they are
more complex and costly
than initially projected,”
Comcast said in a writ-
ten statement on HiLight.
“Providing reliable and fast
connectivity is what we do
every day.”
Washington
County’s
other large internet pro-
vider, Ziply Fiber, declined
to comment on HiLight.
Comcast didn’t say how it
will respond to Hillsboro’s
network, but it could launch
an aggressive promotional
campaign, lure customers
with discounts on long-term
contracts or offer discounts
to new customers.
That’s what happened in
Ashland two decades ago,
when an established cable
TV company handily out-
maneuvered that southern
Oregon city’s municipal
telecom service and left the
small community saddled
with years of losses.
Multnomah
County
commissioners backed off
plans to explore a county-
wide fi ber network in Octo-
ber after a publicly funded
study concluded the project
would cost $1 billion. Hill-
sboro rejected the notion of
a fi ber-to-the-home network
in 2015 after a city-backed
study pegged the cost at $66
million.
But Hillsboro Mayor
Steve Callaway said the
city took the plans back
Toy drive: Toys will go to Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook counties
Continued from Page A1
the community director at
the Armory.
Koustik is spearheading
the effort with community
partners, including Gim-
re’s Shoes, Erickson Flo-
ral Co. , A-Town Coffee and
Riverfolk, a nonprofi t that
works predominately with
the homeless .
They had already col-
lected nearly 200 stuffed
animal toys going into this
week. Their goal is to have
300 — not because there
are 300 foster children in
the area, Koustik clarifi ed.
She wants to include chil-
dren of foster parents in the
giving, as well. For these
families to continue open-
ing their homes in the mid-
dle of a pandemic is huge,
she said.
The toys will go to fami-
lies and children in Clatsop,
Columbia and Tillamook
counties.
‘THE COMMUNITY IS
STRONGER WHEN PEOPLE
SUPPORT EACH OTHER.’
Scott Rooen | worker for the state Department of Human Services’
Child Welfare offi ce who supports and recruits foster families
“It is a challenging time
for everyone right now,”
said Scott Rooen, who
works for the state Depart-
ment of Human Services’
Child Welfare offi ce to sup-
port and recruit foster fam-
ilies. “Families are han-
dling a lot of changes and
stress as they care for loved
ones and maintain their
livelihoods.”
The agency has looked to
ways to expand food assis-
tance and other resources
and, statewide, has seen
an increase in the number
of families interested in
becoming foster families,
Rooen said.
There are about 35 chil-
dren in foster care in Clat-
sop County. While state-
wide, the number of
children in care is lower
than it has been in 14 years,
there is a continuing need
for families willing to fos-
ter, according Rooen. Hav-
ing a diverse group of fam-
ilies to match children with
and allow them to stay in
their home communities is
important, he said.
In a normal year, local
employees with the agency
would throw a holiday party
for foster children and the
families caring for them.
This year, as corona-
virus-related
restrictions
and concerns made a party
impossible, the agency
sought donations from
community organizations,
businesses and individuals
and provided families with
holiday boxes that included
meals, activities, board
games, hot chocolate and
other gifts.
The stuffed toy drive is
an important show of love
and support, in Rooen’s
opinion.
“For families caring for
children, it’s important that
they are recognized and
shown that they are appre-
ciated,” he said. “The com-
munity is stronger when
people support each other,
and we are grateful to have
a collaborative partner-
ship with many of the local
businesses,
community
members, nonprofi ts and
churches.”
Koustik and River-
folk will continue to col-
lect stuffed toys through
Sunday .
off the shelf when it real-
ized it could save money by
pooling resources with the
school district and by prior-
itizing the south Hillsboro
development.
“Things changed in
terms of resources and tech-
nology,” Callaway said.
“Then it began to make a lit-
tle more sense.”
HiLight serves just about
2% of Hillsboro addresses
at its launch. Over the next
year, as it expands into south
Hillsboro and southwest
Hillsboro, the city hopes the
network will reach 4,700
residential and commercial
addresses, about 10% of
Hillsboro.
HiLight’s launch is 18
months behind schedule
— held up, the city says,
by technical issues and by
complications that arose
from its partnership with
the school district. But Hill-
sboro points to the city-
owned fi ber network in
the suburban community
of Longmont, Colorado,
as evidence that municipal
internet service can work on
modest scales.
And Hillsboro said the
coronavirus pandemic has
highlighted the need to
bridge the city’s economic
and digital divide.
“The pandemic hasn’t
necessarily created inequi-
ties,” Callaway said, “But
it has certainly revealed
inequalities that already
existed.”
County reports
10 new virus cases
The Astorian
Clatsop County on
Monday reported 10
new coronavirus cases.
The cases include
a male under 10, a
female between 10 and
19, a man in his 20s and
a woman in her 40s liv-
ing in the northern part
of the county. The oth-
ers live in the southern
part of the county and
include two women
and two men in their
20s, a man in his 40s
and a man in his 60s.
One of the new
cases was hospital-
ized, while the other
nine were recovering at
home.
The county has
recorded 468 cases
since March. Accord-
ing to the county, nine
were hospitalized and
two have died.
The Oregon Health
Authority
reported
95,010 cases and 1,161
deaths statewide as of
Monday morning.
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