Friday, September 24, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
County looks to improve broadband in Jewell
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
Clatsop County may partner with Jewell
School District to bring broadband to a rural
region of the county where internet service
is slow, spotty and often nonexistent.
At a county Board of Commissioners
work session earlier this month, Steve Phil-
lips, the Jewell superintendent, proposed
hiring the fi rm Oregon Coast Wireless,
which recently upgraded internet service in
Tillamook County.
Before Phillips took a lead role in
addressing the inferior internet in Jew-
ell and Elsie, the county had worked with
a consultant on the issue and stakeholders
had weighed in.
Tillamook and Clatsop counties both
have sparsely populated areas with weak
internet service, Phillips noted, and he
argued that what worked in Tillamook
could work in Clatsop.
Jewell’s main internet provider is Cen-
turyLink, which won’t accept new cus-
tomers in the area, Phillips said. “Frankly,
the service they do provide is hit-and-miss
because they’re so maxed out,” he said.
Less than 40% of people in that part of
the county enjoy reliable internet, according
to a 2020 survey of Jewell School District
families. “It’s tough out here,” Phillips said.
He estimates that, if the community fol-
lows Tillamook’s model, the cost of inter-
net per home will fall in the $65-a-month
range. Residents in Jewell and Elsie typi-
cally pay between $80 and $120 a month,
he said.
During coronavirus shutdowns, the
school district has relied on “old-school
packets,” not the internet, for distance
learning, he said. “And that’s tough for our
kids, it’s tough for our teachers, to know
that they’re kind of missing out on a better
way,” Phillips said.
Under the proposed three-phase plan, a
new dedicated fi ber-optic cable would con-
nect to Jewell School, which would receive
one-gigabit internet. Towers would serve
areas north and south.
The fi rst phase would involve a $500,000
contribution from the county and $250,000
from Jewell School District.
Phase two would reach northeast into the
Fishhawk Lake community. “To be honest,
we don’t have a ton of students there,” Phil-
lips said, “but it’s a big community, and
they need internet, as well.”
The third phase would push south to
U.S. Highway 26 and west toward Camp
18 Restaurant, he said.
The high-end total estimate for all three
phases is $1.8 million, Phillips said.
County Manager Don Bohn said the pub-
lic contribution would off set the infrastruc-
ture costs that would normally be amortized
as part of the rate structure. Such costs are a
reason rural areas often don’t enjoy internet
access, he noted. Subsidies help make these
projects pencil out for developers.
Phillips advised that the county should
see how the fi rst phase goes, and make sure
Oregon Coast Wireless can replicate what
it did in Tillamook, before signing off on
phases two and three.
The project would cover the major-
ity of Jewell and Elsie families, but not all
of them — an economy-of-scale problem,
Phillips said.
Bohn said the county will also use the
towers — which the school district will
own, with the rest of the broadband infra-
structure — for public purposes, such as
beefi ng up communications systems for
emergency responders. The area has 911
dead spots, he said.
“This may not be the 20-year solution,
but what we were looking for is: What is the
here-and-now solution?” Bohn said, adding
that, hopefully, the project will bring at least
10 years of suitable internet.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
The county hopes to improve internet access in Jewell.
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