EPHRATA - Grant County PUD will be able to offer additional broadband options to its ISP (internet service provider) customers, possibly as early as February. The ISPs then will be able to offer those options to retail customers.

Chuck Berrie, PUD assistant manager, presented information on progress in the broadband project at the regular PUD commission meeting Tuesday. The PUD is allowed to build the fiber and wireless networks, but it can't sell access to that network directly to the consumer.

PUD officials have been experimenting with wireless service because of the expense of building fiber to those areas, Berrie said in a later interview.

A pilot project is wrapping up near Quincy, and an access tower on Beezley Hill near Ephrata is almost ready for customers, he said.

Berrie cited a possible project in the Larson Heights area as an example of the cost difference. The Grant County Sheriff's Office asked for broadband access for cameras in the Larson Heights area just outside Moses Lake, and PUD officials are considering a wireless access tower, Berrie said. Access will be available for three miles from the tower in any direction, he said, and construction would cost an estimated $60,000. Expanding the fiber network in that area would cost about $5 million, he said.

In answer to a question from commissioner Bob Bernd, Berrie said the wireless access towers might eliminate the need for building fiber to some areas of the county.

Public benefit would be one of the criteria used to prioritize request for new wireless towers, Berrie said. The Beezley Hill tower would provide the service at a lower cost to the PUD, and that's another factor in prioritizing, he said.

The third is customer demand, illustrated by a petition from 175 residents around Blue Lake, Berrie said.

Berrie's presentation included a map showing tentative locations for the first 10 wireless towers. They include two near George, three between Quincy and Ephrata, one at Larson Heights, two around Coulee City and one each at Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams. That would be the first phase, with more built before the end of the year, he said.

Commissioner Dale Brewer asked when wireless access towers could be built around Moses Lake, toward Wilson Creek, or between Moses Lake and Warden. If PUD officials know they have potential customers interested in those areas, those could be added or moved up the priority list, Berrie said. "We're going to go where people really want it," he said.

In answer to a question from commissioner Larry Schaapman, Warren Miller said the plan is to complete the wireless access tower build within three to four years, with the goal of finishing earlier. (Miller works on the PUD's broadband project.)

Schaapman asked how the PUD will ensure ISPs, and through them the customers, are getting the connectivity they are promised. Miller said the connection is monitored to ensure it's up to speed.