Customer Services Fiber FAQs

It’s a network that uses strands of glass thinner than human hair to send light signals that carry data.

Contact an authorized service provider and put in a Fiber Connection Request.

See our complete list of authorized service providers online.

Speeds up to 1 Gig (1,000 Mbps) and enhanced telephone services offer businesses a better option with our high-bandwidth and point-to-point circuits. Our fiber network can accommodate any telecommunications or data connection need including tiered and burstable Ethernet levels.

High-speed Internet, basic and high-definition television and telephone service.

Get up to 100 Mbps for homes and 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) to businesses of high-speed Internet fiber-optic access in most of Chelan County. Faster than dial-up, cable or DSL.

You can check fiber availability at www.chelanpud.org/fiber and put in a Fiber Connection Request with a service provider to get started and find out the status of fiber construction near your home or business. Your service provider will let you know if your property is ready to connect or if you could benefit from using the Line Extension Policy.

Costs not known at the time of the grant application led PUD Commissioners to withdraw from the project. Click here for the news release. For questions or comments please contact the fiber team at fiber@chelanpud.org or 661-4151.

Rest assured. Chelan County PUD selected the same proven Alcatel GPON fiber-optic network technology that was deployed to 18 million locations by Verizon’s FIOS network, the nation’s largest deployment. The fiber network is expertly operated and maintained by PUD technical staff available 24 hours a day/seven days a week to identify and fix problems. The fiber network’s operation center is in state-of-the-art, secure technology facilities in the Olds Station area of Wenatchee. The fiber network has routing diversity on all major portions of the infrastructure.

You can check fiber availability at www.chelanpud.org/fiber and put in a Fiber Connection Request with a service provider to get started and find out the status of your fiber connection. Your service provider will let you know if your property is ready to connect or if you could benefit from using the Line Extension Policy.

Please visit the Check Availability page to check fiber access availability to your home/business.

In 2011, the PUD is developing a strategic plan to clearly identify long-term policies for the fiber network. Construction of distribution fiber is on hold until the comprehensive plan is developed. You can check fiber availability and put in a Fiber Connection Request with a service provider to get started and find out the status of your fiber connection. Your service provider will let you know if your property is ready to connect or if you could benefit from using the Line Extension Policy.

Your service provider will bill you for the services you select for delivery over fiber.

This icon means providers have completed training in all aspects of PUD fiber networks business and workflow processes, technologies and operations.

Chelan County PUD Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) network uses the District’s electrical distribution system to deliver a high-speed Internet access. This is a supplemental solution to deliver high-speed Internet service to a limited number of homes or businesses in the Peshastin area where it will be some time before residents have access to the deployment of the fiber network. This BPL network provides high-speed Internet access at an average of 375-900 kbps (kilobits per second). Average dial-up speed is 40-50 kbps. BPL services are available through local service providers just as fiber telephone and high-speed Internet services are available now.

Chelan County PUD’s wireless network is a supplemental solution to deliver high-speed Internet service to areas where it will be some time before residents have access to the fiber network. Wireless service is available in the Plain and Lake Wenatchee area. Wireless speeds could be up to 1,000 kbps with average speeds ranging from 256-512 kbps and faster (average dial-up speed is less than 40-50 kbps). Wireless service is available through local service providers.

Costs vary by service provider and the services you select, but on average you will save money and time with the benefits from the fiber network.

Say goodbye to the need for two phone lines to talk on the phone and surf the Web at the same time - fiber carries many services at the same time.

In most all cases you can use your existing telephone(s). Sometimes, with older telephones manufactured before fiber optics was available, the ringer may not work.

Chelan County PUD had a need to upgrade its broadband telecom capability to serve its county-wide locations. With this upgrade, it had a surplus of broadband infrastructure available for use by the residents we serve. Our PUD wholesale fiber network is allowed by Washington state law and is not unlike highways built and maintained by public entities, then used by local businesses and individuals. This trend is growing across America, where incumbent carriers have overlooked smaller communities because of the cost to build-out in less-dense areas; they tend to build-out in the urban, denser population sectors first, leaving rural America behind.

Washington law states that public utility districts have authority to provide wholesale telecom services. Therefore, the PUD builds out the infrastructure and maintains the network as a wholesaler and local service providers offer retail services over the fiber network.

The fiber infrastructure is available to authorized service providers. This open-access model encourages competition among service providers, which can results in lower prices for you.

Check with your service provider.

With fiber you are connected 24 hours a day /seven days a week as long as your computer is on. No more dialing-up or disconnections.

You can receive telephone service from local providers, without having to change your phone number.

If your home or business is in East Wenatchee (Douglas County) you will need to contact Douglas County PUD at 509-884-7191 or visit their website to inquire about Douglas PUD's fiber build-out.

Talk with your service provider to see if your homes wiring is set up to take full advantage of fiber.

If you have a newer computer you may not need to do anything. Your service provider will work with you to determine your specific needs.

Contact your service provider. They will be glad to help with any question or resolve a problem to your satisfaction.