The following letter has been sent via email and USPS to CenturyLink's VP of Operations in WA State. I will let you know if and when we receive a reply.
Hello Sue,
Our rural community of
Winlock, WA 98596 (more specifically the unincorporated area around Winlock) is
in need of Internet infrastructure help.
Satellite excepted, CenturyLink is the only game in town. We are on the I-5 corridor roughly 100 miles
south of Seattle. While we don’t appear
to be off in the boondocks, new residents within the service area have been
told the system is overtaxed and cannot accommodate any new accounts. Many existing customers are experiencing more
frequent and more enduring slowdowns. Still
more households are simply outside the service area.
As a rural community we are
watching the world move on without us. We
have telecommuters experiencing service interruptions. We have college students enrolled in online
courses unable to watch lectures and grade school students unable to log on for
tutoring. We have business owners trying
to stay reliably connected to their customers.
Financial institutions charge extra to send paper statements through the
mail. Airlines charge extra to speak to a representative rather than handle
transactions online. Do you know that
Microsoft only sells hard copies of Office to third world countries? Here in the U.S. it’s download only – tricky
without a steady connection.
Because we lack the population
density to make Winlock profitable we don’t seem to have been on CenturyLink’s
to-do list. Looking at the FCC’s Connect America Fund Phase II
– Accepted Areas Map we see much of the area surrounding Winlock is
within the Accepted Funding area. We also
see on the FCC
website that CenturyLink has received $24,412,884 in CAFP-II funds
to expand rural broadband in Washington State.
Does this mean our community can look forward to a strong Internet
connection for all residents soon? If not, why not? What can we do to
make sure we don’t fall any farther behind the urban areas? We hear CenturyLink
service in Seattle is great. We want to be able to say that too.
Please
note that responses to this letter will be shared with interested members of
the Winlock community via our Winlock Needs Internet Facebook group and on
winlockneedsinternet.com
Kind Regards from Winlock residents,
Matthew
and Michelle Conrow - South Military
Rd
Dianne
Stillman - South Military Rd
Jamie
Shere – Hawkins Rd
Zack Shrigley – Hawkins Rd
Mark
Velasco – Sargent Rd
Jennifer
and Jason Demeo – Leak Dr
Gerald
Miller – King Rd
Debra
Withrow – Northeast First St
Rowena
Conley – Meier Rd
Leonard
and Lindsay Giberson – Ferrier Rd
Melinda
Rockwell – Saint Helens Wy
Paulette
and Ted Rautio
Christi
and Joshua Bidwell – North
Military Rd
Candace
Folden – North Military Rd
Eric
and Valerie Marquina – Minkler Rd
Andrew
and Natalie Zucati – Highway 603
Mike
and Elena Payne – King Rd
Sharyl
O’Danne – Dorning Rd
Cliff
Fisher – Dorning Rd
Ron
& Liz Schroeder - Marsyla Heights
Ron
& Linda Wilson - Marsyla Heights
Ron
& Joanne Rees – Marsyla Heights
Gerald
& Clare Glick – Marsyla Heights
And yet we still are billed full bore for sub standard service!!
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