First CenturyLink Letter Has Been Sent

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