Winlock Gets  Broadband Grant

By Jake Morgan, staff writer

    WINLOCK – Lewis County and ToledoTel are upgrading Winlock's broadband, thanks to a $23.5 million state grant to extend high-speed internet to more than 2,300 homes and businesses in the Winlock area.

    Replacing copper telephone wires with underground fiber-optic cables is extremely expensive and time consuming, costing more than $50,000 per mile and $10,000 per customer to connect rural areas.

    Lewis County and local internet provider ToledoTel formed a public-private partnership that made them eligible to receive a $23.5 million grant from the Washington State Broadband Office. ToledoTel will engineer and design the project, and provide an additional $2.35 million in matching funds.

    “This project is really the beginning, in terms of getting service out to folks, and we want to focus on getting broadband out to all rural areas and all residents of Lewis County,” said county manager Erik Martin.

    The project is expected to be completed in 2026, after which the county will own the broadband infrastructure and ToledoTel will provide retail internet services.