Broadband upgrade is back on track

ASOTIN — After a five-month delay, a broadband upgrade south of Asotin is slowly moving forward along Snake River Road.

TDS Telecom stopped work in early April on a project in Asotin County after entering a recorded archaeological site. The company is now finishing up field work after ground-penetrating radar analysis was conducted on the site in question, in coordination with the Nez Perce Tribe, Central Washington University and Tierra Right of Way Services.

“No artifacts were found, and the Nez Perce have never made such a claim that artifacts were disturbed by TDS or TDS contractors,” said Cheryl McCollum, a spokeswoman for the telecommunications company based in Wisconsin.

“We hope to have a full report from Tierra’s analysis within the next week or so,” McCollum said. “Once the archaeologist analysis is complete, we anticipate construction in this area will be resumed.”

TDS is building broadband network upgrades to 516 locations in the Asotin and Anatone areas.

Last spring, the Nez Perce cultural staff notified crews working along Snake River Road that they had entered what they believed to be a site recorded with the State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Summit Utility Contractors, which performs all of the work in this area on behalf of TDS, immediately stopped work, McCollum said.

Some of the research done in the past few months guided TDS to redesign the project in areas where lines should be placed above ground. These aerial placements will be located above existing copper facilities, according to the spokeswoman.

“We expected to be doing construction during the summer months; however, now as we kick back into gear and move into the fall and winter, it’s important to note that we suspect weather could play a huge factor here in the completion of this project,” McCollum said. “For this project, we need to cross the Snake River twice. Plans are to have the aerial Snake River crossing work done by early fall.”

Several other broadband upgrades are happening across the region, said Wanda Keefer, manager at the Port of Clarkston. Expanding high-speed internet services has been a longtime project among the ports in Whitman, Garfield and Clarkston.

With more people working remotely, relying on telemedicine for health care and using home computers for education, the improved technology is more important than ever, Keefer said.

“It helps with job searches, filing for unemployment, education, telehealth and public safety,” she said. “We have cameras at the Port of Clarkston that allow us to see what’s going on via our computers or even on our phones at home. It’s important in rural areas for many reasons, including the new agricultural equipment that is run by GPS and needs an internet connection.”

Asotin County residents can check their internet speed on the www.broadband.wa.gov website, Keefer said. People who live outside Washington can visit interfrog.com to conduct speed tests.

Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2264. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.