For the past year, residents of Kitsap County have been informally requesting the Kitsap Public Utility District explore whether the PUD could extend its high capacity fiber network to residences in the county.

The PUD has been operating a high-speed open access fiber optic broadband network in Kitsap County for over 15 years. Virtually all of the counties schools, libraries, government offices, first responder buildings and major medical facilities have been connected to this fiber optic network. This has allowed agencies to keep pace with the modern world; hospitals transmit data and imagery, schools stream content, instruction and testing, first responders coordinate emergency response plans.

To better understand the needs of the community in deploying this Broadband Utility, KPUD has decided to purchase and implement the COS Service Zones system. This system will allow the public to request expansion into specific neighborhoods and eventually see where KPUD plans to build broadband infrastructure based on the survey results.

“Citizens and communities have found that broadband is essential to their future success and well-being for years. However, it wasn’t until the FCC recognized broadband as a utility and opened the discussion about the open Internet that we saw the extent of interest residents had in a community-owned open-access network enabling freedom of choice,” said Kitsap PUD Superintendent of Telecom Paul Avis.

This is a community owned network and the PUD is asking you to be active participants in expanding a fiber-to-the-home network throughout the community.

“Since this is a public network, we do not feel comfortable relying on anecdotal data to determine the next phase for broadband expansion,” said Bob Hunter, Kitsap PUD General Manager. “What’s most appealing with the COS Service Zones is that it enables us to let the gathering and push come from the citizens. We want to be sure the residents are driving this.”

Residents can participate by visiting the website kpud.servicezones.net and filling out the online survey.

“We need to verify that it is not just 50 or 100 residents that want better Internet access and we need your participation to more accurately identify areas of need in the county,” Avis said.

About Kitsap PUD: Kitsap Public Utility District is a municipal corporation in Washington State with incorporated boundaries parallel to Kitsap County. Its mission is to preserve and protect the water resources of Kitsap County and to supply public utility service to the area.