Find out how Rock Island can bring truly high-speed broadband to your home or business and enable you to harness the speed of light.
This section of the site will help you understand:
- The current state of high-speed Internet in San Juan County
- Why you need fiber-optic broadband
- The approximate costs and how Rock Island incentives can help
Rock Island Communications has been rolling out fiber optic broadband services to homes and businesses in San Juan County in earnest since 2015. We are able to do this by utilizing Orcas Power and Light Cooperative’s Power Grid Control Backbone, which has been built to manage our county’s electrical system. Rock Island is a wholly owned subsidiary of OPALCO.
This section of our site has been designed to provide you with an overview of how to get connected, and the type of plans and services we offer.
How to Get Connected
To get fiber service, individuals and connecting parties organize and fund the cost of construction to bring this utility through their neighborhoods and into their homes. Construction costs vary depending on location, and typically consists of two main components:
Middle Mile: The term Middle Mile refers to the connection from the OPALCO backbone into a neighborhood. The cost of your Middle Mile can be shared among neighbors, thus reducing the overall cost to each participating home or business owner.
Last Mile: The Last Mile refers to the fiber connection from a Middle Mile to a home or business. This cost is typically borne by the property owners.
The Rock Island team is actively working with organized groups of homeowners in HOAs, road or water associations, or simply groups of neighbors who come together to share costs. If you are a member of any organized association, approach your group’s leadership about putting together a plan to connect. If you are not part of such a group, talk with your neighbors and see if you can establish a group on your own.
Our Fiber Products
Rock Island provides both data (Internet) and voice (telephone) service to our customers, allowing subscribers to completely replace a “bundled” phone/Internet package.
Our Plans and Cost
Once a customer is connected, they can choose a fiber internet rate plan. Speeds for all fiber optic plans are what we call ‘symmetrical,’ meaning they are the same speed for download and upload rates.