Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) is an

open-access network An open-access network (OAN) refers to a horizontally Network Layer, layered network architecture in telecommunications, and the business model that separates the physical access to the network from the delivery of Service (economics), services. I ...

in the United States

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

region. NoaNet is a public-benefit wholesale telecommunications organization that supplies solutions and resources for all aspects of broadband and telecom projects to serve Washington State including wholesale wide-area and last-mile bandwidth on

optic fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

and other means from pooled

public utility district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(PUD) assets, as well as over 30

colocation center A colocation centre (also spelled co-location, or shortened to colo) or "carrier hotel", is a type of data centre where equipment, space, and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers. Colocation facilities provide space, power, ...

s. It was formed 1999 and began operating in 2000 on

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of United States Congress, Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Col ...

-owned fiber. By 2015, it had over of fiber. Membership consists of the following Washington State PUDs: Benton County Public Utility District, Kitsap County PUD, Pend Oreille County PUD, Franklin County PUD, Mason County PUD,

Clallam County PUD The Klallam (; also known as the S'Klallam or Clallam) are a Coast Salish people Indigenous to the northern Olympic Peninsula. The language of the Klallam is the Klallam language (), a language closely related to the North Straits Salish langua ...

, Okanogan County PUD, Jefferson County PUD and Pacific County PUD. NoaNet Oregon began operating in 2004, also on Bonneville Power Administration fiber. By 2010, NoaNet had received over $100 million in Federal grants under the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the G ...

. By 2015 it had completed a four-year $180 million

National Telecommunications and Information Administration The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is a bureau of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the president's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' ec ...

Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) grant. Though NoaNet has made use of federal grant programs, NoaNet does not collect any tax dollars or subsidies from rate payers in Washington State. All revenues from selling wholesale services on the open market are put back into the network to bring network and services into rural areas of the state. NoaNet connects to the Internet at

Seattle Internet Exchange The Seattle Internet Exchange (SIX) is an Internet exchange point in Seattle, USA. Its switch fabric is centered at the Westin Building and extended to KOMO Plaza, Sabey Intergate, and other locations. The SIX is one of the most successful exam ...

and Northwest Access Exchange in Portland.Member list
Northwest Access Exchange

References

External links

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Tackling the Digital Divide in the Pacific Northwest
National Telecommunications and Information Administration blog (March 25, 2016) 1999 establishments in Washington (state) Computer-related introductions in 1999 Wide area networks Telecommunications companies of the United States Communications in Oregon Communications in Washington (state) {{Internet-stub