If you’ve been noticing the smile on the faces of Internet users in the McNary area recently, there’s good reason for it. Thanks to Eastern Oregon Telecom (EOT), McNary residents have been enjoying much faster Internet speeds for the past month or so.
About a year ago, EOT took over the abandoned cable station left by Almega Cable. The city of Umatilla initially took ownership of the abandoned cable station and put out a request for proposals for other companies to take ownership of the equipment. EOT stepped up and almost immediately made 30 mbps speeds for Internet and voice available to about 400 homes in the South Hill area. Last month, that same speed was made available to about 700 residents in the McNary area.
Internet connection speed is measured in terms of mbps or megabits per second. Mbps refers to the speed in which data is transferred to the modem. Previously, the fastest Internet speed available to the Umatilla area was 7 mbps.
EOT has been providing wireless service to the Umatilla area, but with the takeover of the old Almega station, it is now able to provide cable service, said EOT General Manager and CEO Joe Franell.
“Having that physical wire to the home is a more reliable service,” Franell said. “That’s exciting for economic development for that area. This is a big deal to have that as something they can advertise. They can now say you can get the same or faster speeds as parts of Portland.”
EOT also got ownership of Almega’s abandoned equipment in Boardman. By next year, the rest of Umatilla and Boardman will have Internet speeds up to 30 mbps.
