Normally EONI does not talk about future expansion plans because customers always want to know exactly when the new services will be available.  Sometimes there are delays in getting the new services ready, so we have preferred to delay announcements until services are ready to go.  However, we have had an extraordinary number of inquiries from Wallowa County over the past several months.  This article provides some details about our expansion plans.

First, EONI is working to upgrade the capacity between our Enterprise and La Grande sites.  Our Enterprise site is connected to our wired and wireless network sites throughout Enterprise and Joseph, and then connected back to La Grande.  The La Grande site is connected to the global Internet.  Initially, we are working to more than double the capacity we have to Enterprise.  With this upgrade in place we will be able to provide room for additional growth.  This upgrade will also bring with it major upgrades to our network routing equipment.  Currently, EONI does not anticipate making any changes to the wireless service plan speeds available to customers.

Second, EONI will expand our wireless service to serve Wallowa.  Many people in Wallowa have asked EONI to expand to this market.  After the capacity upgrade mentioned above is complete, the Wallowa expansion construction will commence.

Third, EONI plans to deploy high speed DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet service in Enterprise.  However, this will not become available until later this year, probably in the fourth quarter of 2008 (sometime between October and December).  DSL service works over your phone line and delivers high speed Internet and telephone service over a single phone line.  Plus you can use your phone to make voice calls and access the Internet at high speed at the same time!  EONI DSL will be offered in combination with telephone service provided by PriorityOne Telecommunications, Inc.  PriorityOne has been providing phone service in eastern Oregon since 2000.  You can keep your existing phone number, plus the phone service has more features and a very competitive price.  Your bill for telephone service and DSL service will be bundled on a single bill.  The DSL service does not work on all phone lines or in all areas of Enterprise.  However customers in town are more likely to have DSL available as the DSL service works within about 15,000 feet of downtown Enterprise.  Maximum DSL speeds have not yet been determined; however they will be substantially faster than the speeds we can deliver on our wireless network.  Pricing and more details will be announced as availability of the service gets closer.  Due to a number of complicated and regulatory reasons, currently EONI does not have plans to deploy DSL service other than in Enterprise.

Finally, EONI does not have current plans to expand our high speed services to Lostine or Imnaha.  If plans to expand there become available, we will announce those plans here on our web site.