Whidbey Telecom wins $9.5M grant to expand BiG GiG fiber islandwide

Whidbey Telecom announced it has been awarded approximately $9.5 million from the Washington State Broadband Office’s Broadband Infrastructure Acceleration grants to extend its BiG GiG Fiber Network into parts of south and south-central Whidbey Island. The award is part of a larger $145 million statewide funding round announced today, a program aimed at building broadband in communities that lack reliable high-speed internet.

The grant follows a regional application submitted through the Washington Independent Telecommunications Association. The association secured $14.86 million in total for related subprojects that will support service expansion across Mason and Island counties. Whidbey Telecom’s share—about 6.6 percent of the statewide round—will fund new fiber routes and connections to more homes and businesses on the island.

Local officials and community members have long pointed to persistent connectivity shortfalls in southern stretches of Whidbey, where older copper lines, limited fixed wireless coverage, and spotty rural service have constrained remote work, distance learning and telehealth. Fiber lines deliver lower latency and greater capacity than many legacy alternatives, which can translate into more reliable video calls, cloud access and online commerce for small businesses.

Whidbey Telecom executives say the funding will help bring those benefits to neighborhoods that have been underserved. The company positions the BiG GiG network as a platform for economic and civic benefits, including expanded access to educational resources, healthcare services delivered remotely, and improved public safety communications. The regional grant model used by the association bundles projects to leverage state funds across multiple counties, increasing the scale and feasibility of buildouts in lower-density areas.

For Island County, the grant bolsters local infrastructure investment at a time when broadband access is increasingly central to property values, employer recruitment and resident quality of life. The award is also part of a broader statewide push: the $145 million round targets buildouts in many parts of Washington that remain off the fiber grid.

Next steps include engineering, permitting and coordination with county authorities and landowners before construction can begin. For residents in the targeted south and south-central neighborhoods, the award signals that gigabit-capable fiber is moving from planning toward deployment, with potential improvements in speed, reliability and access to online services once connections are completed.