Nearly 200 residents of a Battle Ground mobile home community now have access to high-speed internet for the first time following a Comcast network expansion completed this spring.
Comcast’s Xfinity announced on Tuesday, June 2, that 186 residents at the Collective Communities Battle Ground Mobile Home Community, a 55-and-older neighborhood located behind the Wilco Farm Store, are now connected through Xfinity Communities, a service designed for community-based housing developments.
The project brings internet access to residents who previously had limited connectivity options and is part of Comcast's ongoing investment in Clark County.
Samantha French, community manager at Collective Communities Property Management, said the response from residents has been overwhelmingly positive since service became available.
"From my understanding, it was just kind of that there wasn't an option for connectivity here in our community," French said. "And with the help of Comcast and Xfinity, we've been able to now roll it out to all 186 of our residents who would like to participate."
Many residents are retirees in their 70s and 80s, she said, and the new service has opened doors to communication and healthcare resources that were previously difficult to access.
"It's honestly been a pleasure to see how excited they are to be connected to their loved ones or telehealth, things like that," French said. "The feedback I've gotten has been just exuberance and positivity."
For Comcast, the project aligns with a broader effort to expand service into underserved areas. Much of rural Clark County remains underserved unless connected to a satellite internet provider.
"I think we're always on the hunt to see where we can expand specifically to communities that are currently underserved," said Chad Savage, Comcast's vice president of business development. "Battle Ground was one of those."
Savage said the company spent years planning and coordinating before extending service to the Battle Ground community. As part of a partnership with Clark County, Comcast’s network expansion project brought reliable, high-speed, symmetrical internet to the rural area near Battle Ground Lake, according to a Comcast news release about the March completion.
"We were able to extend our network out to that community and serve, I believe, another 500 homes," Savage said. "But it's really an example of a long-term commitment, not just to Oregon and Washington, but specifically a commitment to Clark County. We continue to invest in the network, and then with an effort to bring reliable connectivity to the communities that need it most."
French said Comcast technicians took extra time during installations to help residents understand the technology.
"You have to imagine a 55-plus community, and a lot of my community here is between 70 and 80, so not real technologically savvy," she said. "Every time they got installed in their homes, each tech was so kind and explained everything to them and helped them get the connectivity."
Residents are now able to use video calling and other online services that were previously unavailable or unreliable.
"Now they can do FaceTime calls that maybe they couldn't do before on their computers," French said. "Or, you know, now they can, like I said, do telehealth, which is huge because some of them can't drive. So to be able to have that available for them is a game changer."
Savage said reliable internet can help older adults maintain independence while staying connected to family and essential services.
"For folks in this community, reliable internet supports greater independence," Savage said. "Also, it's got to be convenient. It adds peace of mind, but it connects them with family and friends."
He added that internet access is increasingly necessary for everyday tasks.
"It helps them manage everyday activities that, quite frankly, almost require an online connection now in order to do business, or in order to do video calling, or in order to do streaming and entertainment," Savage said.
French acknowledged that some residents were initially skeptical when the project was announced.
"There was going to be some resistance at first," she said. "When we first kind of rolled out this idea to the community, there were so many questions, and they were fearful."
Over time, however, those concerns faded.
"It sounded too good to be true, right?" French said. "But what I've found is that as they got that installed and as they have been using the Wi-Fi or whether they opted to get telephone and TV, they've seen that everything that we introduced to them is exactly what it is and exactly what was promised."
Savage said the project could serve as a model for other manufactured home communities that lack reliable internet access.
"I think this is like the perfect example to point at as we talk to more mobile home communities," he said. "It really is a win-win."
Today, he said, the biggest takeaway is simple.
"We have 200 residents in this community who now have access to reliable high-speed internet," Savage said. "At the end of the day, they're getting a great deal on a best-in-class product that's coming to them and they have continued support through the lifecycle of the property."
