California Ups Broadband Ante, Betting on Federal Funding
California’s Public Utility Commission has aimed more than $23 million in state Advanced Services Fund grants at projects to increase broadband service. The commission said Friday it had approved slightly more than $6.8 million in grants to two projects and conditionally approved nearly $16.2 million for four others. The money is for projects in Northern and Central California communities. “These broadband grants are being made to ensure our residents and businesses in these communities in the state have access to high-speed Internet,” Commissioner Rachelle Chong said.
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Outright grants went to IP Networks, which got nearly $4.3 million for a project in Humboldt and Trinity counties, and to Siskiyou Telephone, which received nearly $2.7 million for an effort to link the towns of Seiad and Goff. The state grants cover 40 percent of each project’s cost. The sponsors must come up with the rest of the money.
IP Networks plans a fiber network interconnecting with an existing fiber network to serve communities now with no service or only dial-up along 121 miles of State Highway 36 from Wildwood to Bridgeville. Build-out will bring speeds of at least 4 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up. IP Network and last- mile provider 101 Netlink will work to reach communities involved using Pacific Gas & Electric facilities including transmission towers. “By leveraging PG&E assets, the Highway 36 Project will bring broadband connectivity from the Cottonwood sub-station in Shasta County to downtown Eureka in Humboldt County on the coast,” the commission said.
IP Networks is “thrilled” about getting the California grant, the company said. It expects to complete the work next year, before the deadline in the grant. “This project will bring high-speed connectivity to several rural communities enabling tele-health and distance learning as well as providing a foundation for economic growth in an area currently experiencing very high unemployment rates,” IP Networks said. Unemployment in Trinity County is 17 percent and 13 percent in Humboldt County, the company said. “Upon completion, the route will also provide redundant fiber connectivity to the residents and businesses of Eureka and the Humboldt Bay Power plant,” it said.
Siskiyou Telephone plans to bury fiber cable to replace aerial copper in Seiad Valley along Highway 96. That will improve service to 134 homes and to businesses in Seiad and Fort Goff to average speeds of 3 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, the commission said.
The conditional grants would cover 10 percent of project costs. The sponsors must get federal broadband stimulus grants to receive the state money.
Race Telecommunications stands to receive more than $9.5 million from California toward a last-mile project in Kern County. Race plans to build a long-haul fiber backbone network from Los Angeles to a regional data center, central office and collocation facilities. The service will reach Arvin, Tehachapi, Bear Valley Springs, Boron, California City, Golden Hills, Mojave, Rosamond and Stallion Springs. The 152-mile project envisions maximum Internet speeds of 100 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up in a 444-square-mile area with more than 24,000 homes and almost 1,300 businesses, the commission said.
University Corp. at Monterey Bay got conditional approval for nearly $4.8 million. Its project, in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, is a 428-mile fiber middle-mile backbone connecting unserved and underserved customers through wholesale providers. That will increase economic and educational development, the commission predicted.
The corporation, created by California State University, is the lead agency on the project. It will benefit first responders, education and local municipalities, corporation President Dianne Harrison said. “We are very excited that the CPUC has approved this grant that will help serve as a match for our larger federal stimulus funds request, and now we are hopeful, with the Governor’s recommendation and this CPUC award, that the NTIA will approve our application.”
“The University has been working on this project for a connected central coast for over 5 years, forming partnerships with local public and private sector leaders in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties,” Harrison told us by e-mail. “This is a challenging geographic area, one where high-speed infrastructure has been lacking.”
Nevada County Economic Resource Council got conditional state approval for nearly $1.4 million toward a middle-mile project. The council plans wireless infrastructure, including 11 new microwave towers, that could bring broadband to 40 schools, libraries and other facilities, 13 public safety entities, eight community groups and other anchor institutions. The council also hopes to enable seven wireless ISPs to reach nearly 1,300 unserved and underserved households and almost 800 businesses in an area of about 304 square miles.
In Fresno County, Ponderosa Cablevision got conditional backing for more than $405,000 toward a broadband project. Ponderosa proposes to extend DSL coverage in southern Madera County and northern Fresno County communities into the Sierra foothills of Fresno County. The project would use fiber to the home to serve more than 1,043 homes in a 19-square-mile area at average speeds of 30 Mbps down and 13.33 Mbps up.