
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Santa Monica’s broadband initiative was nominated for the network’s ability to provide speeds of 10 Gigabits per second, achieve a 67% cost reduction, and the economic and technological growth opportunities that result from supporting companies along Santa Monica’s Tech Coast with a leading-edge broadband infrastructure. ... The City of Santa Monica leases dark fiber and offers lit fiber to local businesses for affordable broadband at 100Mbps, 1Gbps, and 10Gbps speeds. Santa Monica's broadband model results in a reduction of construction costs for new broadband service, an increase in purchasing power of connected local businesses, and a broadband market expansion for Internet service providers that now may offer service to small, medium and large commercial buildings. The city also recently received honors as one of the Top 25 Innovations in Government by the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Significant Achievement Award from the Public Technology Institute (PTI) for the broadband initiative.We try to keep track of the many awards the community networks have won so don't be afraid to alert us of community networks winning awards.
A new study from the Digital Equity LA initiative lays bare how low-income communities of color are impacted by the quiet business decisions of the county’s monopoly Internet service provider. Slower and More Expensive/Sounding the Alarm: Disparities in Advertised Pricing for Fast, Reliable Broadband details how Charter Spectrum “shows a clear and consistent pattern of the provider reserving its best offers - high speed at low cost - for the wealthiest neighborhoods in LA County.” Not only does it highlight how economically vulnerable households in LA County pay more for slower service than those in wealthy neighborhoods, it also provides evidence for how financially-strapped households are also saddled with onerous contracts and are rarely targeted by advertisements for Charter Spectrum’s low cost plans.
In the 1980s, Rancho Cucamonga proclaimed itself “The City with a Plan.” Back then, the plan was to remake this once rural enclave known for its vineyards into more than just one of the many sunny suburbs of Los Angeles. That forward-looking spirit was revived again 30 years later as city leaders looked to cultivate a digital vineyard with the creation of a “Fiber Optic Master Plan” – a six-year $13 million investment plan that targets the city’s new development. Today, the city along the famed Route 66 owns and operates Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Broadband in partnership with Onward, a local private Internet service provider.
Driven by Covid frustration and a boom in available grant money, Santa Clara County, California officials say they’re moving forward with their plans to explore a municipal broadband network, with the formal next steps expected to be announced at the tail end of this year.
Two recent victories in digital equity work out of California give cause for celebration this week.
Last week, the Golden State Connectivity Authority (GSCA) announced it has entered into formal partnership with the municipally owned open access network UTOPIA Fiber, for the Utah-based owner and provider to design, build, and operate a new open access fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network across the 38 rural counties in the state of California. It's a move that not only offers the chance to bring future-proof connections to millions of rural California households in the near future, but have wide policy and industry implications for open access fiber networks down the road.