In rural California, high-quality internet access can be a matter of life and death
With an estimated 51% of rural households lacking access to high-speed internet, closing the digital divide in rural California poses one of the state’s greatest challenges.
Traditional internet service providers have long been deterred from deploying broadband infrastructure in rural areas due to difficult terrain and small populations. As a result, large swaths of rural California rely on substandard internet service or lack access entirely.
Under recent legislation, however, rural counties are banding together to take advantage of state and federal funding to benefit communities that lack adequate internet access.
As the coronavirus pandemic underscored, access to reliable, high-speed internet has become an essential resource for education, health care, economic growth and civic engagement. Those without access face economic and educational hardship.
In rural counties especially, internet access has significant benefits. Given the increasing frequency of catastrophic wildfires, high-quality access for emergency communications can be a matter of survival. Similarly, access to health care in small counties is extremely limited; there are only two actively licensed physicians in Sierra County, for example, making telehealth technology particularly important. And for schoolchildren, home internet access is increasingly vital to ensure equal participation.
The Legislature moved to address this internet disparity last year. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 156, which made a historic $6 billion investment in broadband infrastructure. In addition to creating a state-owned, open-access, middle-mile network, SB 156 explicitly authorized county entities to operate broadband systems. With the billions of dollars more in broadband funding available through the federal infrastructure measure that followed, the opportunities for local governments to meaningfully expand internet access in rural California are finally here.
In preparation for that funding and the implementation of SB 156, rural counties are positioning themselves to ensure they are not left behind. From developing broadband strategic plans to releasing public surveys to identify internet service gaps, rural jurisdictions are getting ready. However, this will be a complex, lengthy and competitive process, particularly if we want to obtain the amount of funding we need. Compared with urban jurisdictions, rural counties often have limited staff and financial resources, making a project of this scale particularly challenging.
To coordinate these efforts, the nonprofit advocacy group Rural County Representatives of California formed the Golden State Connect Authority, a public agency backed by 37 counties aiming closing the digital divide in rural California.
The organization will assist rural counties seeking broadband infrastructure within their communities, including the construction of open-access broadband systems owned and/or operated by local governments. This open-access model differs from traditional internet service delivery in that it develops infrastructure that may be used by multiple internet service providers, eliminating monopolies and ensuring competitive pricing for consumers.
The California Public Utilities Commission is developing the parameters and methods of distribution for the billions of dollars in state and federal funding earmarked for this purpose, including $2 billion for last-mile infrastructure projects. The interest in and demand for this state and federal funding are high, with public and private parties alike vying for resources.
It is imperative that this legislation be rolled out in a way that prioritizes high-quality internet access for California’s unserved and underserved rural communities.