Fiber Focus Leaves CA Unserved at Risk
For better or worse, California is America’s de facto super-ego, never shy to warn us about all the things we need to do so we can live our best lives (for the planet).??
They slap a warning label on something, and the rest of the nation takes notice.?
Well, here’s something new to take notice of.
Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) laid out its draft, 5-year BEAD plan to connect the unserved with broadband. In the plan, it put a major warning label on state and federal efforts to bridge the digital divide, noting that with?$4 billion in state and federal funding available, “while significant, this amount will not enable deployment of broadband infrastructure to all unserved locations in the State.”
The draft plan estimates approximately $10 billion?would be needed to serve all unserved locations with a fiber-to-the-premises network design, including just over $2 billion to harden locations against fire threats.?
Adding yet more cost, CPUC further cautions that “the timeline for universal service with fiber-to-the-premises would extend beyond the [NTIA] BEAD funding timeline and require additional federal and State funding.”
This should surprise no one.
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Though Congress and a host of others urged a sensible, tech-neutral approach to bridge the divide, California and the NTIA chose otherwise, favoring “fiber-above-all” for their government-subsidized buildouts.
That limiting framework should have come with its own warning label: “Caution – Fiber costs more.?Can’t go everywhere.?And takes far more time to reach those that it can. Unserved communities most at risk.”??
If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that CPUC seemingly recognizes the conundrum it and the NTIA have put itself in.?It can’t do it all with the preferred “future proof” plan.?
An ancient philosopher once said, "Notice the opportunities that come disguised as challenges."
One hopes California broadband officials (and others similarly situated) take notice of the opportunity they have.?Employing a diverse mix of technologies, as well as players, will get more online sooner and at less cost to taxpayers – a simple, elegant fix to the challenge of limited funding, one which Congress plainly envisioned in the first place.
CPUC’s broadband deployment plan shouldn’t come with a warning label for the unserved.?
Vice President Of Engineering and Network Operations at Impact Internet
1 年They don’t care about unserved folks. They only care about who pay them most for lobbying. That’s how the system works. Get with this program
broadcast engineer & journalist | coder | Past SMPTE VR/AR Study Group Secretary & TLX Drafting Group Chair
1 年Oh, did some special-interest group lose out in the debate?
CEO Cherry Capital Connection DBA: Cherry Capital Communications a Michigan CLEC
1 年Michigan just released their draft version of their 5 year plan. $3,000 per household connected. Their goal is 95% connected. They awarded under ROBIN $2,300 per household. 100% of ROBIN was net zero, 75% below national average monthly, and fiber. Reflection of what to expect. We will recommend high cost at $2,300 per household and unlicensed be accepted. However a long shot so we will stick with fiber.
Government Relations | Public Policy | Strategic Partnerships | Emerging Technologies
1 年CoolWaters Technology has the solution to resolve broadband demand and mitigate power management weaknesses with grids. The cost per unit is roughly similar to legacy installations and retrofits. When we look at keeping the past the present and future, we may be missing real transformative innovation. Www.coolwaterstech.com