North Bay prepping for millions in funding to improve broadband access – North Bay Business Journal

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With the U.S. government dangling $65 billion to improve broadband service to rural communities as part of the new $1 trillion infrastructure bill, North Bay counties are jumping to get on board with their plans to bridge that digital divide.

Local entities expect California to receive $3.5 billion from the federal government to cover the “middle mile.” If the internet was a tree, the middle mile is the trunk. The small governing bodies will link to it as branches, considered the “last mile.”

Overall, the California Public Utilities Commission has already approved 13 broadband infrastructure projects figured to cost $82 million and benefit 2,430 households.

In addition, the state has estimated it will cost $2.9 billion in improvements to get 17 Northern California counties better connected.

There’s no shortage of shortfalls for adequate internet service.

On Feb. 1, a “digital divide” report presented to the Marin County Board of Supervisors showed, that among 3,000 residents surveyed, almost 600 households are unserved. This is defined as either having no internet service available in their community or connections below the standard 25 Mbps (megabits per second) down- and uploading speeds as set by the Federal Communications Commission.

And 11% indicated in the survey they were “satisfied” with how fast and reliable their internet service is.

Like other regions, Marin County — which touts a median property value of over $1 million — has poor neighborhoods such as the Canal Neighborhood, pockets of Novato and areas of Marin City. Many residents either don’t have access or can’t afford to connect.

Also in the survey, 70% of respondents in subsidized housing identify cost as the primary reason they don’t have it.

More than 1,800 households in Marin County may elect to get it but don’t, according to data taken from the CPUC for the report.

Plus, 37% of students within the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District reported not having a reliable computer device at home. The situation is worse in the Canal Neighborhood, with 57% of households surveyed reporting not having a computer either.

“One thing that has helped people is all people seem to have a smart phone,” said Marin County Chief Information Officer Liza Massey, who runs the Digital Marin program she hopes to turn into its own entity.

The task at hand to get everyone connected and literate in internet speak is enormous. Massey estimated achieving that would cost $40 million for just this county. Marin County plans to compete for $14 million in available funding out there for rural areas.

Marin County identified seven needs to accomplish:

-Broadband for all

-Affordable Internet service

-Resilient communication networks

-Devices for everyone

-Digital literacy

-Collaboration and data sharing

-Digital adoption

“If you’re not online, how can you get online training?” Massey said, referring to the wide gap between the haves and have nots. “COVID has put a shining light on this.”

Internet connectivity impacts many aspects of life. According to a Pew Research report from 2019, 69% of Americans said not having home internet connected would mean a “major disadvantage” to find a job, get health care or gain access to other key information. This number climbed from 56% recorded in 2010.

Sonoma County also suffers from a broadband gap and attributes that division to “funding issues,” as pointed out in its 193-page digital divide report compiled in 2019. The county has formed a consortium with Marin to work together on the issue.

Sonoma County identified inadequate service areas including the Dry Creek neighborhood. There, 500 homes and 70 businesses were tagged in 2015 as without access.

“But those numbers have probably changed and require an update,” county Economic Development Broadband Analyst Calvin Sandeen told the Business Journal.

While most in Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Rohnert Park may have connections, households in the communities of Penngrove, Sonoma Mountain, Bennett Valley, Timber Cove and Cazadero are not faring as well in access or speed.

They all can’t be Sea Ranch, a Sonoma County coastal development that didn’t wait for government to act.

The seaside village of 1,300 people as of a 2010 U.S. Census report funded its own improvements in 2015 to build on the “next-generation” fiber to home networks. The system was up and running about two years later.

Sea Ranch Community Manager Jennifer Merchant said she views the improvements as a major attraction for buyers from the Bay Area who want fast internet speeds without the bustling nature of the cities.

“I go to the new members meetings, and this always comes up,” Merchant said.

The residents of Occidental and Marin County’s ag-rich Nicasio did the same.

Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has approved $3 million in funding to support getting a project manager or firm on board and up to speed. The board expects to hear something in April.

Napa County is still working on its next step.

“We’re just trying to get our arms around this,” county Supervisor Diane Dillon said, pointing out how other counties have staff members dedicated to the effort. “With this latest money, it’s like going zero to 100(mph) overnight.”

Dillon, who oversees Napa’s broadband effort, also wonders what will happen when the infrastructure is all build out. What if the carriers don’t choose to service neighborhoods? Then what?

“If we build the last mile, will they come?” she asked.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. For 27 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times, Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com.