Gov. Gavin Newsom, at a Central Valley elementary school on Tuesday, signed into law a trailer bill to fund the expansion of broadband fiber infrastructure throughout the state.
The $6 billion investment will increase internet access for youth, families, and businesses, including in rural areas where affordable internet access is most needed.
” Weve been talking about the digital divide and the lack of internet access for the greater part of our lives; some for a little longer,” Newsom said. ” Yet you just sit there and wonder what the hell is wrong with us that we couldnt get it done. Its frustrating because it is so foundational to the world we are living in and the opportunities that present themselves everyday that are not present in every community every single day because they lack that fundamental, basic access.
Newsom thanked President Joe Biden for making the funding available by signing the American Rescue Plan stimulus package into law in March, which will be matched in part by Californias surplus.
The legislation provides $3.5 billion to construct a statewide open-access middle mile network and $2 billion, including $1 billion specifically for rural communities, for last-mile network construction.
After a pandemic year that exposed a lack of equitable internet opportunities, especially in rural areas like Colusa County, state officials said a statewide open-access middle-mile network is an essential first step towards increasing connectivity and affordability for everyone by making it easier for more internet providers to provide fast and inexpensive service throughout the state.
Newsom said the $6 billion is just a first step to getting cheaper broadband to rural areas over the next few years, but it may take additional funding from a federal infrastructure bill to complete the task.
The legislation includes creating a ” broadband czar” and nine-member council within the California Department of Technology, and hiring a third-party to build and maintain the ” middle-mile network” high-capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at higher speeds over longer distances between local networks, officials said.
” This is an incredible day,” said Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, at the signing.
Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, said she has fought more than a dozen years for equitable internet access in the rural communities she represents and is pleased the day has finally come.
” I am thrilled that we are committing ourselves to providing vital internet infrastructure for many Californinians that have been left behind,” she added.
Aguiar-Curry said the legislation will expand 21st century high-speed broadband infrastructure to help close the digital divide that became even more evident during the pandemic in education, telemedicine, and business. –