California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
______________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Media Contact: Terrie Prosper, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov Docket #: Res T- 17199
CPUC APPROVES UPGRADE OF BROADBAND SERVICE
IN UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS
SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, 2009 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved funding for five projects that will improve high-speed Internet broadband service to 197 households in five rural areas covering 4.14 square miles that are currently underserved.
The projects, funded from the CPUC's California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), represent 40 percent of the total project costs for broadband infrastructure for five rural areas:
Name of Telephone Company |
Project Name/Location |
CASF Funding (40%) |
AT&T |
Vacaville |
$171,914 |
AT&T |
Madera Acres |
$43,301 |
AT&T |
Friant |
$46,463 |
AT&T |
Clovis |
$36,393 |
AT&T |
Carmel |
$91,083 |
TOTAL |
$389,154 |
These projects are the sixth group of applications to be approved by the CPUC to help bridge the Digital Divide in the state. Underserved areas are areas where broadband is available but no facilities-based provider offers service at speeds of at least 3 Mega Bits per Second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload.
"California has strong commitment to digital inclusion," said CPUC Commissioner Rachelle Chong, a member of the state's Broadband Task Force. "Broadband is important infrastructure like highways and bridges, because it promotes economic development and has many socio-economic benefits. Our state goal is to bring world-class broadband speeds to areas where the speeds are slow, so that Web 2.0 applications can be easily accessed."
AT&T's five projects will provide high-speed, stand-alone Internet access service powered by Internet Protocol. These broadband Internet projects will allow customers to readily and immediately access information and expand educational, health, and economic opportunities.
On December 20, 2007, the CPUC established the two-year, $100 million CASF to provide 40 percent matching infrastructure grants to broadband providers willing to put up the matching 60 percent of funds and to serve the nearly 2,000 California communities that are currently unserved and underserved by broadband. Of that $100 million, $9,537,775 in broadband infrastructure grants have so far been approved.
CASF funds remain available for unserved and underserved areas and applications from broadband providers are still being accepted.
For more information the Governor's Broadband Taskforce, please visit www.calink.ca.gov/taskforce/aboutus.asp.
For more information on communications issues, please visit www.CalPhoneInfo.com.
For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.
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