Connecting California

A high-speed internet connection today is essential for school, health, work, and play. More importantly, a broadband connection provides a lifeline to emergency services, social services, and healthcare. Like water and power, broadband is critical infrastructure. The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund may provide up to $2.5 billion over 10 years to fund construction of broadband in California’s rural and tribal areas.

Serving broadband to all 40 million Californians requires an awareness of where people live, where networks exist, who can access those networks, and who can afford the service.

The current state of broadband reflects what happens when we leave broadband investment to market forces: unprofitable areas get left behind-these are mostly rural- and lower-income households are unable to afford service.

Many Californians already have access to broadband, enabling them to work from home when needed, attend school via distance learning, and meet with their doctor remotely using video. But the problem is more nuanced.

Millions of Californians do not have broadband where they live, and one third of Californians do not subscribe to broadband for myriad reasons. In many urban areas, the barrier is lack of affordable reliable internet, while in rural areas the barrier is more commonly lack of any usable broadband options.

For both dense urban areas and rural California, the lack of broadband access can be solved one mile at a time. According to the California Public Utilities Commission, 98% of housing units in urban areas have access to broadband (at least 25 Mbps down / 3Mbps up), whereas in rural areas, just 65% of housing units have access to broadband at those speeds. Often, service is from a single provider, because lower housing density and more difficult terrain for building infrastructure make it unprofitable for companies to compete. This means that lower rates of investment and higher prices are what defines rural California.

Broadband in Tribal areas and their communities continues to lag behind rural areas. A combination of factors – high poverty rates, low income levels, remote terrain and other factors – all contribute to the poor level of broadband access. Improved connectivity in tribal areas is critical to revitalize many tribal communities and create the same lifeline to work, school, and access to emergency, social, and health services.

This October, the FCC will award up to $16.4 billion nationwide in a reverse auction to build broadband in rural and tribal areas. All you need to do is decide to act.

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund was established by the FCC to fund the deployment of broadband to rural communities.

"The RDOF Phase I auction will begin on October 29, 2020 and will target over five million homes and businesses in census blocks that are entirely unserved by voice and broadband with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps." -- FCC.gov

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is an unprecedented opportunity for California to get federal money for broadband deployment--but the only way to get money for the state is to bid for locations. If no companies bid, then California gets no money.

The links below will direct you to resources on how to apply to participate in the FCC’s reverse auction. The window to apply is from July 1 – July 15. If you do not apply in this window, you can’t participate in the Phase I auction in October.

• June 15 - Auction application  tutorial  available online
• July 1 - Short-form application (FCC Form 183) filing window opens
• July 15 – Window closes
• October 14 - Auction bidding tutorial
• October 26 - Mock auction
• October 29 - Auction begins