An expert panel directed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to develop a strategy to attain affordable universal access to advanced telecommunications estimates it would cost $6.8 billion to build passive optical fiber network infrastructure in support of that goal in areas of the Golden State where fiber hasn’t been deployed. The California Broadband Council’s Broadband Action Plan for 2020 – the first year of an iterative five year plan – notes America’s largest state has faced longstanding advanced telecommunications infrastructure deficits, which it terms a “complex and deep rooted” challenge.
“Providing fiber connectivity across California will take a long time, and require considerable investment from the state and the federal government,” the plan notes. It calls for Identifying alternative financing opportunities with government and philanthropic partners to maximize funding for new infrastructure. These include working with local governments to explore opportunities for public financing, including but not limited to bond instruments and alternative financial models and strategies such as making public infrastructure available for lease.
Analysis & commentary on America's troubled transition from analog telephone service to digital advanced telecommunications and associated infrastructure deficits.
Showing posts with label fiber infrastructure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiber infrastructure. Show all posts
Friday, January 08, 2021
Friday, January 23, 2015
Where high hopes of fiber telecom infrastructure collide with weak federal funding
Changes to RUS Broadband Loan Program Include Rural Gigabit Pilot - Telecompetitor: When President Obama spoke last week about reforms to the USDA Rural Utilities Service broadband loan program, he was referencing changes adopted in the 2014 Farm Bill, a USDA official advised in an email to Telecompetitor.Joan Engebretson's report illustrates the wide gulf between the Obama's administration's aspirations for fiber telecommunications infrastructure America needs for the 21st century and the stark paucity of available funding under current federal programs to help finance this high cost endeavor.
Casey Peck, General Manager of the Kalona Cooperative Telephone Co. of Kalona, Iowa pointed up the gap in this opinion piece appearing in the Kalona News:
It seems the President’s objective is to encourage municipal construction of broadband networks, which would compete with existing providers. The push to allow municipalities to construct broadband networks, which is prohibited by state law in 19 states but not in Iowa, will do little or nothing for the actual rural customers for which Obama claims to be concerned.
The fact is that most companies want nothing more than to roll out the next generation of broadband services, but simply do not have the cash flow to do so. The biggest hurdle facing those consumers without high-speed internet services is provider’s lack of funding to get these services to the most remote customer in their areas.
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