San Andreas, CA…Five Counties that are located in the Central Sierra region of California are working towards building a roadmap for broadband deployment. The five counties, which consist of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, have hired veteran broadband consulting firm, NEO Connect to develop the broadband roadmap. The purpose of the Central Sierra Broadband Roadmap will focus on identifying gaps in broadband service, establishing priorities, and to match funding opportunities with these priorities to accelerate investment in broadband infrastructure.

\The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and the most recently established, federal Infrastructure Bill, offer billions of broadband-related dollars to build out network infrastructure to bridge the digital divide. Since the pandemic, the disparities of areas lacking broadband infrastructure were further highlighted. In parts of the country where broadband service is lacking, students could not attend school, workers were not able to effectively conduct their business while working at home and people seeking medical help were not able to access online telemedicine services. Federal and state funding programs seek to fund critical broadband infrastructure to address these disparities.

The Central Sierra Broadband Roadmap will document and aggregate regional broadband assets, create uniform policies to aid in the acceleration of broadband infrastructure and provide an online tool and process for existing service providers to leverage existing infrastructure and funding to improve broadband services for the region. The goal of this process is to work with existing providers to facilitate improvement of services and is not to replace what the existing providers have developed.

The study has aligned its goals with the State of California’s broadband objectives. The State of California has set a goal for all Californians to have high-performance broadband available at home, schools, libraries, and businesses. The Central Sierra Broadband Roadmap aims for the development of broadband infrastructure with a minimum of download and upload speeds of at least 100 megabits per second (100/100 Mbps).

An Internet survey is available for residents in the area to provide feedback and information about the level of services currently available, how the Internet is currently being used by residents and what is most important to community members in regards to high-speed County of Calaveras Internet services. The survey can be found at www.centralsierrabroadband.com; and all residents are urged to participate and provide their input.

NEO Connect is working in partnership with California Forward’s (CA FWD) Young Leaders Advisory Council (Council). CA FWD is a statewide policy-based nonprofit committed to improving government and creating inclusive, sustainable growth for everyone across the state’s diverse regions. The Council will explore the more specific impacts that limited access to broadband has had on students and senior citizens, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students have faced unique challenges in responding to the digital learning environment. Senior citizens have been especially impacted by the increased reliance on technology for daily operations. The Council is exercising a targeted approach to conduct outreach to tribal communities as well as the previously mentioned demographics.

“CA FWD’s Young Leaders Advisory Council is excited to work on this project and utilize our unique positioning as young leaders to connect with the community and focus on equity for the future of internet connectivity,” Council Project Manager Michael Wiafe shared. “It is necessary that we deliberately include voices whose perspectives have been traditionally left out of this conversation in our work. The issue of digital equity is only getting more important as people are increasingly relying on connectivity for necessary resources.”

NEO will identify existing assets within the study area, including existing fiber optic cable, conduit and other telecommunication infrastructure and assets. Once the existing assets are mapped, NEO will identify gaps in service coverage and will put together a plan to fill those gaps. Other planning activities will be working with local stakeholders and regional service providers, establishing plans and estimated capital costs, and identifying potential partners to facilitate improving broadband infrastructure. This effort will help existing service providers by facilitating open discussion about how to jointly solve communication gaps in coverage as well as improving existing infrastructure to enable faster broadband speeds.

“NEO is thrilled to be working with the Central Sierra region on this project,” company CEO Diane Kruse said. “We are big supporters of community and regional collaboration to improve broadband services and look forward to working with the key stakeholders of this region to put forward a plan to improve broadband infrastructure.”

For more information, visit www.NEOconnect.us.
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