The California State Capitol in Sacramento, CA
As states work toward developing their 5-year action plans for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD), they are required to seek feedback from local and Tribal governments, community organizations, and Internet Service Providers. Regional workshops, public comment periods, and listening tours are a few ways that states are inviting input. Too often, community leaders and local officials in communities with the greatest need have the fewest resources to engage in federal and state processes.
Facilitating collaboration between local leaders and BEAD awardees is an important way for states to understand whether projects achieve their intended outcome of connecting residents with high-quality, affordable broadband. Absent local involvement in broadband planning, California risks replicating mistakes made in the early years of Internet policy.
During an April 19th House Energy and Commerce hearing on broadband deployment, Ernesto Falcon, Senior Legislative Counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discussed the identifiable impact that erosion of local authority over broadband has on California communities statewide. Compare California’s approach to a state like New York that retained local autonomy around franchise agreements with providers. New York City was able to leverage its authority to hold providers accountable for connecting hundreds of thousands of low-income homes with fiber service. In California, without local authority over franchise agreements, the City and County of Los Angeles have few tools to ensure that providers serve every neighborhood in their community. Consequently, only 40% of Los Angeles County is served with Fiber to the Home.
Stripping municipalities of control in broadband programs adds unnecessary obstacles to closing California’s digital divide. In comments submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on April 17, 2023, Next Century Cities reiterated the dire need to include local leaders in state broadband policy. Flexibility around application areas, prioritizing proposals that include community engagement, and providing technical support for under-resourced communities are all ways that the CPUC could implement guardrails that ensure that state broadband programs support community-driven connectivity solutions.
You can read NCC’s comments here and sign up for email updates about California’s BEAD program here. Over the next several weeks, the CPUC will host a series of public workshops intended to inform residents of the State’s BEAD rules. The list of currently scheduled workshops and their location is available here.
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