Hwy. 36 broadband grant

The California Public Utilities Commission last week announced the award of six broadband project grants totaling $23,029,039 to increase highspeed Internet access throughout California and a proposed project along State Highway 36 through Trinity County made the list, capturing a grant of $4,212,982.

Sponsoring the Highway 36 project is IP Networks Inc. — a telecommunications services provider planning to construct a 121-mile fiber optic network that interconnects with existing PG&E transmission facilities along the rugged highway corridor.

IPN will partner with 101 Netlink, the last mile provider, to deploy broadband using PG&E infrastructure, including transmission towers, to connect to targeted underserved communities in both Humboldt and Trinity counties.

By leveraging the PG&E assets, the Highway 36 project will ultimately bring broadband connectivity from the Cottonwood substation in Shasta County to downtown Eureka in Humboldt County on the coast.

Underserved communities along the route that currently have only dial-up Internet access, including Mad River and Wildwood, will be able to connect to high-speed broadband service once the new infrastructure is in place. Wireless service will also be available to residential areas in the remote region of Trinity County that don't have it now.

The $4.2 million CPUC grant awarded last week comprises 40 percent of the total project cost and the balance is to be privately funded. Construction of the new infrastructure is targeted for completion in 2010.

The Highway 36 project and another in Siskiyou County along Highway 96 were the only ones to receive outright approval from the CPUC for 40 percent of the costs.

Four other grants were awarded in Kern, Monterey, Nevada and Madera counties on the condition that matching grants amounting to 80 percent of those projects' costs are awarded from the federal broadband stimulus portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Announcements are anticipated in December concerning grant applications for the broadband stimulus portion ($7.2 billion) of the ARRA funds.

Two proposals have been submitted for ARRA funds to install broadband fiber along the Highway 299 corridor through Trinity County to ensure a redundant service on the coast where broadband is currently provided by only one line up Highway 101 and subject to intermittent disruptions.

Trinity County representatives have been working with the Redwood Coast Connect project to ensure that if the Highway 299 fiber is installed, local communities will be able to connect and benefit from expanded high-speed Internet services.