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Funding for the regional broadband consortia that the California Public Utilities Commission approved four years ago has either expired or soon will. For most, that’ll mean a gap in funding while proposals for new consortia grants are processed. A total of fifteen applications were filed by last month’s deadline.
The San Diego consortium did not reapply, but it’s been inactive for some time. The One Million New Internet Users consortium in Los Angeles County didn’t come back either, which is no surprise given the way it was ripped by a state audit. The Eastern Sierra consortium split, with one group asking for funding for Inyo and Mono counties and the other for eastern Kern County. The Northeastern and Upstate consortia have combined into one. Otherwise, the new line-up looks a lot like the old one…
- Central Coast Broadband Consortium – Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito Counties
- Central Sierra Connect Consortium – Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Western Alpine Counties
- Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium – Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba Counties
- East Bay Broadband Consortium – Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano Counties
- Eastern Sierra Connect Consortium – Eastern Kern County
- Inyo-Mono Broadband Consortium – Mono, Inyo Counties
- Gold Country Broadband Consortium – Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Eastern Alpine Counties
- Inland Empire Broadband Consortium – San Bernadino, Riverside Counties
- Los Angeles County Regional Broadband Consortium – Five sub-regions of Los Angeles County
- North Bay/North Coast Regional Broadband Consortium – Mendocino, Marin, Napa, Sonoma Counties
- North State Regional Broadband Consortium – Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama Counties
- Pacific Coast Regional Broadband Consortium – San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura Counties
- Redwood Coast Connect Consortium – Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity Counties
- San Joaquin Valley Regional Broadband Consortium – San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Western Kern Counties
- Tahoe Consortium – Lake Tahoe Basin
This new round of consortia grants was approved by the legislature last year and, like the last one, will be paid for via the California Advanced Services Fund.