The number of broadband infrastructure projects proposed for California Advanced Services Fund subsidies more than doubled on Tuesday, as two Internet service providers – Charter Communications and Digital Path – distributed summaries of the grant applications they submitted on Monday. The total, though, didn’t increase nearly as dramatically.
The count now stands at 52 project proposals totalling $528 million, up from 25 projects at $506 million. That’s against something like $300 million or less in the CASF broadband infrastructure account. The full list, including links to the public summaries, is below.
Charter is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to pay 100% of the cost of extending its hybrid fiber-coax networks to 16 Californian neighborhoods and 2,800 homes, stretching from Shasta County in the north to Orange County in the south. The total ask is $17 million, which comes out to a $6,100 subsidy per home. It also wants the same waivers of price guarantees and free installation it asked for and received when it applied for four grants and got three last year.
Like other wireless Internet service providers, Digital Path isn’t asking for a lot of money, at least compared to the wireline applicants. It wants $4.8 million for 11 wireless projects in the northern end of the state and the Central Valley which will cover 3,200 homes, at an average subsidy of $1,500 each. The project summaries it distributed yesterday are light on details, including how much, if any, skin the company is willing to put in the game or what it will charge customers. It doesn’t explicitly say that it’ll use unlicensed frequencies to deliver last mile service, but reading between the lines that appears to be the plan.
CASF Project Proposals – 4 May 2020 Grant Application Window
| Project | Applicant | Grant Request |
Housing Units |
$/HU | County | Tech | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Vista | Charter | $715,356 | 60 | $11,923 | Shasta | HFC | ||
| Brookside | Charter | $933,563 | 243 | $3,842 | Los Angeles | HFC | ||
| Country Meadows | Charter | $2,165,515 | 314 | $6,897 | San Bernardino | HFC | ||
| Darlene Road | Charter | $815,967 | 7 | $116,567 | Ventura | HFC | ||
| El Dorado Estates | Charter | $1,477,032 | 276 | $5,352 | Ventura | HFC | ||
| Foothill Terrace | Charter | $489,513 | 327 | $1,497 | Los Angeles | HFC | ||
| Kingswood Estates | Charter | $1,210,006 | 120 | $10,083 | Placer | HFC | ||
| Los Alisos | Charter | $1,299,530 | 451 | $2,881 | Orange | HFC | ||
| Monterey Manor | Charter | $796,198 | 92 | $8,654 | San Bernardino | HFC | ||
| Mountain Shadows | Charter | $2,006,811 | 132 | $15,203 | San Bernardino | HFC | ||
| Oxnard Pacific | Charter | $1,725,964 | 171 | $10,093 | Ventura | HFC | ||
| Plaza Village | Charter | $658,436 | 178 | $3,699 | Orange | HFC | ||
| River Oaks | Charter | $829,462 | 45 | $18,432 | San Benito | HFC | ||
| Riverbank | Charter | $299,115 | 43 | $6,956 | Stanislaus | HFC | ||
| Soboda Springs | Charter | $983,817 | 249 | $3,951 | Riverside | HFC | ||
| Villa Montclair | Charter | $548,279 | 64 | $8,567 | San Bernardino | HFC | ||
| Butte Yuba | Digital Path | $872,761 | 582 | $1,500 | Butte, Yuba | Wireless | ||
| Fresno County | Digital Path | $448,349 | 299 | $1,499 | Fresno | Wireless | ||
| Glenn County | Digital Path | $361,500 | 241 | $1,500 | Glenn | Wireless | ||
| Lake County | Digital Path | $123,000 | 82 | $1,500 | Lake | Wireless | ||
| Mendocino County | Digital Path | $138,000 | 92 | $1,500 | Mendocino | Wireless | ||
| Plumas Lassen | Digital Path | $865,000 | 577 | $1,499 | Plumas, Lassen | Wireless | ||
| Sacramento County | Digital Path | $230,000 | 154 | $1,494 | Sacramento | Wireless | ||
| Sierra County | Digital Path | $241,000 | 161 | $1,497 | Sierra | Wireless | ||
| Siskiyou County | Digital Path | $138,000 | 92 | $1,500 | Siskiyou | Wireless | ||
| Sutter Placer | Digital Path | $418,433 | 277 | $1,511 | Sutter | Wireless | ||
| Tehama County | Digital Path | $935,976 | 624 | $1,500 | Tehama | Wireless | ||
| Central Coast | Etheric | $3,180,330 | 1,976 | $1,609 | Monterey, San Benito | Wireless | ||
| Crescent City | Frontier | $1,586,885 | 134 | $11,842 | Del Norte | FTTP | ||
| Cuyama | Frontier | $12,462,755 | 131 | $95,136 | Kern, Santa Barbara | FTTP | ||
| Garberville | Frontier | $3,776,254 | 106 | $35,625 | Humboldt | FTTP | ||
| Herlong | Frontier | $7,668,801 | 273 | $28,091 | Lassen | FTTP | ||
| Knights Landing | Frontier | $4,590,845 | 104 | $44,143 | Colusa, Sutter, Yolo | FTTP | ||
| Lake Isabella | Frontier | $9,595,168 | 405 | $23,692 | Kern | FTTP | ||
| Mad River | Frontier | $8,169,979 | 203 | $40,246 | Humboldt, Trinity | FTTP | ||
| Northeast Phase 2 | Frontier | $10,358,969 | 502 | $20,635 | Plumas, Tehama | FTTP | ||
| Piercy | Frontier | $7,797,273 | 805 | $9,686 | Mendocino | FTTP | ||
| Smith River | Frontier | $1,428,479 | 55 | $25,972 | Del Norte | FTTP | ||
| Hoopa Valley | Hunter | $8,233,340 | 1,198 | $6,873 | Humboldt | FTTP, wireless | ||
| Mendocino County | Hunter | $290,327,940 | 5,870 | $49,460 | Mendocino | FTTP, wireless | ||
| Long Valley | Plumas Sierra | $4,118,255 | 54 | $76,264 | Plumas | FTTP | ||
| Mohawk Valley | Plumas Sierra | $2,271,039 | 54 | $42,056 | Plumas | FTTP | ||
| Portola | Plumas Sierra | $2,587,677 | 85 | $30,443 | Plumas | FTTP | ||
| Scott Road | Plumas Sierra | $4,307,475 | 88 | $48,949 | Lassen, Sierra | FTTP | ||
| Sierra Valley | Plumas Sierra | $5,123,342 | 283 | $18,104 | Plumas, Sierra | FTTP, wireless | ||
| Southern Lassen | Plumas Sierra | $13,630,662 | 868 | $15,704 | Lassen | FTTP | ||
| Gigafy Arbuckle | Race | $4,241,181 | 480 | $8,836 | Colusa | FTTP | ||
| Gigafy Backus 2 | Race | $4,702,649 | 266 | $17,679 | Kern | FTTP | ||
| Gigafy Nevada City | Race | $6,154,776 | 499 | $12,334 | Nevada | FTTP | ||
| Gigafy Williams | Race | $6,758,805 | 588 | $11,495 | Colusa | FTTP | ||
| Sonoma/Napa | Web Perception | $1,450,697 | 504 | $2,878 | Napa. Sonoma | Wireless | ||
| West Sonoma County | WiConduit | $81,886,095 | 1,342 | $61,018 | Sonoma | FTTP | ||
| Total | $528,136,253 | 22,826 | $23,137 |
The Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) supported Charter’s San Benito County proposal and assisted Etheric Networks with its application. The Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium (CCABC) assisted DigitalPath. I assisted the CCBC and the CCABC, and also kibitzed on other projects. I’m not a disinterested commentator. Take it for what it’s worth.