The bulk of the latest meeting of the Mendocino County Broadband Alliance Friday focused on discussion of the new broadband adoption program, whose rules are being developed for eligible applicants including schools, libraries and nonprofits.
Broadband Alliance Chairwoman Trish Steel said her goal was to provide the state Public Utilities Commission with suggestions that would help match the grant program to projects the county may want funded.
“Now is the time to tweak the rules,” Steel said. “Tell me what we should change if the rules don’t work for your program.”
According to a summary of the broadband adoption, monies available through AB 1665 through the state’s advanced services are allocated for broadband infrastructure adoption in rural and urban areas with a goal to increase publicly available access and digital inclusion.
Another goal is to increase access and digital inclusion through grants for digital literacy programs and public education to communities with limited adoption.
These include low-income and senior communities, communities with a high percentage of residents with limited English proficiency, a high percentage of residents with disabilities, and those with demonstrated disadvantages which affects adoption, according to the Alliance summary of the program.
Steel said because Sonoma, Napa and Marin county’s income levels are higher than Mendocino County, eligible programs countywide may want to submit their comments separately.
Thus far, according to Steel, she will be working with Bryant Herrera, education director for the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Healthy Start in Laytonville and the Redwood Coast Senior Center.
Diann Simmons, project administrator for the Economic Development and Financing Corporation, said she wanted to know if there was going to be money set aside for each county and asked if the application process was going to be so onerous that small non-profits might be discouraged from applying.
“The more we can find umbrella groups, that would seem to make more sense,” she said.
The Alliance report states in regard to digital literacy, staff recommends limiting the funding to $50,000 per project and 85 percent funding to cover costs for education and outreach efforts and materials, provision of technical support for the installation of equipment subsidized through the program, and to pay for digital literacy instructors, among other expenses. The commission will also fund acceptable devices, printers and software, routers and staffing for monitoring designated spaces.
Applications will be accepted by the commission until July 1.
Access Sonoma Broadband Co-Chairman Mike Nicholls said his county partnered with local service clubs to provide child care for working mothers who came in to use computers at district schools after hours.
“Our goal is to get the Latino population into business-related jobs,” he said, adding that, according to estimates, in three years the Latino population is going to be the majority in the county. Nicholls said junior college interns have been working as interns helping to train people on high-speed computers at Sonoma Valley High School.
Herrera said his community has been offering teaching through technology, including coding and programming classes and technical type support.
According to Herrera, a large percentage of area students have online classes but don’t have high-speed internet access available to them.
Jim Moorehead, former Alliance chairman, said the problem with e-rate programs which provide discounted telecommunications, internet access and internal connections to eligible schools is that although it addresses school connectivity, teachers and staff need to get online, but unless they have some sort of satellite connection, are unable to do so outside of school hours.
Evaluation criteria and requirements for participating programs were also analyzed and discussed by the Alliance members. Foreseeable issues which may need to be addressed regarding the efficacy of adoption include: How can the commission gather metrics on the program’s results? A summary of program evaluation criteria points out there is no way to guarantee that education and outreach will affect adoption levels. The membership explored the question of how can the commission determine the socioeconomic benefits of the program to low-income communities.
Third District Supervisor Georgeanne Croskey said program participants need to look at what is the access at home, regardless of socioeconomic factors.
Legislation updates
Broadband legislation includes AB 1959 (Assemblyman Jim Woods, D-Healdsburg) addressing telecommunications and universal service programs. This bill would extend administrative fund program requirements to Jan. 1, 2023, which require the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by a universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason and was referred to the committee on communications and conveyance last month.
Another piece of legislation, AB 2537 (Assembly member Wendy Carillo D-Los Angeles) seeks to amend sections of the Public Utilities code relating to communications and would repeal language creating the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Trust Administrative Committee and instead establish the Lifeline and Broadband Oversight Board to advise the Federal Communications Commission on the effective development, implementation and administration of the lifeline program.
Among other things, the board would serve as a liaison between the commission and low-income subscribers and representatives to carry out the program pursuant to the FCC’s direction, control and approval.
The bill may be heard in committee on March 17.
The next meeting of the Broadband Alliance is scheduled for May 4, at the Community Foundation of Mendocino County offices in Ukiah.
