Funds Insufficient to Close Digital Divide, California Says

The $4 billion available for closing California's digital divide, including broadband equity access and deployment program funds and those allocated by the state legislature, won't be enough to bring broadband infrastructure to all unserved locations, the state Public Utilities Commission said Monday in its draft five-year BEAD action plan. The agency said it also lacks enough money to address underserved locations as well as community anchor institutions lacking 1 Gbps service. Citing CostQuest cost modeling, the PUC said fiber-to-the-premises for all unserved locations would cost $9.78 billion. The PUC California's size also could make it a challenge for some BEAD-funded subgrantees to get their work done within the required timeline. Comments are due Aug. 7, replies Aug. 11, on the action plan, which is due to NTIA by Aug. 27.