Broadband Will Be the ‘Great Equalizer’ for Rural Californians

Two consortia — Northeastern California Connect (NECCC) and Upstate California Connect (UCCC) — are coupling efforts to develop a broadband infrastructure plan that could provide Internet access to more than 1 million rural Northern California residents in 11 counties collectively.

“We’re ensuring that rural citizens in Northern California will not be disenfranchised in terms of essential needs for the 21st century,” said Tom West, consortium manager with Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, the group that submitted the grant application on behalf of NECCC and UCCC. The three-year project is supported by two California Advanced Services Fund Rural and Urban Broadband Consortia grants approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Dec. 1, 2011, along with five other consortia across the state. The seven grants total more than $1.5 million. NECCC and UCCC are funded for $449,991 and $448,184, respectively.