California Contemplates Cuts to Middle-Mile Broadband Build

State budget woes will not derail a major broadband infrastructure project in California, but cuts will be made. The question remains, where? Mark Monroe, deputy director of California’s Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative, offered an update on the state plan to develop a 10,000-mile middle-mile broadband network—the foundational infrastructure from which to build last-mile service, bringing high-speed Internet to some of the state’s most rural and hard-to-reach locations. The now-nearly $4 billion effort, an initiative born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, is about two years in the making. But in 2023, amid a state budget shortfall, officials clawed back $1.5 billion, leaving the project short. Monroe said the California Department of Technology is still studying which part of the project will need to be cut.