WISPA: California should rethink its 'fiber-above-all' broadband plan

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) presented a draft five-year plan to connect the state’s unserved with broadband using the $1.86 billion it received through the federal government’s Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. But the CPUC’s plan comes with a warning that the total $4 billion available in state and federal broadband funding won't be enough to completely bridge the digital divide in California. There is a significant need for broadband across all of California, said the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association’s (WISPA) state advocacy manager for California, Steve Schwerbel. “Whether it's parts of LA, or rural parts of the state that are more agriculturally focused and have that population density issue that fiber doesn't build out to well.” The CPUC estimated cost for full coverage with a fiber-to-the-premises network design is approximately $10 billion, including fire protection (about $2 billion). That’s a massive shortfall from the $4 billion the state has in pocket, which Schwerbel noted is “before even considering any digital equity work or getting community anchor institutions connected.” WISPA has called these concerns unsurprising, as California and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have chosen a “fiber-above-all” approach for government-subsidized buildouts, instead of opting for a tech-neutral approach that would allow for more fixed wireless and other fiber-alternative projects in the state. While WISPA “supports fiber,” Schwerbel said a lot of the association’s members decide when to deploy fiber and when to deploy fixed wireless on a case-by-case basis, where each one of those pieces makes sense.