Based on its demonstrated success in promoting the expansion of broadband (high speed) Internet service to its rural service areas, SEDCorp has been contracted by the California Emerging Technology Fund www.cetfund.org to lead one of seven regional projects map designed to achieve the goal stated in Governor Schwatzenegger’s 2006 Executive Order of making broadband service available throughout the State by 2010.  The Gold Country Broadband Project is focused on the rural areas of the counties of Sierra, Nevada, Placer, and El Dorado and the eastern side of Alpine County.  It has been on-going since April 2008 and is the second most advanced of the seven projects.  The first project, conducted in four Redwood Coast counties in northwestern California, was completed at the end of 2008.  The final report for that project can be viewed at http://redwoodcoastconnect.humboldt.edu

SEDCorp’s Scope of Work encompasses three tasks:

1. Getting a handle on the aggregated demand for broadband service across the project area.  In general, this task addresses the questions of who has broadband service, who doesn’t, who wants it, what they might do with it and what they are willing to pay for it.  The answers to these questions are vitally important to the broadband service providers who would potentially bring service to the unserved parts of the project area.
2. Working with the region’s broadband providers to develop a plan to extend service throughout the region to every home and business.  In fact, the steering committee  for the Gold Country project adopted the goal of developing a plan that would offer a choice of at least two broadband service providers to every business and residence.
3. Working with the region’s jurisdictions to identify best practices for facilitating the expansion of broadband service and cross-leveling those policies and procedures for adoption throughout the region.

Aggregated Demand

SEDCorp took three approaches to collecting information on the region’s aggregated demand for broadband service.  First, SEDCorp staff, assisted by County and local representatives, conducted numerous community meetings throughout the project area from April through July 2008, inviting those interested in broadband service to hear a brief informative presentation and then to participate in a survey.  Second, the survey was made available on the SEDCorp web site for interested parties to download, complete and mail.  Third, SEDCorp contracted with Chico State University’s Center for Economic Development (CED) to conduct random telephonic surveys throughout the project’s rural areas.  Approximately four hundred individuals, both home owners and business owners, “self-selected” to participate in the surveys through the first or second approach.  Another sixteen hundred, including approximately four hundred businesses, participated in the random surveys.  CED has completed the analysis of the collected survey data and, the final report is being drafted.  When complete, it will be posted to this site. [see also: Power Point presentation shown to community member participants ; list of community meeting sites ; survey

Broadband Providers

Shortly after being approached by CETF in late 2007 to lead the Gold Country Broadband Project, SEDCorp staff began to gather information on regional broadband providers and make preliminary contact with them.  By early 2009, nearly forty providers potentially serving the project area have been identified.   broadband providers by county   Each new contact has been oriented on opening a continuing dialogue about the progress of the Gold Country project and the progress and challenges being faced by the providers.  In each case, SEDCorp staff has asked each provider what they would need to accelerate the expansion of their systems into un-served or under-served areas.  When their answer has been “lack of capital,” we immediately turned to one of the strengths of having SEDCorp, a regional economic development organization, as the Gold Country Broadband Project lead: SEDCorp is a non-profit lender to businesses.  SEDCorp has been able to make loans to two broadband providers that provided the capital they needed to acquire equipment for upgrading and expanding their networks sooner than they would otherwise have been able to do so.  The results have been stunning.  For example, as of April 2008, there was very little broadband service available in Sierra County.  As a result of a strategic SEDCorp loan, nearly half of Sierra County now has broadband service and, in many locations, has a choice of broadband providers because of the response of competitors to the rapid expansion of the broadband company that received a SEDCorp loan.  SEDCorp is continuing to work with broadband providers to find the capital they need to expand their systems.

  SEDCorp has pulled together the providers to disseminate important information about State initiatives, host briefings on the latest technology by broadband hardware and software vendors, and re-enforce a working relationship intended to develop a comprehensive plan for ubiquitous service coverage throughout the project area.   

Best Planning Practices

Public officials throughout the project area recognize the importance of broadband service to the economic development of their jurisdictions and the benefit of their constituents.  All have publicly stated positions supporting the expansion of broadband service availability.  However, the region does not enjoy a common standard of written policies and procedures regarding the expansion of broadband network systems.  Even in jurisdictions with relatively good policies and procedures in place, there may be opportunities for improvement.  Certainly, it would be helpful to all jurisdictions to make them aware of what their neighbors are doing and to afford them the opportunity to adopt the best practices of others.  SEDCorp is working to ease that process by gathering copies of written policies and procedures from each jurisdiction and hosting meetings where they can be collectively examined and where feedback can be provided to the authors.  SEDCorp is also introducing broadband providers into those meetings to provide direct feedback to the planners on their experiences in dealing with existing policies and procedures.  Though a single standard for policies and procedures is probably too much to expect, it is hoped that the process will, indeed, make it easier for broadband providers to expand their systems.

Gold Country Broadband and ARRA

Because of its success with its broadband project over the last year, SEDCorp was positioned to respond to the extraordinary opportunity represented by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  SEDCorp has commited to assembling a collective application for State and Federal funds to cover 90% of the cost to expand and upgrade fourteen providers' systems over the next two years.  Progress updates for that project will be posted periodically to this website.