The City of Ukiah has been awarded a significant grant as part of the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) effort to expand broadband access to underserved and unserved communities. Ukiah will receive funding through the Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program, which aims to bridge the digital divide across California.
Ukiah’s Gigabit Project will use the grant to build new fiber optic infrastructure, providing affordable high-speed internet access to residents and businesses throughout the city. The project promises to offer upload and download speeds of up to 10 Gbps, bringing crucial connectivity to areas that have historically lacked access to reliable broadband.
“This project will close the digital divide in Ukiah and provide residents with opportunities to thrive,” said Jim Robbins, the City of Ukiah’s Housing and Grants Manager. “The new infrastructure will support economic growth and ensure that our community is well-equipped for the future.”
Ukiah is one of several recipients of CPUC’s $91 million in grant awards, which were distributed to projects in Mendocino, Marin, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Sutter counties. These projects will benefit an estimated 32,000 Californians, with the goal of enhancing education, healthcare access, and economic development in rural and underserved areas.
The CPUC’s Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program is part of a broader $2 billion initiative aimed at achieving broadband access for all Californians. The CPUC has awarded more than $600 million in grants to date, with more projects under consideration.
For more information on the CPUC’s grant programs, visit the CPUC’s Federal Funding Account Recommendations and Awards webpage.
One of the most wasteful pork filled projects ever to waste taxpayers money. It would have been cheaper to buy star link dishes for the whole community.
Completely disagree with Mr. Snodgrass.
Starlink is nowhere near affordable for most people to maintain ongoing service, nor is it a “resilient” form of data access.
There are several other serious downsides, to using starlink besides further enriching the con-man known as Musk.
Our county has one of the lowest populations with internet access in the country
As much as 40 percent of households and businesses in our county lack broadband. During covid kids were doing school in parking lots from busses that got hot spotted remember?
I don’t like that we’re all grid tied now either but this is a right to services and support.
What about the dead person found on the ukiah rail trail 2 days ago? Why all the hush hush???
Between the Perkins and Gobbi section of the rail trail. Between 2-3 pm on the 12th there was a heavy police presence at the end of Cleveland lane.
This is unrelated to the article.