[RTC List] Gov. Schwarzenegger Applauds Award of Over $173 Million in Broadband Grants

Mon Sep 27 17:00:41 PDT 2010

Aloha Larry (fyi RTC colleagues) -

Appreciate the sentiment, but...

Although my organization (and I personally) made substantial efforts in
pursuit of ARRA broadband stimulus support for comprehensive community
broadband deployments - I am not ready to go negative.

We need to keep our eye on the prize - and Federal funding is not the prize
- it is but one means to reach our goal.

We are addressing structural issues in the US that have caused market
failure in meeting remote/rural/local needs for broadband communications -
so IMHO we need to look at the policy framework (federal/state/local laws
and regulations), consider all the available resources and move forward ...

To that end, I'll be spending the next week in DC - meeting with folks who
are engaged with setting policy (Congress, FCC, etc.) and who have an
important role in guiding national investments of public and private
resources to meet our goals... now is the time to redouble our efforts and
work smart!

PS.  Sorry that I'll miss the "Redwood Coast Broadband Forum" and I hope
there are constructive discussions to help organize local, state and tribal
efforts.  Please look for Harold Horne (vice chair) and other Board members
from Access Humboldt and let them know what you think we can do to advance
local interests.

And soon we'll convene another action group meeting for Digital Redwoods
initiative to advance that vision.

Aloha,
Sean

Sean McLaughlin
Executive Director
Access Humboldt
P.O. Box 157, Eureka, CA 95502
tel: 707-476-1798
dir: 707-476-2873
fax: 707-476-1702
cel: 707-616-2381
DC: 202-495-0616
e: sean at accesshumboldt.net
http://accesshumboldt.net
http://digitalredwoods.net

"Local Voices Through Community Media"

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 3:37 PM, Larry Goldberg <larry at northcoast.com>wrote:

> WE'VE BEEN SHAFTED... AGAIN!  Typical - look at all the effort that's been
> extended in this area - over six grant applications submitted for fiber &
> wireless broadband over the past two years and NOTHING! These grants were
> supposed to help with rural, underserved communities.  Look who got the
> funding: LA, City and County of San Francisco and Monterey.  Give me a
> break!
>
> I'm really curious what we're going to talk about at the Broadband Forum on
> Wednesday...
>
> On Sep 27, 2010, at 3:11 PM, Sean McLaughlin wrote:
>
> More ARRA broadband stimulus news -
> Most CA grants going South!
>
> So far - just one small "sustainable adoption" grant to Access Humboldt for
> "digital literacy" project...
>
> http://accesshumboldt.net/site/stimulus-funding-promote-digital-literacy-humboldt-county
>
> Any other ARRA broadband grants for the Redwood Coast??
>
> Local efforts have managed to secure State (CASF) support for fiber
> deployment - IP Networks/PG&E tapped millions in public funding - but so
> far, we've gotten shorted on federal ARRA support...
>
>
> *From:* Governor's Press Office [mailto:govpressoffice at gov.ca.gov]
> *Sent:* Monday, September 27, 2010 2:22 PM <hrdowden at aol.com>
> *Subject:* Gov. Schwarzenegger Applauds Award of Over $173 Million in
> Broadband Grants
>
>
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> [image: Office of the Governor]
>
> *PRESS RELEASE*
>
>      For Immediate Release:
>
> Monday, September 27, 2010
>
> Contact:  Aaron McLear
>
> Matt Hirsch
>
> 916-445-5880
>
>
> *Gov. Schwarzenegger Applauds Award of Over $173 Million in Broadband
> Grants*
>
> *Includes $154 Million Award for Cutting-Edge Public Safety System for Los
> Angeles*
>
>
> Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after
> the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information
> Agency announced $173.3 million in four broadband related American Recovery
> and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) grants to benefit California. The
> grantees include the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications
> System Authority (LA-RICS), the California Emerging Technology Fund, the
> City and County of San Francisco, and the Monterey County Office of
> Education.
>
> “California stands to benefit a great deal through improvements in
> infrastructure and job creation thanks to the broadband grants awarded
> today,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Given our state’s strong commitment
> to broadband advances, California is helping lead the way in broadband
> applications for public safety, telemedicine and digital literacy for all
> Californians. These projects will turn the digital divide into digital
> opportunities for our students, our workforce, the disadvantaged and our
> first responders.”
>
> The largest award is a $154,640,000 grant to the Los Angeles Regional
> Interoperable Communications System Authority (LA-RICS) to build the
> LA-SafetyNet project. The LA SafetyNet project will enable a modern 700 MHz
> public safety interoperable broadband network that will allow multiple
> public safety agencies in the Los Angeles region to respond to large scale
> emergencies such as earthquakes and wildfires. This network will connect
> over 80 public safety agencies, and about 34,000 first responders such as
> fire, sheriff, and police personnel, encompassing a sprawling terrain of
> over 4,060 square miles where 10 million people reside. The network will
> connect almost 300 wireless 700 MHz public safety sites using new and
> existing infrastructure, fixed microwave backhaul rings, and 100 miles of
> high capacity fiber backbone. This state-of-the-art Long Term Evolution
> (LTe) network will enable computer-aided dispatch, rapid law-enforcement
> inquiries, real time video streaming, medical telemetry and patient
> tracking, geographic information systems services for first responders and
> other broadband applications. A similar interoperable wireless public safety
> project was funded by a Broadband Recovery Act Grant for the BayWEB project
> in the San Francisco Greater Bay Area on August 18, 2010.
>
> The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) received its second
> Broadband Recovery Act grant with its “Access to Careers and Technology”
> project.  NTIA gave CETF a grant for $7,108,181 to place unemployed persons
> in information technology industry jobs by providing outreach, training, and
> services to at risk youth, persons for whom English is a second language
> (ESL), public housing residents, the homeless, and people with disabilities.
> In six regions of California, the project will provide broadband tools to
> help these groups develop information technology skills, digital literacy
> and improve job placement. Qualified low income persons will be able to earn
> a computer by graduating from a broadband training curriculum designed to
> create community broadband adoption ambassadors (a state digital literacy
> corps). To measure adoption and workforce development outcomes, the CETF
> will use a web-based standardized assessment tools to track the progress of
> the participants. It will train 37,000 residents offering 1.2 million hours
> of teacher-led training. The project partners include Acme Network, CAMINOS
> – Pathways Learning Center, California Resources and Training, Chrysalis,
> The Stride Center, OCCUR, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo
> and Marin Counties, San Diego Futures Foundation, Youth Radio, EmpowerNet
> California and Southeast Community Development Corporation.  CETF was formed
> by the California PUC to help bridge the Digital Divide, using $60 million
> in donations by AT&T and Verizon.
>
> The third project awarded is for $7,931,632 to the City and County of San
> Francisco for its San Francisco Community Broadband Opportunities Program
> (SF-CBOP). San Francisco’s project focuses on seniors and African American/
> Latino persons, who were found by a 2009 city study to only subscribe to
> broadband at rates of 42% and 61% respectively, compared to the city-wide
> average of 82%. The partners will engage in broadband training to seniors,
> adults in residential treatment, low income and ESL youth, and other
> economically and socially disadvantaged groups. SF-CBOP will offer training
> sessions to reach 8,000 residents with over 300,000 teacher-led training
> hours in senior centers, group homes, San Francisco’s Beacon Centers and at
> City College. A volunteer “digital literacy corps” will be formed for
> training and support, and empowering the local community to develop its own
> digital literacy. Annual surveys will track progress and metrics. Project
> partners include Community Living Campaign, Community Technology Network,
> Self Help for the Elderly, National Council on Aging, Conard House Inc.,
> City College of San Francisco, San Francisco Adult Day Services Network,
> Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, San Francisco Housing
> Authority, Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Bay Area Video
> Coalition.
>
> The final Broadband award is a $3,631,495 grant to the Monterey County
> Office of Education for its Central Coast Broadband Consortium Public
> Computer Alliance. This area has a high degree of non English speaking
> persons and only 70% of adults hold a high school diploma or equivalent. The
> Monterey County Office of Education and its partners will expand the Office
> of Education’s Career Technology Education center in Salinas, which provides
> high school students with 360 hours of training to receive a certificate in
> digital media production skills and the opportunity to obtain vocational
> placement or continue their training at Hartnell College, a community
> college. Hartnell College will expand its access and training programs to
> its Alisal and King City satellite campuses. The project will also establish
> three new public computer centers, upgrade about 25 more, and deploy 200 new
> computer workstations while upgrading more than 300. The project partners
> include Hartnell College, Monterey County Free  Libraries, The National
> Steinbeck Center, Community Information Center, Community Information
> Center, California State University Monterey Bay, Boys and Girls Clubs of
> Monterey County, and Access Monterey Peninsula.
>
> *Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger*
> State Capitol Building
> Sacramento, CA 95814
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> Larry Goldberg
> larry at northcoast.com
>
>
>
>
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