WEBVTT
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You have reached the
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California Advanced Services Fund Annual Public Workshop.
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Selena Wong, you may begin.
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Thank you.
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Good morning.
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Welcome to the California Advanced Services Fund
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or CASF Annual Workshop.
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My name is Selena Wong
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and I'm the program manager for
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the communication division broadband
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retail and market branch.
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Before we get started,
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here are some logistics announcements.
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Today's workshop is being recorded
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and it's available online via admin monitor
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and Verizon call in.
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Then call in for public comments and questions is
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+1-800-857-1917.
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The passcode is 1767567#.
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Questions may also be submitted to
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casf_workshop@cpuc.ca.gov.
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If you experience any difficulties
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calling in for public comments or questions,
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please contact IT Technical assistance at (415) 703-2598.
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It's been just over a year
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since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
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The pandemic forced the CPUC to adapt to mostly
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the work from home in environment.
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CASF staff have had to juggle competing demands,
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a record number of grant applications
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coupled with a huge federal funding opportunity.
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And on top of that,
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they care for their children and homeschooling.
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Last year in April,
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many of you joined us for our first roadshow
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CASF annual Workshop.
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This year, I'm glad to see that many of you
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continue to join us
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and we also have some new participants.
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On behalf of the team,
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we thank you for your time and participation today.
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Like I said last year,
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broadband is more important than ever.
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Especially in light of the pandemic
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and people working from home
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and students doing distance learning.
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The pandemic has proven that broadband is a necessity.
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As evidenced by all of those attending
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our second CASF Workshop,
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100% remotely.
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Unfortunately, some people in California
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still do not have access to reliable broadband.
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Since 2008, the CASF program has helped
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close the digital divide in California,
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by providing subsidies to build
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and expand broadband facilities
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to unserved areas of the State.
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The program has funded different projects with a goal of
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making broadband available to 98% of households
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in each consortium region by 2022.
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Next slide please.
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Last year posed several major challenges
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but despite that,
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the CPUC approved 11 new infrastructure grants
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totaling approximately $20 million.
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Two consortium grants worth $900,000.
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60 adoptions grants worth $3.1 million.
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Three public housing worth $148,000.
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And nine tribal technical assistance grants worth $538,000.
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The tribal technical assistance program
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is a new grant program to support tribes,
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in improving broadband access on tribal lands.
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Also in response to the pandemic,
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the CPUC leveraged $5 million
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in the CASF Adoption Account Funds to help school districts
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purchase devices for remote learning.
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Next slide please.
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The CPUC received a record number of
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54 CASF infrastructure grant applications
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that if awarded
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would exceed the remaining funds available.
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Assembly Bill 82 passed in June, 2020,
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allows State leveraging of Federal Funds.
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The prohibition on funding broadband infrastructure costs
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that are also funded by federal programs
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was set on July 1st, 2020.
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And after the Federal Communications Commission's
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announcement of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund or RDOF
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auction 904 winning bidders,
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the CPUC created new procedures to account for
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possibility of Federally Funded projects
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overlapping those contained in CASF applications.
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However, we still have a lot of work to do.
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Today as part of our implementation of the CASF program,
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we gathered regional consortia, stakeholders,
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local governments, existing facility based
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broadband providers and consumers to facilitate
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collaboration regarding cost effective strategies
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to reach unserved areas and bridge the digital divide
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in California.
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Next slide please.
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We have a full agenda today.
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And we are very delighted to host
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FCC acting chair, Jessica Rosenworcel.
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And we are very pleased to have
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President Batjer and Commissioners
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Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry and George Soares,
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policy consultants for Senator Lina Gonzalez join us.
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And I would also like to thank other speakers.
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Louise fishers, James Pang, David Espinoza,
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Sabrina Pam and Angela Chen.
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And I want to express my thanks and appreciation
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to the staff for working so hard to get us to this point.
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Special thanks to communications division staff,
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Winston Cookie, Taylor Chen, Commissioner Advisor
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Polar Enrique, Stella Sharpe, Eileen Odell,
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Sarah Thomas, Maryann Mel chi
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from our office of governmental affairs.
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And Robert Bedford and Joel Hagar from IT
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for putting together the workshop today.
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Last but not least.
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Thank you very much again for joining us today.
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Now let's get started.
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Next slide please.
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I would like to hand this off to President Batjer,
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to lead us with the introduction.
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I have to take myself off mute, never forget (laughing).
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Thank you so much Selena.
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And I really wanna join you in thanking the CASF team
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and what a great job you all are doing,
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under sometimes pretty difficult circumstances
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and a lot has happened this year
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during a COVID pandemic for sure.
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So thank you so much.
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And thank you for putting this program together
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and for this workshop agenda.
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And I would like to add my thanks to my advisor,
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Michael Maloney for also assisting me
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in my preparations for today.
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I would like to of course extend my gratitude
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to Commissioner Guzman Aceves,
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for leading the Commission's efforts
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to improve broadband infrastructure
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and affordability for all Californians.
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I'm delighted to join today's workshop
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and look forward,
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very much look forward to
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hearing more about the progress of the
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California Advanced Service Fund,
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as well as about the initiatives
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at the Federal, State and local levels,
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to address the deep need as you mentioned Selena,
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for better connectivity.
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Like all of you,
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I have heard many frustrating accounts
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about the detrimental impact
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that the lack of connectivity has
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on individuals and entire communities.
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We've faced significant and unique challenges
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for ensuring all Californians have high-speed,
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reliable and quality services.
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Of the 50 States,
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California has the largest population,
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the third largest land area,
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the greatest number of people living in poverty
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and is the second most expensive State in which to live.
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California is incredibly diverse,
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which is one of our richest.
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Richest things that we have to offer
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and has 110 Federally recognized tribes.
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There are an estimated 2.6 million people.
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2.6 million people that do not have high speed broadband
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in the State of California.
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And a full 38% of rural households
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lacking significant access.
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These communities lack quality service,
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if they have service at all.
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Many fixed wireless and mobile wireless services
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do not reach everyone in the community,
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especially in the rural areas.
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Where terrain can be an impediment
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to receiving the wireless signal,
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satellite services are expensive and have limited capacity.
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Most of these communities rely on a legacy DSL in 2021.
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Services that are more than 20 years old,
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but are still the best and only service
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that is available to them.
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These challenges and inequities have exacerbated
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the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these communities.
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It is no longer just an inequity or an inconvenience,
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it is a matter of public safety, public health
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and economic resilience.
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As the families without access are not benefiting
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from tele-work, tele-health and tele-learning opportunities.
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It is clear that every household could be.
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Could before or can continue
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to afford $50 or more a month subscription
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for a high quality, high speed internet connection.
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Too many families have and continue to make
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the conscientious decision to forego that necessity.
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Over the past year we have endeavored
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to close these gaps where possible.
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I am proud too of the efforts that the CASF program
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to provide devices to students
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in coordination with the California Department of Education.
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As well as the efforts of the California Tele-connect Fund
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to provide a subsidy for hotspots for students.
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We did that early on in the pandemic.
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I'm grateful that many internet service providers
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have made improvements to their affordable plans
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in this past year.
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I am relieved that Congress allocated funding
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for the $50 a month emergency broadband benefit program
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to provide low income individuals.
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Low income individuals,
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a subsidy that will meaningfully
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meet their connectivity needs.
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I am thrilled that Congress is also looking
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to heavily invest in the infrastructure
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that is essential to closing the digital divide
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as part of the Federal Stimulus Plan.
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These have been and continue to be extraordinary times.
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We must continue to develop the solutions
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and make whole, bold investments
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that will meet the needs of all Californian's today.
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But also we must develop durable solutions
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that will provide us for the challenges of the future.
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Californians Universal Service Programs and Regulations
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are historic
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and have well-served many millions of Californians.
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They were instrumental
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in the proliferation of voice service in the last century.
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While updates have been made,
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many of these programs and regulations
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are still geared towards voice services and broadband.
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The Commission surcharges
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that support the state universal service programs
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are limited to voice services,
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at a time when most States,
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most States have already migrated
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to a more equitable pre-subscription surcharge mechanism.
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The high cost fund supports voice networks,
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with little regard to whether those networks
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are providing sufficient broadband access.
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And most importantly,
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our programs must ensure that everyone at all times
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and especially during this pandemic
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can afford a reliable connection.
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Economic standing must never be a barrier
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for basic services.
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I am optimistic about the future.
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I am heartened by the commitments made by
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President Biden and his administration,
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the vision of our acting FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel
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and the "Broadband for All Initiative"
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led by our Governor, Governor Newsom.
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And the many encouraging proposals being put forward
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by the members of the California Legislature.
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I believe this will be a landmark year
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for broadband as we endeavor
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to connect all Californians once and for all.
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Thank you and I would like to turn it over to
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Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen
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for a few opening remarks, Cliff.
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Thank you very much President Batjer.
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I'm glad to participate in this workshop,
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it's a very important workshop.
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Although I won't be,
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I won't be here for the entire time.
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I just want to follow up on the
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excellent framing provided by President Batjer
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and also Selena.
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This could not be more timely.
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This workshop.
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The CASF program is more important than ever.
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COVID of course has altered how we think about everything.
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And as President Batjer has noted,
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COVID made it abundantly clear if it wasn't before
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that access to broadband is no longer a luxury,
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no longer a thing that's nice to have.
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It is an essential public service.
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It is just as important
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to the health and wellbeing of the public
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as electricity, gas and water.
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The other basic services that we regulate.
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Broadband access,
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broadband service fits in that category now.
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We don't regulate it as such,
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but in terms of the needs of the public,
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it is every bit as important.
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And as Selena and President Batjer outlined,
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we face a very big challenge in California.
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We're a big state.
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We have a lot of resources, but we have a lot of needs.
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And the challenge is to provide
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broadband service that is accessible.
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That's affordable and that's quality.
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And that's high quality.
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It can't be barely.
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It can't be bare services anymore,
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it needs to be high quality to support the needs
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that people demand from the internet these days.
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You heard some figures from President Batjer,
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by some estimates there's close to
00:16:43.430 --> 00:16:45.703
a quarter of the entire State,
00:16:47.390 --> 00:16:50.020
over 11 million Californians have
00:16:50.020 --> 00:16:54.260
broadband infrastructure but they can't afford it
00:16:54.260 --> 00:16:57.563
or they can't afford sufficient service.
00:16:58.470 --> 00:17:02.860
And we have over 670,000 households
00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:04.110
that are not connected at all.
00:17:04.110 --> 00:17:06.280
Which is more than any other State.
00:17:06.280 --> 00:17:09.180
A lot in rural areas, a lot in tribal lands.
00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:11.513
Those areas are disproportionately affected.
00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:13.973
We have.
00:17:15.030 --> 00:17:17.790
At the Commission we have an affordability proceeding
00:17:17.790 --> 00:17:21.130
that looks at the bundle of utility services
00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:24.910
that people pay and ask how much is affordable
00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:27.333
in light of those services
00:17:27.333 --> 00:17:30.510
and the other essential needs they have,
00:17:30.510 --> 00:17:32.990
particularly housing costs?
00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:37.990
We're gonna be issuing our first annual report very soon.
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.620
And the report shows
00:17:40.620 --> 00:17:44.450
in the telecommunications area unsurprisingly,
00:17:44.450 --> 00:17:48.410
that affordability needs are acute in certain areas
00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:51.170
where the costs of service is high
00:17:51.170 --> 00:17:55.300
and the populations are predominantly low income.
00:17:55.300 --> 00:17:58.170
And they're particularly acute needs in urban areas
00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:01.450
in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
00:18:01.450 --> 00:18:04.200
But the needs are also great in rural areas
00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:06.210
in many parts of the State.
00:18:06.210 --> 00:18:09.200
Including Butte County, Sacramento, Fresno,
00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.560
Kern, Imperial, and Riverside.
00:18:11.560 --> 00:18:14.193
So we have a very significant problem.
00:18:15.380 --> 00:18:17.910
We do have, as folks know,
00:18:17.910 --> 00:18:19.740
we have a low income subsidy program
00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:23.130
that about a million and a half Californians subscribe to,
00:18:23.130 --> 00:18:24.980
the LifeLine Program.
00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:27.490
But that doesn't provide sufficient funding
00:18:27.490 --> 00:18:29.750
to support broadband needs.
00:18:29.750 --> 00:18:33.500
For tele-working, tele-health, distance learning
00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:35.393
or other needs.
00:18:36.350 --> 00:18:40.500
And while the major internet service providers in the state
00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:43.360
offer reduced cost plans,
00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:45.910
so far they only have limited subscribership.
00:18:45.910 --> 00:18:48.883
Only about a half a million subscribers combined.
00:18:49.910 --> 00:18:52.490
You contrast this with our
00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:56.110
low-income subsidy programs in the energy area
00:18:56.110 --> 00:18:59.360
where we have millions of people who are subscribed,
00:18:59.360 --> 00:19:01.420
far higher participation rates.
00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:03.890
So there's lots of people who these programs
00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:04.933
are not reaching.
00:19:06.570 --> 00:19:09.770
The CASF program accomplished a lot this year
00:19:09.770 --> 00:19:12.010
as Selena outlined.
00:19:12.010 --> 00:19:14.710
It's especially impressive what it did
00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:17.140
given the challenges of COVID.
00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:20.090
I think we should be very proud of how responsive
00:19:20.090 --> 00:19:22.540
the program was to COVID.
00:19:22.540 --> 00:19:26.003
And like many other folks at the PUC,
00:19:27.310 --> 00:19:29.814
the staff working on the CASF program
00:19:29.814 --> 00:19:33.810
over-performed and overworked I would say,
00:19:33.810 --> 00:19:35.340
over the past year,
00:19:35.340 --> 00:19:37.500
meeting the needs of the public
00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:40.033
in trying to respond to COVID.
00:19:40.970 --> 00:19:42.540
It's important to note,
00:19:42.540 --> 00:19:44.650
in addition to what Selena said.
00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:48.540
we had a record number of applications in the program
00:19:48.540 --> 00:19:50.070
this past year
00:19:50.070 --> 00:19:52.480
and the program is over subscribed.
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.180
We have grants totaling more than the
00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:59.610
amount left in the fund.
00:19:59.610 --> 00:20:02.380
So we know we're gonna need much more funding
00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:05.220
from the State, from the Federal Government
00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:08.150
and from other sources,
00:20:08.150 --> 00:20:10.930
to build out the remaining areas of the State
00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:12.680
that currently are unserved,
00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:16.563
so that they all receive high quality infrastructure.
00:20:17.730 --> 00:20:20.740
I'm very heartened as well by the actions that
00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:23.283
President Batjer mentioned.
00:20:24.230 --> 00:20:26.180
As she noted and we'll hear more from
00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:28.580
Chair Rosenworcel in a bit,
00:20:28.580 --> 00:20:31.190
the Federal Government has stepped up with
00:20:31.190 --> 00:20:33.580
an emergency broadband benefit.
00:20:33.580 --> 00:20:36.067
And this is helpful and important.
00:20:36.067 --> 00:20:41.067
It increases the subsidy available to $50 a month,
00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:44.300
but it's only one time funding
00:20:44.300 --> 00:20:47.313
and we don't know how long it's gonna be extended.
00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:50.960
It's very helpful that in Congress there's other legislation
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.540
to potentially expand this program.
00:20:52.540 --> 00:20:56.560
We may hear more of that from Chair Rosenworcel.
00:20:56.560 --> 00:21:00.570
And we're very excited as President Batjer said
00:21:00.570 --> 00:21:02.930
about the new wins of a new FCC
00:21:02.930 --> 00:21:05.630
and working together cooperatively,
00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:10.140
and not in opposition to protect consumers.
00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:13.290
You'll hear later about the important legislation
00:21:13.290 --> 00:21:17.490
that Senator Gonzalez and Assembly Woman Aguiar-Curry
00:21:17.490 --> 00:21:19.650
have sponsored that would extend
00:21:19.650 --> 00:21:23.070
funding for CASF to modernize the program,
00:21:23.070 --> 00:21:26.840
prioritize projects in underserved communities.
00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:31.380
Very, very important and helpful legislation.
00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:32.860
And as President Batjer mentioned,
00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:36.090
Governor Newsom has made Broadband For All
00:21:36.090 --> 00:21:39.770
a very important priority of his.
00:21:39.770 --> 00:21:41.990
He talked about the barriers and challenges
00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:45.430
in January in a budget announcement.
00:21:45.430 --> 00:21:47.260
So there's lots of need,
00:21:47.260 --> 00:21:50.380
but lots of encouraging developments.
00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:53.140
There're also very important
00:21:53.140 --> 00:21:55.249
topics to be covered later on about
00:21:55.249 --> 00:21:57.730
the program going forward.
00:21:57.730 --> 00:22:00.280
And I welcome everyone's participation
00:22:00.280 --> 00:22:02.580
and look forward to an interesting discussion.
00:22:07.210 --> 00:22:10.980
Thank you President Batjer and Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:14.120
I would like to introduce Robert Osborne,
00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:16.360
Communications Division Director
00:22:16.360 --> 00:22:19.780
to provide an overview of RDOF, CalSPEED
00:22:19.780 --> 00:22:22.043
and emergency broadband benefit.
00:22:25.630 --> 00:22:27.320
Thank you Selena.
00:22:27.320 --> 00:22:28.153
I'm Rob Osborne,
00:22:28.153 --> 00:22:31.077
I'm director of the Communications Division at the PUC.
00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:35.620
I want to recap two important milestones from 2020
00:22:35.620 --> 00:22:38.030
and share some of the behind the scenes activity
00:22:38.030 --> 00:22:41.000
as well as highlight an upcoming FCC benefit,
00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.010
that could have a huge impact on California
00:22:43.010 --> 00:22:46.110
which Commissioner Rechtschaffen just referred to.
00:22:46.110 --> 00:22:49.690
First off the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund or RDOF.
00:22:49.690 --> 00:22:52.300
RDOFF presented a big challenge for our review
00:22:52.300 --> 00:22:54.210
of the record number of 54
00:22:54.210 --> 00:22:56.890
infrastructure applications this past year.
00:22:56.890 --> 00:22:59.510
Many of the CASF infrastructure grant applications
00:22:59.510 --> 00:23:01.420
overlap with RDOF locations.
00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:05.290
And since we're charged with the stewardship of scarce funds
00:23:05.290 --> 00:23:08.860
we encourage CASF applicants to participate in the auction,
00:23:08.860 --> 00:23:12.880
which adding up all the locations and all the reserve prices
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:16.980
was over $2 billion in potential Federal Funding.
00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:19.950
Moreover, we were cognizant of the RDOF rules
00:23:19.950 --> 00:23:22.310
prohibiting awarding State Money prior to
00:23:22.310 --> 00:23:24.480
the Phase One reverse auction.
00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:29.380
So as was not to disqualify a CASF applicants RDOF chances.
00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:33.290
So not wanting to repeat the experience of CUSP II
00:23:33.290 --> 00:23:36.020
Auction 903 which preceded RDOF,
00:23:36.020 --> 00:23:37.940
where half of the available money
00:23:37.940 --> 00:23:39.920
for California went unawarded.
00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:43.880
We focused on maximizing provider participation in RDOF.
00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:47.430
And our efforts included first hosting a presentation
00:23:47.430 --> 00:23:50.680
by FCC staff on the RDOF phase one auction
00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:52.710
that covered how internet service providers
00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:54.980
can participate in the auction.
00:23:54.980 --> 00:23:58.580
We brought in a consultant to help with data analysis
00:23:58.580 --> 00:24:00.560
and help us better understand how California
00:24:00.560 --> 00:24:02.580
can leverage Federal Funding.
00:24:02.580 --> 00:24:03.870
We created a web page
00:24:03.870 --> 00:24:07.227
to provide information on the auction to interested bidders.
00:24:07.227 --> 00:24:11.349
And we created a California RDOF map that provided,
00:24:11.349 --> 00:24:15.950
you know, the locations of the RDOF areas,
00:24:15.950 --> 00:24:18.540
as well as the build-out cost and
00:24:18.540 --> 00:24:23.200
the estimated reserve price for each of those locations.
00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.420
We don't know yet what the final outcome
00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:28.410
of the RDOF phase one reverse auction will be.
00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:31.967
Thus far, 15 companies have provisionally won
00:24:31.967 --> 00:24:35.210
$695 million total over 10 years
00:24:35.210 --> 00:24:39.980
for almost 365,000 locations in California.
00:24:39.980 --> 00:24:41.110
While the reserve price
00:24:41.110 --> 00:24:44.070
as I mentioned earlier for California totaled two billion.
00:24:44.070 --> 00:24:48.330
California bidders bid that down by 66%
00:24:48.330 --> 00:24:52.730
and CPUC President Batjer's February ex-parte letter
00:24:52.730 --> 00:24:54.860
to the FCC suggested that
00:24:54.860 --> 00:24:57.280
steps the FCC should take to ensure
00:24:57.280 --> 00:24:59.580
State benefit from promises
00:24:59.580 --> 00:25:01.290
that the providers made in the auction.
00:25:01.290 --> 00:25:03.980
The recommendations included first
00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:06.780
evaluating the provider financial operational
00:25:06.780 --> 00:25:08.790
and technical capabilities.
00:25:08.790 --> 00:25:11.730
Second allowing providers with inadequate capabilities
00:25:11.730 --> 00:25:14.210
to surrender their awards with minimum penalties.
00:25:14.210 --> 00:25:16.340
So sort of a graceful exit.
00:25:16.340 --> 00:25:18.930
And then forward looking program reforms
00:25:18.930 --> 00:25:20.590
like coordinating with States,
00:25:20.590 --> 00:25:24.340
recognition of cost as a barrier to broadband availability
00:25:24.340 --> 00:25:27.223
and also forward-looking speed and data caps.
00:25:28.330 --> 00:25:31.440
Another milestone I want to mention is CalSPEED.
00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.330
We restarted and improved the Statewide mobile testing
00:25:34.330 --> 00:25:36.240
covering 4,000 locations.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.550
A mix of tribal, rural, urban locations
00:25:39.550 --> 00:25:42.470
and completed the first round in the fall of 2020.
00:25:42.470 --> 00:25:43.900
Those results which include
00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:46.360
T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and fast net
00:25:46.360 --> 00:25:50.190
are available on the California interactive broadband map.
00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:52.300
Now I believe we have
00:25:52.300 --> 00:25:55.590
the FCC acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on,
00:25:55.590 --> 00:25:57.536
so I'm gonna hand it back to Selena
00:25:57.536 --> 00:25:59.573
to then take it from there.
00:26:01.290 --> 00:26:02.323
Thank you Rob.
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:07.133
Yeah, it looks like the FCC acting chair is on.
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.253
Let me see if I can see her on camera.
00:26:18.910 --> 00:26:21.629
President Batjer, would you like to introduce
00:26:21.629 --> 00:26:25.323
FCC acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel?
00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:28.640
Yes I surely would Selena.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:29.760
And thank you so much,
00:26:29.760 --> 00:26:31.860
I'm pleased and indeed honored
00:26:31.860 --> 00:26:35.480
to welcome the Federal Communications Commission
00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:39.850
acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
00:26:39.850 --> 00:26:41.920
She brings over two decades
00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.880
of communication policy experience and public service
00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:50.250
to the FCC to which she was appointed in 2012.
00:26:50.250 --> 00:26:52.520
Prior to joining the agency,
00:26:52.520 --> 00:26:55.289
she served as a senior communications counsel
00:26:55.289 --> 00:26:57.610
for the United States Senate.
00:26:57.610 --> 00:27:01.300
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, has worked tirelessly
00:27:01.300 --> 00:27:05.040
to promote greater opportunity, accessibility
00:27:05.040 --> 00:27:08.420
and affordability to our communication services
00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:09.570
throughout the country.
00:27:10.630 --> 00:27:13.610
From fighting to protect Net Neutrality,
00:27:13.610 --> 00:27:16.747
to ensuring access to the internet for students
00:27:16.747 --> 00:27:21.000
who have been caught in the homework gap
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.870
and expand the reach of broadband to schools,
00:27:23.870 --> 00:27:27.860
libraries, hospitals and households across the country.
00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:29.590
Everyone please join me
00:27:29.590 --> 00:27:33.913
in welcoming acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
00:27:36.156 --> 00:27:37.356
Good morning (laughing).
00:27:52.100 --> 00:27:55.320
She might not be on the telephone yet.
00:27:55.320 --> 00:27:59.500
So we'll wait till she gets hooked up,
00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:01.893
in terms of the telephone connection.
00:28:02.760 --> 00:28:04.410
We use two different technology.
00:28:04.410 --> 00:28:05.660
Oh, there you are.
00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:07.110
Hi, how are you?
00:28:07.110 --> 00:28:09.850
Great, acting chairwoman.
00:28:09.850 --> 00:28:11.510
How are you this morning?
00:28:11.510 --> 00:28:12.343
I'm doing fine.
00:28:12.343 --> 00:28:13.890
Can you hear me well?
00:28:13.890 --> 00:28:16.440
Yes, we can hear you perfectly fine, thank you.
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:17.373
Okay great.
00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:22.633
We've done a brief introduction.
00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:27.600
Because I know our time is very short with you today
00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:31.580
and we are so honored to have you with us.
00:28:31.580 --> 00:28:34.250
So we'll just jump right into the fireside chat
00:28:34.250 --> 00:28:35.690
if that's okay with you?
00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:37.620
Absolutely, absolutely.
00:28:37.620 --> 00:28:42.010
Great, I'm joined by my fellow Commissioner today.
00:28:42.010 --> 00:28:44.090
Commissioner Rechtschaffen. Cliff Rechtschaffen.
00:28:44.090 --> 00:28:46.260
And I think Cliff's gonna ask the first question
00:28:46.260 --> 00:28:47.860
to get us started.
00:28:47.860 --> 00:28:49.230
Okay.
00:28:49.230 --> 00:28:50.480
Thank you so much.
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.933
Welcome Chair Rosenworcel.
00:28:54.360 --> 00:28:56.680
We're gonna tag team the questions
00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:58.812
and we're gonna start off with
00:28:58.812 --> 00:29:02.323
a simple easy question.
00:29:03.570 --> 00:29:08.550
How telecommunications services are classified.
00:29:08.550 --> 00:29:12.830
And this is obviously of
00:29:12.830 --> 00:29:15.050
critical importance because how the,
00:29:15.050 --> 00:29:17.870
how broadband or the internet are classified
00:29:17.870 --> 00:29:20.876
under the Federal Communication Act,
00:29:20.876 --> 00:29:24.000
makes a great deal of difference in
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.020
how these services can be regulated.
00:29:27.020 --> 00:29:32.020
They were classified in 2015 as a Title II.
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.160
They were reclassified in 2017 as Title one.
00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.130
The question we wanted to ask you to start off is
00:29:40.280 --> 00:29:44.010
will you propose to reclassify broadband
00:29:44.010 --> 00:29:46.283
as a Title II Telecommunication service.
00:29:47.913 --> 00:29:50.370
And maybe you can give some more background
00:29:50.370 --> 00:29:52.120
about this topic and your thinking.
00:29:54.090 --> 00:29:56.820
Sure, well thank you for asking the question.
00:29:56.820 --> 00:29:59.130
As you may know,
00:29:59.130 --> 00:30:01.100
I supported Net Neutrality
00:30:01.100 --> 00:30:05.203
when the FCC put rules in place in 2015.
00:30:06.270 --> 00:30:10.580
And then I opposed the rollback of Net Neutrality
00:30:10.580 --> 00:30:14.283
that took place during the next administration in 2017.
00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:20.560
And now I find myself at the helm of the FCC.
00:30:20.560 --> 00:30:22.230
But I will also want to acknowledge that
00:30:22.230 --> 00:30:26.120
I have an agency that's right now is evenly divided between
00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:28.080
two Republicans and two Democrats.
00:30:28.080 --> 00:30:30.530
So the things we are able to do in the short term
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:36.480
are going to be limited by our ability to find consensus.
00:30:36.620 --> 00:30:38.420
But the one thing that's become clear to me
00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:40.520
during this pandemic,
00:30:40.520 --> 00:30:43.250
is that broadband services are no longer,
00:30:43.250 --> 00:30:46.860
nice to have it's need to have for everyone everywhere.
00:30:46.860 --> 00:30:48.940
And policies like making sure we have
00:30:48.940 --> 00:30:51.040
universal access to broadband
00:30:51.040 --> 00:30:53.500
and that that access is open and fair
00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:56.290
and consistent with the principles of Net Neutrality
00:30:56.290 --> 00:30:57.980
is really important.
00:30:57.980 --> 00:30:59.030
And it's really important that
00:30:59.030 --> 00:31:03.590
the FCC has the authority it needs to make that happen.
00:31:03.590 --> 00:31:05.870
And that's a discussion I hope the agency can have
00:31:05.870 --> 00:31:08.380
going forward and also with Congress.
00:31:08.380 --> 00:31:10.590
So that's where we are for right now,
00:31:10.590 --> 00:31:13.003
because of the makeup of the agency.
00:31:13.840 --> 00:31:16.040
But I am a strong supporter of Net Neutrality.
00:31:16.040 --> 00:31:18.390
And I do hope we can be in a position once again
00:31:18.390 --> 00:31:19.940
to make it the law of the land.
00:31:21.250 --> 00:31:23.993
Can I just ask you a couple of quick follow up questions?
00:31:24.860 --> 00:31:25.970
As far as you know,
00:31:25.970 --> 00:31:28.420
and I know you don't control this completely,
00:31:28.420 --> 00:31:30.190
when is the fifth Commissioner
00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:32.150
likely to be appointed to the FCC?
00:31:32.150 --> 00:31:34.887
Oh yeah that's a great question.
00:31:34.887 --> 00:31:36.520
And if I had a crystal ball,
00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:38.310
maybe I could offer you some thoughts.
00:31:38.310 --> 00:31:40.000
But honestly that is a decision
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:41.860
that's gonna be above my pay grade.
00:31:41.860 --> 00:31:43.630
I do think the agency functions best
00:31:43.630 --> 00:31:45.800
when it has all five members.
00:31:45.800 --> 00:31:47.820
But we are doing work now
00:31:47.820 --> 00:31:50.720
and I'm still proud of the work we're doing on
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:55.250
network resiliency, broadband affordability, 5G policy.
00:31:55.250 --> 00:31:57.370
And we're doing it all on a bipartisan basis.
00:31:57.370 --> 00:31:59.490
And I don't want us to slow down,
00:31:59.490 --> 00:32:02.944
I want us to keep pressing on.
00:32:02.944 --> 00:32:04.170
Some issues are harder
00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:06.170
to find consensus on though than others.
00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:08.540
And if you don't mind,
00:32:08.540 --> 00:32:11.039
could you just give us a couple of examples of
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:14.300
the kind of regulations that
00:32:15.190 --> 00:32:19.320
are enabled if broadband is classified as Title II
00:32:19.320 --> 00:32:22.751
versus a Title I of information service?
00:32:22.751 --> 00:32:23.683
What's the--
00:32:23.683 --> 00:32:25.810
In the end it comes down to this.
00:32:25.810 --> 00:32:27.480
How much oversight do you want
00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:30.367
by a Federal Authority over broadband service?
00:32:30.367 --> 00:32:33.040
The FCC since 1934 has been
00:32:33.040 --> 00:32:36.270
the nation's communications overseer
00:32:36.270 --> 00:32:38.780
and historically has worked to make sure that
00:32:38.780 --> 00:32:41.280
telephone services reach everyone.
00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:42.810
That necessary,
00:32:42.810 --> 00:32:45.040
other types of communications reach everyone
00:32:45.040 --> 00:32:45.873
in this country.
00:32:45.873 --> 00:32:46.930
And it just seems to me that
00:32:46.930 --> 00:32:48.650
broadband is part of that mix
00:32:48.650 --> 00:32:49.970
and making sure we have the authority
00:32:49.970 --> 00:32:52.249
to make sure it reaches everyone
00:32:52.249 --> 00:32:54.260
and that it's something that
00:32:54.260 --> 00:32:56.740
everyone can afford to have in their homes.
00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:58.620
These are things that when the agency has
00:32:58.620 --> 00:33:02.180
full oversight authority I think are more possible
00:33:02.180 --> 00:33:04.980
and the agency can be more creative in making it happen.
00:33:06.272 --> 00:33:09.322
Great, thank you so much.
00:33:09.322 --> 00:33:10.749
Thank you.
00:33:10.749 --> 00:33:15.749
Definitely a 2x2 make up is a bit challenging
00:33:16.170 --> 00:33:20.710
and we express our respect for how
00:33:20.710 --> 00:33:22.700
you are meeting those challenges.
00:33:22.700 --> 00:33:26.380
And as Cliff said, really look forward to
00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:31.160
President Biden appointing that fifth Commissioner soon.
00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:34.770
So moving on to our second question,
00:33:34.770 --> 00:33:38.070
we are witnessing large scale disinvestment
00:33:38.070 --> 00:33:41.320
of telephone networks in rural California.
00:33:41.320 --> 00:33:45.550
And within two years some communities
00:33:45.550 --> 00:33:47.690
will be without a telephone provider
00:33:47.690 --> 00:33:50.260
or a fixed internet provider
00:33:50.260 --> 00:33:52.863
and spotty mobile service at best.
00:33:54.100 --> 00:33:56.780
May I ask what is your vision
00:33:56.780 --> 00:34:00.370
for communications providers of last resort
00:34:00.370 --> 00:34:05.370
for rural areas where the major ISP's refuse to go?
00:34:05.410 --> 00:34:06.850
I'm sure we're not.
00:34:06.850 --> 00:34:08.830
I know we're not unique here in California
00:34:08.830 --> 00:34:11.660
with this real huge dilemma.
00:34:11.660 --> 00:34:13.140
Yeah, I think we're gonna have to have
00:34:13.140 --> 00:34:14.840
a national conversation about
00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:18.150
carrier of last resort responsibilities,
00:34:18.150 --> 00:34:20.300
which is an idea that feels really wonkish
00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:22.430
and maybe even dated.
00:34:22.430 --> 00:34:26.170
But when the telecommunications act of 1996 was passed,
00:34:26.170 --> 00:34:28.460
these ideas were embedded within it.
00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:31.020
But frankly the responsibility fell
00:34:31.020 --> 00:34:35.460
to State law and State utility Commissioners to make.
00:34:35.460 --> 00:34:37.720
There was assurances that there was some carrier
00:34:37.720 --> 00:34:39.600
that was willing to provide service
00:34:39.600 --> 00:34:41.400
everywhere within the State.
00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:44.570
And then task the FCC with universal service support
00:34:44.570 --> 00:34:47.160
to assist with provision of that service.
00:34:47.160 --> 00:34:49.390
I think that this ongoing dance between
00:34:49.390 --> 00:34:51.900
State Law and Federal support,
00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:54.180
is gonna need some clarification in the future.
00:34:54.180 --> 00:34:56.680
Because we have to make it clear that
00:34:56.680 --> 00:34:58.300
no matter where you live in this country,
00:34:58.300 --> 00:34:59.620
no matter who you are,
00:34:59.620 --> 00:35:00.810
you're gonna need access to
00:35:00.810 --> 00:35:04.380
water, electricity and modern communications.
00:35:04.380 --> 00:35:06.270
And so these are policies that I think
00:35:06.270 --> 00:35:09.703
were at the margins of the telecommunications act of 1996.
00:35:09.703 --> 00:35:11.860
Have been central historically to
00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:14.720
State policies involving telecommunications,
00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:17.310
but they need an update for the digital age.
00:35:17.310 --> 00:35:19.500
And the goal of that update needs to be
00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:22.673
having a way to make sure we serve everyone everywhere.
00:35:24.690 --> 00:35:26.200
Thank you.
00:35:26.200 --> 00:35:31.200
Indeed uniformity and uniformity frankly of enforcement.
00:35:31.790 --> 00:35:34.123
It will be extremely helpful, I agree.
00:35:35.270 --> 00:35:37.640
We have some real concerns here in California.
00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:39.923
I won't names, you probably (indistinct) to.
00:35:41.370 --> 00:35:44.080
Of who those those concerns
00:35:44.080 --> 00:35:47.700
or where those concerns are derived from.
00:35:47.700 --> 00:35:52.363
So I'll toss it back to Cliff for the next question.
00:35:53.200 --> 00:35:56.650
I wanted to ask you Chair Rosenworcel about the
00:35:56.650 --> 00:36:01.130
emergency broadband benefit program.
00:36:01.130 --> 00:36:03.130
Congress took action
00:36:05.160 --> 00:36:08.600
in a Stimulus bill or it's rescue bills
00:36:08.600 --> 00:36:13.600
and it's a $3.2 billion program.
00:36:14.630 --> 00:36:16.040
So I wanna ask you a couple of questions.
00:36:16.040 --> 00:36:19.860
Can you tell us what the FCC has done?
00:36:19.860 --> 00:36:22.260
What's next for the program?
00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:23.620
And thinking more broadly,
00:36:23.620 --> 00:36:26.240
this is only a temporary program.
00:36:26.240 --> 00:36:27.960
I don't know if the funding lasts
00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:29.790
through the end of the Summer or early Fall.
00:36:29.790 --> 00:36:31.960
What you envisioned for the future
00:36:31.960 --> 00:36:34.573
when it comes to the broadband affordability?
00:36:35.516 --> 00:36:37.420
Well these are all such good questions.
00:36:37.420 --> 00:36:39.350
And this is part of a broader dialogue
00:36:39.350 --> 00:36:40.910
about broadband affordability
00:36:40.910 --> 00:36:43.050
that I hope the FCC can have
00:36:43.050 --> 00:36:44.493
with our state counterparts.
00:36:45.950 --> 00:36:47.050
It comes down to this.
00:36:48.150 --> 00:36:51.530
In the appropriations legislation signed late last year,
00:36:51.530 --> 00:36:54.530
Congress created this new emergency broadband benefit.
00:36:54.530 --> 00:36:56.500
It's really historic.
00:36:56.500 --> 00:37:00.310
It's the nation's largest ever broadband program
00:37:00.310 --> 00:37:02.073
focused on affordability.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:04.270
For low-income households
00:37:04.270 --> 00:37:07.370
those who were struggling during the pandemic,
00:37:07.370 --> 00:37:12.370
it provides as much as $50 a month for broadband support.
00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:16.480
And that number goes up to $75 a month on tribal lands.
00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:20.030
In addition, there's the possibility of another $100
00:37:20.030 --> 00:37:23.550
for a tablet or a computer.
00:37:23.550 --> 00:37:27.340
The goal is to keep every household we can online,
00:37:27.340 --> 00:37:30.470
and make sure that price isn't a barrier.
00:37:30.470 --> 00:37:32.340
So the neat thing about this program is
00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:34.690
it's big and it speaks to the idea that
00:37:34.690 --> 00:37:37.000
broadband is an essential service.
00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:38.960
And if we wanna tackle the digital divide,
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:40.080
it's not just about deployment,
00:37:40.080 --> 00:37:41.680
it's also about affordability.
00:37:41.680 --> 00:37:43.650
Getting every households connected.
00:37:43.650 --> 00:37:45.990
But you also mentioned something that's supported.
00:37:45.990 --> 00:37:48.980
This program is sized at $3.2 billion.
00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:51.173
That's a one-time appropriation.
00:37:52.080 --> 00:37:52.980
And what that means
00:37:52.980 --> 00:37:54.560
is at some point in the future
00:37:54.560 --> 00:37:56.680
those funds are gonna run out.
00:37:56.680 --> 00:37:59.780
So we're gonna have to identify as policy makers,
00:37:59.780 --> 00:38:03.180
what it is that we can create in the next?
00:38:03.180 --> 00:38:05.920
Is there a new program modeled on this
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:09.230
emergency broadband benefit that Congress can recreate?
00:38:09.230 --> 00:38:10.870
Or are we going to fall back on
00:38:10.870 --> 00:38:13.120
our traditional LifeLine Program
00:38:13.120 --> 00:38:14.700
and try to give it a boost so that
00:38:14.700 --> 00:38:16.920
it is more meaningful in the digital age
00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:19.290
and more broadband centric.
00:38:19.290 --> 00:38:22.560
So I think we have to watch this program carefully.
00:38:22.560 --> 00:38:25.293
Because there'll be clues in how it's rolled out,
00:38:25.293 --> 00:38:26.660
that will help us understand
00:38:26.660 --> 00:38:28.030
what program we need in the future
00:38:28.030 --> 00:38:30.100
to keep households connected.
00:38:30.100 --> 00:38:31.410
Especially when affordability is
00:38:31.410 --> 00:38:33.490
proving to be such a barrier.
00:38:33.490 --> 00:38:35.597
But I wanna also point out a few things.
00:38:35.597 --> 00:38:37.650
I'm very proud that this agency,
00:38:37.650 --> 00:38:41.730
my agency got this program up and running
00:38:41.730 --> 00:38:44.170
on a bipartisan basis within 60 days.
00:38:44.170 --> 00:38:45.950
We're gonna have it available to consumers
00:38:45.950 --> 00:38:48.083
by the end of next month.
00:38:49.310 --> 00:38:51.720
And right now we have hundreds
00:38:51.720 --> 00:38:53.390
of providers of service
00:38:53.390 --> 00:38:55.410
who are enrolling to participate.
00:38:55.410 --> 00:38:57.910
We're setting up IT systems
00:38:57.910 --> 00:39:01.120
and we are doing a lot of outreach.
00:39:01.120 --> 00:39:03.280
And in the end I think that outreach is so important.
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:06.100
Because it's not gonna come from us in Washington.
00:39:06.100 --> 00:39:09.340
It's gonna come from State and local institutions.
00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:11.770
You know, people in communities who they trust,
00:39:11.770 --> 00:39:13.490
who can get the word out
00:39:13.490 --> 00:39:16.360
that there's a program to help households stay connected.
00:39:16.360 --> 00:39:20.020
Even if they've lost a job or are struggling
00:39:20.020 --> 00:39:22.010
to put food on the table during this crisis.
00:39:22.010 --> 00:39:25.400
So that outreach is really important
00:39:25.400 --> 00:39:27.646
and I hope you'll encourage
00:39:27.646 --> 00:39:31.740
local institutions in California to participate.
00:39:31.740 --> 00:39:33.130
We even set up a webpage
00:39:33.130 --> 00:39:35.610
to take in their information so we can
00:39:35.610 --> 00:39:37.700
pump information back out to them
00:39:37.700 --> 00:39:41.070
about what providers are offering service in their area.
00:39:41.070 --> 00:39:43.350
And we've got a lot of information in different languages.
00:39:43.350 --> 00:39:45.600
We're really looking towards
00:39:45.600 --> 00:39:48.530
local and State authorities to help us get the word out.
00:39:48.530 --> 00:39:50.932
Because we know that there are households in need
00:39:50.932 --> 00:39:53.090
who may not have service today
00:39:53.090 --> 00:39:55.920
or at risk of it being cut off.
00:39:55.920 --> 00:39:58.250
And we wanna make sure that they can stay connected.
00:39:58.250 --> 00:40:00.480
This program is there to help them do that.
00:40:01.880 --> 00:40:03.610
Thank you and it's very encouraging that
00:40:03.610 --> 00:40:06.510
it's been set up and up and running so quickly.
00:40:06.510 --> 00:40:10.810
And we have been talking among ourselves
00:40:10.810 --> 00:40:13.770
about the best ways to publicize this benefit
00:40:13.770 --> 00:40:16.410
with providers here, social service agencies.
00:40:16.410 --> 00:40:19.550
We have community-based organizations
00:40:19.550 --> 00:40:21.380
that focus on underserved communities
00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:24.633
and trying to get the word out through those channels.
00:40:24.633 --> 00:40:25.912
President Batjer back to you--
00:40:25.912 --> 00:40:26.870
Terrific just you know,
00:40:26.870 --> 00:40:28.280
in the end I don't think people in Washington
00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:31.710
can tell you what works best in California.
00:40:31.710 --> 00:40:33.700
I wanna be able to have you involved
00:40:33.700 --> 00:40:36.130
and have you help us figure that out.
00:40:36.130 --> 00:40:38.530
And I think this program will really be effective
00:40:38.530 --> 00:40:40.380
if we can figure out ways to partner with
00:40:40.380 --> 00:40:42.763
local and State officials to make it so.
00:40:43.600 --> 00:40:44.433
Thank you.
00:40:44.433 --> 00:40:47.190
And we welcome continued advice from you as well.
00:40:47.190 --> 00:40:49.370
And we'll try to give you our best
00:40:49.370 --> 00:40:51.820
understanding of what works here.
00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:53.690
President Batjer, back to you.
00:40:53.690 --> 00:40:55.417
Yeah, thank you Cliff.
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.790
I think the only way we're all gonna be successful frankly,
00:41:00.790 --> 00:41:01.710
is as you've said,
00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:03.230
we weave together.
00:41:03.230 --> 00:41:06.750
We (indistinct) the communications and the information about
00:41:06.750 --> 00:41:08.950
the programs and the benefits of them.
00:41:08.950 --> 00:41:11.458
And we also can leverage and work,
00:41:11.458 --> 00:41:15.040
frankly off of each other's programs to build further.
00:41:15.040 --> 00:41:18.640
So really I join Cliff in thanking you.
00:41:18.640 --> 00:41:20.091
All you've done,
00:41:20.091 --> 00:41:25.091
a remarkable amount of work in a short period of time
00:41:25.410 --> 00:41:27.280
in the new administration.
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.510
And I know how hard that can be.
00:41:30.510 --> 00:41:33.000
So switching gears a little bit,
00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:35.503
another real softball question here.
00:41:36.660 --> 00:41:40.153
What are the FCC's plans for our RDOF?
00:41:40.153 --> 00:41:42.827
Okay, yeah.
00:41:42.827 --> 00:41:44.490
RDOF for the uninitiated is
00:41:44.490 --> 00:41:46.350
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
00:41:46.350 --> 00:41:51.350
Which was organized and sized during the last administration
00:41:51.780 --> 00:41:53.960
to help with deployment
00:41:53.960 --> 00:41:56.540
in underserved and rural areas of this country
00:41:56.540 --> 00:41:58.390
that don't really have broadband
00:41:58.390 --> 00:42:01.943
or they have broadband speeds that are inadequate.
00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:04.790
So the good news that's there is,
00:42:04.790 --> 00:42:06.430
has been a lot of work on this.
00:42:06.430 --> 00:42:09.170
But I think, and also good news,
00:42:09.170 --> 00:42:10.940
is that we should have done a little more work
00:42:10.940 --> 00:42:14.050
before we made our preliminary commitments
00:42:14.050 --> 00:42:15.810
in The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
00:42:15.810 --> 00:42:17.870
I think the record reflects that
00:42:17.870 --> 00:42:20.220
I thought we should do a little more work
00:42:20.220 --> 00:42:22.870
before we started handing out the dollars.
00:42:22.870 --> 00:42:24.670
Nonetheless, the last administration
00:42:24.670 --> 00:42:26.910
made commitments of $9.2 billion
00:42:26.910 --> 00:42:28.653
about a week before the election.
00:42:29.520 --> 00:42:31.340
And those preliminary commitments right now
00:42:31.340 --> 00:42:35.270
are under review at the FCC that I lead.
00:42:35.270 --> 00:42:37.030
So here's what we're doing.
00:42:37.030 --> 00:42:40.930
We are taking a finely tooth comb
00:42:40.930 --> 00:42:43.140
to everything that's been filed before us.
00:42:43.140 --> 00:42:46.310
We are performing a technical review,
00:42:46.310 --> 00:42:49.785
an operational review and a financial review
00:42:49.785 --> 00:42:54.785
of all of the successful bidders in that first go round.
00:42:55.130 --> 00:42:58.330
And only after they perform with all those reviews
00:42:58.330 --> 00:43:01.030
will we commit to making those funds available.
00:43:01.030 --> 00:43:04.010
We know our dollars for extending broadband are scarce.
00:43:04.010 --> 00:43:05.920
We need to make sure that they go towards
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:08.120
technologies that are truly viable
00:43:09.130 --> 00:43:12.480
and providers who can be there for the long haul
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:15.480
and serve the communities with the infrastructure they need.
00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:19.820
Boy, I can't tell you how that's music to my ears
00:43:19.820 --> 00:43:22.900
and to all that are are listening.
00:43:22.900 --> 00:43:25.410
That's extremely important and
00:43:26.600 --> 00:43:28.340
we couldn't ask more.
00:43:28.340 --> 00:43:30.943
So thank you very much for that.
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:35.240
Cliff, do you wanna either follow up with any comment?
00:43:35.240 --> 00:43:37.180
Well, I agree completely.
00:43:37.180 --> 00:43:41.380
It is music to our ears and our state partners and those at
00:43:41.380 --> 00:43:43.740
The National Association of Regulatory Commissioners
00:43:43.740 --> 00:43:47.070
have all been very active on this issue.
00:43:47.070 --> 00:43:48.850
I wanted to ask you a question
00:43:50.166 --> 00:43:50.999
specific to the PUC.
00:43:50.999 --> 00:43:53.222
I mean, it's not specific to the PUC,
00:43:53.222 --> 00:43:57.330
but it results from something that PUC asked for.
00:43:57.330 --> 00:44:00.180
And this deals with information sharing
00:44:00.180 --> 00:44:03.040
between the Federal Government and the States.
00:44:03.040 --> 00:44:05.487
The FCC earlier this month
00:44:05.487 --> 00:44:08.540
took action on a longstanding petition from us,
00:44:08.540 --> 00:44:10.150
from the PUC,
00:44:10.150 --> 00:44:14.980
asking the FCC to share outage information during disasters.
00:44:14.980 --> 00:44:16.300
I'm wondering if you can tell us
00:44:16.300 --> 00:44:18.670
a little bit more about this decision
00:44:18.670 --> 00:44:20.580
and why it was one of the first that
00:44:20.580 --> 00:44:23.190
was taken under your leadership.
00:44:23.190 --> 00:44:25.350
Sure, and this is one of those where I'm gonna say,
00:44:25.350 --> 00:44:28.290
legitimately California was there first.
00:44:28.290 --> 00:44:32.667
It was a decade ago that the California PUC said to the FCC,
00:44:32.667 --> 00:44:36.150
"Hey, you collect a lot of outage reporting data,
00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:37.780
maybe you could share it with us
00:44:37.780 --> 00:44:39.314
because it might assist us
00:44:39.314 --> 00:44:42.921
in disaster with service restoration."
00:44:42.921 --> 00:44:45.800
And you know for reasons I can't even imagine
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:47.710
that petition sat on the shelf
00:44:47.710 --> 00:44:49.853
and gathered dust in Washington.
00:44:51.030 --> 00:44:52.253
So when I took over,
00:44:53.295 --> 00:44:55.250
I took a look at what had happened in our world
00:44:55.250 --> 00:44:56.410
during the last few years.
00:44:56.410 --> 00:44:58.850
And even the last month we had
00:44:58.850 --> 00:45:02.380
a winter storm in Texas that was devastating.
00:45:02.380 --> 00:45:04.010
We've seen wildfires out West,
00:45:04.010 --> 00:45:06.943
that you're all more familiar with than I am.
00:45:08.180 --> 00:45:13.020
And we've seen floods and hurricanes in the South East.
00:45:13.020 --> 00:45:15.930
I mean, we are seeing once in a lifetime weather now
00:45:15.930 --> 00:45:18.190
with recurring frequency.
00:45:18.190 --> 00:45:20.573
And what often accompanies those storms,
00:45:21.420 --> 00:45:24.240
are service outages and communication failures
00:45:24.240 --> 00:45:26.193
that make recovery really difficult.
00:45:27.660 --> 00:45:31.130
So the FCC has for a long time collected
00:45:31.130 --> 00:45:33.720
network outage reporting data.
00:45:33.720 --> 00:45:34.850
It has a voluntary system
00:45:34.850 --> 00:45:36.893
for disaster information reporting.
00:45:38.010 --> 00:45:39.740
These data are all confidential
00:45:39.740 --> 00:45:41.570
and we have traditionally shared them with
00:45:41.570 --> 00:45:43.490
The Department of Homeland Security,
00:45:43.490 --> 00:45:45.140
which is good as far as it goes.
00:45:45.140 --> 00:45:46.650
But it's really doesn't go far enough,
00:45:46.650 --> 00:45:49.750
because we're shutting out people on the ground,
00:45:49.750 --> 00:45:51.500
working on service restoration
00:45:51.500 --> 00:45:53.673
and emergency response in the State.
00:45:55.640 --> 00:45:57.920
So here I am now I take over
00:45:57.920 --> 00:46:00.390
and you know I can't remember every fire,
00:46:00.390 --> 00:46:03.770
hurricane and snowstorm but it's eerie how
00:46:03.770 --> 00:46:05.980
the names of them like you know,
00:46:05.980 --> 00:46:08.700
Kemp and Maria and Irma and Harvey,
00:46:08.700 --> 00:46:11.020
these things stay with us over time.
00:46:11.020 --> 00:46:13.410
And it feels to me that what we need to do
00:46:13.410 --> 00:46:15.210
is develop for the future
00:46:15.210 --> 00:46:17.660
a way for state authorities to share that data
00:46:17.660 --> 00:46:19.650
and pass it on to the emergency authorities
00:46:19.650 --> 00:46:22.033
who can do something with it in real time.
00:46:22.903 --> 00:46:24.830
And we set up a framework for doing just that.
00:46:24.830 --> 00:46:26.300
It's still confidential,
00:46:26.300 --> 00:46:28.110
but it is designed to make sure
00:46:28.110 --> 00:46:30.730
that State, local and tribal authorities
00:46:30.730 --> 00:46:32.910
have real-time information
00:46:32.910 --> 00:46:34.690
that the Federal Government has about
00:46:34.690 --> 00:46:37.750
service failures and communications outages.
00:46:37.750 --> 00:46:39.590
I think with that real-time information
00:46:39.590 --> 00:46:40.890
available on the ground,
00:46:40.890 --> 00:46:43.870
we're gonna do a better job at service restoration.
00:46:43.870 --> 00:46:45.840
I'm proud that we were able to do it last month,
00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:47.093
we did it unanimously.
00:46:48.110 --> 00:46:49.970
But I don't have a response for you,
00:46:49.970 --> 00:46:51.993
when it comes to why it took us so long.
00:46:53.350 --> 00:46:55.210
But I know that mother nature's wrath
00:46:55.210 --> 00:46:56.560
is gonna visit us again
00:46:56.560 --> 00:46:58.220
and having this new system in place
00:46:58.220 --> 00:46:59.420
could be really helpful.
00:47:00.860 --> 00:47:03.810
Well, we're less concerned that
00:47:03.810 --> 00:47:05.320
it took so long at this point
00:47:05.320 --> 00:47:06.380
and just delighted that
00:47:06.380 --> 00:47:08.500
you've taken a leadership role on this
00:47:08.500 --> 00:47:10.453
and you nailed it.
00:47:12.210 --> 00:47:16.100
The disaster in Texas and other natural events,
00:47:16.100 --> 00:47:18.360
extreme events are front of mind for all of us.
00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:22.230
They keep coming here in California and elsewhere.
00:47:22.230 --> 00:47:24.840
And this outage data really is critical
00:47:24.840 --> 00:47:28.730
as we fashioned responses for the multiple disasters
00:47:28.730 --> 00:47:29.563
that we face.
00:47:31.740 --> 00:47:35.070
Yeah, and I also agree with Cliff.
00:47:35.070 --> 00:47:38.590
It's not our way to look back,
00:47:38.590 --> 00:47:40.592
we've gotta look into the future.
00:47:40.592 --> 00:47:42.790
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
00:47:42.790 --> 00:47:45.053
All of us, particularly right now.
00:47:46.830 --> 00:47:51.440
But this will be extremely important to us
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:54.530
as well as our emergency managers
00:47:54.530 --> 00:47:59.040
and for our overall strategies for these disaster--
00:47:59.040 --> 00:48:00.360
Yeah, and you know what,
00:48:00.360 --> 00:48:01.740
let's talk about that.
00:48:01.740 --> 00:48:02.703
I hope that,
00:48:04.240 --> 00:48:07.550
you know you're a State that has had disasters in the past.
00:48:07.550 --> 00:48:08.570
You've had fires.
00:48:08.570 --> 00:48:10.050
You've had a lot of them,
00:48:10.050 --> 00:48:13.160
but I hope that we can also fine tune the system over time.
00:48:13.160 --> 00:48:15.980
If we got something wrong, let's work to get it right.
00:48:15.980 --> 00:48:17.750
The goal is to make it useful
00:48:17.750 --> 00:48:21.830
for people on the ground responding to an emergency.
00:48:21.830 --> 00:48:23.740
So I'll put you on notice,
00:48:23.740 --> 00:48:26.142
you were ahead of the curve California before.
00:48:26.142 --> 00:48:28.240
Maybe you'll be ahead again,
00:48:28.240 --> 00:48:29.190
because I do think that
00:48:29.190 --> 00:48:30.580
we should look at the system we created
00:48:30.580 --> 00:48:32.740
and if there are refinements we need to make,
00:48:32.740 --> 00:48:33.690
please let us know.
00:48:34.680 --> 00:48:35.720
Well unfortunately,
00:48:35.720 --> 00:48:39.039
we get a lot of practice at this stuff (laughing).
00:48:39.039 --> 00:48:43.350
And practice has not made us perfect in this case.
00:48:43.350 --> 00:48:48.350
And we're looking into a really tough Summer season.
00:48:49.570 --> 00:48:51.703
And that means a tough wildfire season.
00:48:52.770 --> 00:48:56.610
We're way below our snow pack numbers,
00:48:56.610 --> 00:48:59.753
or probably April one is gonna be closing in on
00:48:59.753 --> 00:49:02.200
only 50% of normal,
00:49:02.200 --> 00:49:04.200
and what that and
00:49:04.200 --> 00:49:05.530
in Southern California,
00:49:05.530 --> 00:49:06.640
I'm in Northern California
00:49:06.640 --> 00:49:08.030
but Southern California has had
00:49:08.030 --> 00:49:10.050
next to no rain this winter.
00:49:10.050 --> 00:49:12.830
So I personally and I know that
00:49:12.830 --> 00:49:16.180
my fellow Commissioners as well as our
00:49:17.100 --> 00:49:20.510
colleagues at CAL FIRE and at
00:49:20.510 --> 00:49:22.150
the Office of Emergency Services.
00:49:22.150 --> 00:49:24.610
We're all really steeling ourselves
00:49:24.610 --> 00:49:26.590
for a pretty tough year ahead.
00:49:26.590 --> 00:49:28.590
So the sooner we can
00:49:28.590 --> 00:49:30.630
make sure that our communications
00:49:32.520 --> 00:49:36.501
to the people that are impacted so badly,
00:49:36.501 --> 00:49:39.760
the better off we all will be.
00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:41.606
Mm-hmm, I agree.
00:49:41.606 --> 00:49:42.439
So, let me to turn to
00:49:43.409 --> 00:49:45.493
another topic that I think has been.
00:49:46.510 --> 00:49:48.850
You have become very well known
00:49:48.850 --> 00:49:52.430
for your work with "homework gap."
00:49:52.430 --> 00:49:55.189
Which before the pandemic meant,
00:49:55.189 --> 00:49:58.300
the kids who were not able to do their homework
00:49:58.300 --> 00:50:01.130
because they didn't have internet at home.
00:50:01.130 --> 00:50:04.890
With the remote schooling brought on by the pandemic,
00:50:04.890 --> 00:50:07.190
this issue has taken on a whole new dimension
00:50:07.190 --> 00:50:08.520
throughout the country.
00:50:08.520 --> 00:50:11.110
And some of the statistics are just frightening.
00:50:11.110 --> 00:50:12.370
Earlier this month,
00:50:12.370 --> 00:50:15.160
Congress created a new $7 billion fund
00:50:15.160 --> 00:50:17.160
for the FCC to tackle this issue,
00:50:17.160 --> 00:50:19.290
which we welcome very much.
00:50:19.290 --> 00:50:24.213
Can you tell us what the "homework gap" is for us now
00:50:25.300 --> 00:50:27.490
and what it has meant during the pandemic,
00:50:27.490 --> 00:50:30.360
and how (indistinct)
00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:34.163
that you will be starting up soon will fold out.
00:50:35.466 --> 00:50:36.890
To me the "homework gap" is one of those,
00:50:36.890 --> 00:50:39.770
especially cruel parts of the digital divide
00:50:39.770 --> 00:50:41.933
and it needs attention.
00:50:42.920 --> 00:50:45.370
When I was growing up if I wanted to do my homework,
00:50:45.370 --> 00:50:48.260
it took paper, a pencil and my brother leaving me alone.
00:50:48.260 --> 00:50:50.500
You know and that last one was the hard part.
00:50:50.500 --> 00:50:53.470
But today kids everywhere they need internet access,
00:50:53.470 --> 00:50:55.470
seven in 10 teachers assign homework
00:50:55.470 --> 00:50:57.830
that requires internet access.
00:50:57.830 --> 00:51:00.130
But one in three households
00:51:00.130 --> 00:51:03.290
do not consistently subscribe to broadband.
00:51:03.290 --> 00:51:04.540
And where those numbers overlap
00:51:04.540 --> 00:51:07.210
is what I started calling a "homework gap."
00:51:07.210 --> 00:51:09.113
And then we had this pandemic.
00:51:10.100 --> 00:51:12.330
We sent millions of kids home.
00:51:12.330 --> 00:51:14.930
We told them to go to school online.
00:51:14.930 --> 00:51:17.860
But what happens if you don't have internet access?
00:51:17.860 --> 00:51:19.763
The virtual classroom is closed.
00:51:21.020 --> 00:51:22.670
You know, maybe you thought too.
00:51:22.670 --> 00:51:26.140
But this is one of those images that stays with me.
00:51:26.140 --> 00:51:27.360
It went viral this Summer.
00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:29.700
It was Salinas, California.
00:51:29.700 --> 00:51:31.490
It was a picture of two little girls
00:51:31.490 --> 00:51:33.550
sitting outside of Taco Bell.
00:51:33.550 --> 00:51:35.090
And you know, they weren't there for lunch.
00:51:35.090 --> 00:51:36.680
They were sitting on the cement,
00:51:36.680 --> 00:51:38.780
with laptops perched on their knees
00:51:39.740 --> 00:51:42.780
to get the free wifi signal from the restaurant.
00:51:42.780 --> 00:51:44.169
Yep. I remember.
00:51:44.169 --> 00:51:45.902
It was the only place they could go,
00:51:45.902 --> 00:51:49.719
to get the connection they needed for school.
00:51:49.719 --> 00:51:50.780
If that it didn't break your heart,
00:51:50.780 --> 00:51:53.400
you know, I don't know where to begin.
00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:54.240
But it just feels to me that
00:51:54.240 --> 00:51:56.360
in the United States of America
00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:57.510
it shouldn't be that way,
00:51:57.510 --> 00:51:59.530
we can do better.
00:51:59.530 --> 00:52:00.980
So during the last administration,
00:52:00.980 --> 00:52:04.090
I clamored heavily for the FCC
00:52:04.090 --> 00:52:06.040
to rethink its E-Rate program.
00:52:06.040 --> 00:52:09.680
E-Rate is the nation's largest education technology program
00:52:09.680 --> 00:52:12.480
and it's helped connect our schools and libraries now
00:52:12.480 --> 00:52:15.080
for decades with internet access.
00:52:15.080 --> 00:52:16.980
It provides more support
00:52:16.980 --> 00:52:18.290
in communities that are rural
00:52:18.290 --> 00:52:19.980
or have higher percentage of the students
00:52:19.980 --> 00:52:21.510
on the free and reduced lunch program.
00:52:21.510 --> 00:52:23.679
It's quiet powerhouse.
00:52:23.679 --> 00:52:25.680
It's brought all of our schools to the digital age.
00:52:25.680 --> 00:52:26.640
And I just felt like,
00:52:26.640 --> 00:52:28.450
how can we be creative about using that
00:52:28.450 --> 00:52:30.380
to get kids connected at home?
00:52:30.380 --> 00:52:32.210
How can we use that for instance,
00:52:32.210 --> 00:52:35.710
to make sure every school can loan out a hotspot?
00:52:35.710 --> 00:52:37.150
The student has a fair shot of
00:52:37.150 --> 00:52:38.903
maybe getting on at home or nearby.
00:52:39.940 --> 00:52:42.940
And I encountered some resistance,
00:52:42.940 --> 00:52:46.710
but with the new Congress we started again.
00:52:46.710 --> 00:52:49.020
And in the American Rescue Plan,
00:52:49.020 --> 00:52:52.700
we now have more than $7 billion that is allocated
00:52:52.700 --> 00:52:54.470
for emergency connectivity funds
00:52:54.470 --> 00:52:56.760
to help close the homework gap.
00:52:56.760 --> 00:52:59.300
And this is very exciting because look,
00:52:59.300 --> 00:53:01.410
this is not just a pandemic problem.
00:53:01.410 --> 00:53:03.560
It's a post pandemic problem.
00:53:03.560 --> 00:53:04.550
We have gotta figure out
00:53:04.550 --> 00:53:06.240
how to get every child in this country
00:53:06.240 --> 00:53:08.840
connected to the internet they need
00:53:08.840 --> 00:53:10.550
to succeed in school.
00:53:10.550 --> 00:53:12.000
It's just as important
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:13.540
as in another generation it was
00:53:13.540 --> 00:53:15.730
making sure they had a science textbook
00:53:15.730 --> 00:53:17.930
or a grammar workbook to take home at night.
00:53:18.990 --> 00:53:22.100
And so the FCC very swiftly sought comments
00:53:22.100 --> 00:53:23.650
on this new law.
00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:25.050
Comments are due April 5th,
00:53:25.050 --> 00:53:28.350
reply comments are due the 23rd of April.
00:53:28.350 --> 00:53:30.570
We want input from
00:53:30.570 --> 00:53:34.900
educators, regulators, parents nationwide,
00:53:34.900 --> 00:53:36.560
because we're gonna have to look at this law
00:53:36.560 --> 00:53:40.390
and come up with the fairest way to distribute these funds.
00:53:40.390 --> 00:53:44.290
But I am optimistic that with a new $7 billion program,
00:53:44.290 --> 00:53:48.220
we are gonna make a meaningful dent in the homework gap.
00:53:48.220 --> 00:53:51.267
We are gonna make it normal in this country
00:53:51.267 --> 00:53:52.710
and we're gonna figure out a way
00:53:52.710 --> 00:53:54.290
to get every student connected
00:53:54.290 --> 00:53:56.500
so they can be successful in school.
00:53:56.500 --> 00:53:59.080
It should've been that way before the pandemic.
00:53:59.080 --> 00:54:01.360
It should have been that way before this crisis,
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:03.330
but let's use this crisis
00:54:03.330 --> 00:54:05.800
so that we're stronger when we come out of it
00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:07.403
and no child's left offline.
00:54:09.040 --> 00:54:11.050
Well, thank you very much.
00:54:11.050 --> 00:54:14.760
Those are comforting words and critical words.
00:54:14.760 --> 00:54:18.160
And thank you for remembering that horrible image
00:54:18.160 --> 00:54:19.804
of those two little girls in Salinas.
00:54:19.804 --> 00:54:22.550
When you started talking,
00:54:22.550 --> 00:54:25.830
chairwoman that's exactly the picture that came to my mind.
00:54:25.830 --> 00:54:28.030
That was unbelievable, heartbreaking.
00:54:28.030 --> 00:54:29.510
It brought tears to your eyes.
00:54:29.510 --> 00:54:32.340
And as policy makers and regulators,
00:54:32.340 --> 00:54:35.940
shame on us for not being there for them.
00:54:35.940 --> 00:54:38.880
Years ago frankly, just as you've just said.
00:54:38.880 --> 00:54:41.820
And with the pandemic,
00:54:41.820 --> 00:54:45.270
I hope there's strong lesson for goodness sakes,
00:54:45.270 --> 00:54:49.583
when it comes to tele-learning, tele-health tele-work.
00:54:51.670 --> 00:54:53.398
Excuse me for being a little harsh here but,
00:54:53.398 --> 00:54:56.380
if Congress doesn't act positively now
00:54:56.380 --> 00:54:57.796
when in the heck are they going to?
00:54:57.796 --> 00:54:58.629
Right.
00:54:58.629 --> 00:55:00.670
So I really welcome
00:55:00.670 --> 00:55:04.420
your leadership on this vital vital question.
00:55:04.420 --> 00:55:07.620
So I'll toss back to Cliff,
00:55:07.620 --> 00:55:09.210
we only have a couple more questions--
00:55:09.210 --> 00:55:12.450
Do you have time for a couple more questions Chair?
00:55:12.450 --> 00:55:15.602
I do. You know, before I jumped my next show.
00:55:15.602 --> 00:55:17.050
Okay, I just,
00:55:17.050 --> 00:55:20.930
as a brother who bothered his sister
00:55:20.930 --> 00:55:22.770
all the time doing her homework,
00:55:22.770 --> 00:55:26.200
I did take a little offense to the last comment.
00:55:26.200 --> 00:55:28.774
But I do agree with everything else you said,
00:55:28.774 --> 00:55:30.990
but did rub me the wrong way.
00:55:30.990 --> 00:55:32.134
(all laughing)
00:55:32.134 --> 00:55:34.167
That's the responsibility of a brother, right?
00:55:34.167 --> 00:55:35.071
You know.
00:55:35.071 --> 00:55:36.470
Exactly, what good is a little brother
00:55:36.470 --> 00:55:38.000
except to bother his big sister
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:38.833
trying to do her homework?
00:55:38.833 --> 00:55:40.843
Oh my gosh, that sounds familiar.
00:55:41.730 --> 00:55:45.080
I wanted to ask you about broadband mapping.
00:55:45.080 --> 00:55:49.160
You've launched a broadband data task force at the FCC
00:55:49.160 --> 00:55:54.160
to jumpstart efforts to improve the FCC maps.
00:55:54.610 --> 00:55:57.670
Could you talk about that and in particular
00:55:57.670 --> 00:56:01.120
the role that you envisioned for
00:56:01.120 --> 00:56:04.023
State and local officials in that effort?
00:56:05.050 --> 00:56:06.600
Yeah, so let's back up a little bit.
00:56:06.600 --> 00:56:08.960
It's no secret the FCC broadband maps
00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:10.630
leave a lot to be desired.
00:56:10.630 --> 00:56:13.240
We've heard that from members of Congress,
00:56:13.240 --> 00:56:14.700
cabinet secretaries
00:56:14.700 --> 00:56:16.258
and frankly the American public.
00:56:16.258 --> 00:56:17.430
You know in the before times,
00:56:17.430 --> 00:56:18.950
when I would travel around the country
00:56:18.950 --> 00:56:23.500
I would almost always meet someone in a rural community
00:56:23.500 --> 00:56:26.730
who was struggling without access to the internet
00:56:26.730 --> 00:56:29.570
at their home or their place of business.
00:56:29.570 --> 00:56:31.210
Or are they felt that the service there
00:56:31.210 --> 00:56:33.360
wasn't what it needed to be.
00:56:33.360 --> 00:56:34.880
And at some point they do some research
00:56:34.880 --> 00:56:37.010
and they'd happen upon these maps with the FCC.
00:56:37.010 --> 00:56:38.120
And they would get frustrated
00:56:38.120 --> 00:56:39.770
because it would say that they had service
00:56:39.770 --> 00:56:41.490
when they knew in her bones
00:56:41.490 --> 00:56:44.060
from their day-to-day life that they did not.
00:56:44.060 --> 00:56:45.700
And you know, there's a reason for that.
00:56:45.700 --> 00:56:48.740
And I think you're all wonkish enough to understand it.
00:56:48.740 --> 00:56:52.720
Which is that the FCC has historically used a methodology.
00:56:52.720 --> 00:56:54.900
It assumed that if there's a single subscriber
00:56:54.900 --> 00:56:55.930
in a census block,
00:56:55.930 --> 00:56:57.983
that service is available throughout.
00:56:59.530 --> 00:57:00.770
And if you can think about it,
00:57:00.770 --> 00:57:03.820
that means that we are systematically overstating
00:57:03.820 --> 00:57:05.773
where service is in this country.
00:57:07.120 --> 00:57:08.550
We're not getting it right
00:57:08.550 --> 00:57:10.440
with the level of precision we need.
00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:12.610
I mean, maybe that methodology worked years ago
00:57:12.610 --> 00:57:14.303
but it's no longer good enough.
00:57:15.180 --> 00:57:18.593
Right now when we know we have to serve 100% of us.
00:57:19.480 --> 00:57:21.780
So Congress actually took some actions
00:57:21.780 --> 00:57:23.560
to try to push the FCC along.
00:57:23.560 --> 00:57:26.260
Last year they passed the Broadband Data Act.
00:57:26.260 --> 00:57:29.063
And then provided funding for us to implement it.
00:57:30.296 --> 00:57:31.820
So that's good news.
00:57:31.820 --> 00:57:32.980
You know, the bad news is that
00:57:32.980 --> 00:57:35.040
we really should have started this years ago.
00:57:35.040 --> 00:57:36.540
Like there's no doubt in my mind
00:57:36.540 --> 00:57:37.550
that we've been talking about
00:57:37.550 --> 00:57:39.800
how bad the maps are for a long time,
00:57:39.800 --> 00:57:42.110
but we haven't been doing enough.
00:57:42.110 --> 00:57:45.180
So the next best time is right now.
00:57:45.180 --> 00:57:46.900
And I took over and immediately started
00:57:46.900 --> 00:57:48.980
a broadband data task force,
00:57:48.980 --> 00:57:50.610
put some real experts in charge.
00:57:50.610 --> 00:57:52.240
We hired a data architects,
00:57:52.240 --> 00:57:53.900
we're changing our IT systems.
00:57:53.900 --> 00:57:56.010
We have begun the procurement process
00:57:56.010 --> 00:57:58.580
for a broadband serviceable location fabric.
00:57:58.580 --> 00:58:01.200
We started a portal for consumers to just write in
00:58:01.200 --> 00:58:03.390
and tell us where service is and is not.
00:58:03.390 --> 00:58:05.740
You know which is just a way for looking at
00:58:05.740 --> 00:58:07.670
broader patterns so we can understand
00:58:07.670 --> 00:58:09.250
what's going on across the country
00:58:09.250 --> 00:58:11.423
and frankly already thousands have done so.
00:58:12.680 --> 00:58:16.430
And we are now making some strides
00:58:16.430 --> 00:58:17.587
in figuring out our next steps,
00:58:17.587 --> 00:58:21.930
but what's really important for you from a State level
00:58:21.930 --> 00:58:25.050
is to understand that we set up our rules
00:58:25.050 --> 00:58:28.140
in a way where State, Local and Tribal authorities
00:58:28.140 --> 00:58:31.160
can participate and provide us with facts.
00:58:31.160 --> 00:58:32.390
And that we have a presumption
00:58:32.390 --> 00:58:34.420
in favor of the data you file.
00:58:34.420 --> 00:58:37.270
In other words, carriers are gonna have to respond to it.
00:58:38.310 --> 00:58:40.730
Because we know that you have a lot of facts about
00:58:40.730 --> 00:58:42.110
what's happening on the ground.
00:58:42.110 --> 00:58:43.480
And we want make sure that
00:58:43.480 --> 00:58:47.140
carriers respond to the data that you have.
00:58:47.140 --> 00:58:49.930
This is a big task.
00:58:49.930 --> 00:58:52.490
Not everyone uses the same data gathering techniques.
00:58:52.490 --> 00:58:55.490
Figuring out how to mesh all this stuff together is complex.
00:58:56.440 --> 00:58:58.780
The wired services are complex
00:58:58.780 --> 00:59:00.660
but they're location specific.
00:59:00.660 --> 00:59:03.560
The wireless services are complex,
00:59:03.560 --> 00:59:06.693
but they rely on assumptions about propagation of signal.
00:59:07.750 --> 00:59:11.340
Again, these are things we should have started years ago.
00:59:11.340 --> 00:59:12.730
I regret that we didn't.
00:59:12.730 --> 00:59:15.970
I came to the agency and not a lot's been done.
00:59:15.970 --> 00:59:18.080
So I decided that we're gonna
00:59:18.080 --> 00:59:20.710
just get started and do a good job right now.
00:59:20.710 --> 00:59:22.560
And build these kind of
00:59:22.560 --> 00:59:25.430
permanent architecture for thinking about maps.
00:59:25.430 --> 00:59:27.250
Because over time you might imagine
00:59:27.250 --> 00:59:29.540
we can do things about deployments.
00:59:29.540 --> 00:59:32.380
Perhaps then we can overlay them with adoption.
00:59:32.380 --> 00:59:35.560
Then we can start asking ourselves about telemedicine,
00:59:35.560 --> 00:59:37.360
what's available where?
00:59:37.360 --> 00:59:39.850
Where do we have ailments that might be able to be
00:59:39.850 --> 00:59:42.000
successfully responded to with telehealth?
00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:44.400
Are there correlations that we can see?
00:59:44.400 --> 00:59:46.550
You know there's a lot of creative things we can do,
00:59:46.550 --> 00:59:48.410
when we build a good data system.
00:59:48.410 --> 00:59:51.170
So we're starting to do that right now.
00:59:51.170 --> 00:59:53.423
And I wanted to make sure we do it right.
00:59:55.960 --> 01:00:00.300
Again, we'll be your greatest cheerleaders from California
01:00:00.300 --> 01:00:03.470
and yeah, we don't want.
01:00:03.470 --> 01:00:04.820
We're not gonna worry about
01:00:04.820 --> 01:00:06.310
what we haven't done in the past.
01:00:06.310 --> 01:00:11.310
We're just thrilled at your depth of knowledge and
01:00:11.750 --> 01:00:16.750
your sense of urgency in so many areas.
01:00:16.927 --> 01:00:18.490
And that you're,
01:00:18.490 --> 01:00:20.810
if y'all are not even at the 100th day
01:00:20.810 --> 01:00:24.000
in the Biden administration and much has gotten underway.
01:00:24.000 --> 01:00:27.460
Yeah, I wish we could move on this as fast as possible.
01:00:27.460 --> 01:00:29.710
We're gonna do the best we can.
01:00:29.710 --> 01:00:31.360
But I really wanna build
01:00:31.360 --> 01:00:33.963
an infrastructure that's here for the long haul.
01:00:35.030 --> 01:00:36.947
That not only the Federal Government gets to use,
01:00:36.947 --> 01:00:39.253
but State and localities can rely on to.
01:00:40.090 --> 01:00:41.200
Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:41.200 --> 01:00:43.860
Well, we're cautious of your time of course.
01:00:43.860 --> 01:00:45.990
We'll have one quick last question
01:00:45.990 --> 01:00:46.899
if that's okay?
01:00:46.899 --> 01:00:48.220
Great, that's all that I have time for so okay.
01:00:48.220 --> 01:00:49.053
And yeah.
01:00:49.053 --> 01:00:51.580
And it's one of the most important ones I think.
01:00:51.580 --> 01:00:53.480
It's about broadband speed.
01:00:53.480 --> 01:00:55.400
So in your statement to the FCC's
01:00:55.400 --> 01:00:57.610
2020 broadband deployment report,
01:00:57.610 --> 01:01:02.610
you called for a 100 Mbps download and standard.
01:01:04.690 --> 01:01:07.923
And the FCC should reconsider upload speeds.
01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:13.100
The FCC currently uses, I think at 25/3 standard.
01:01:13.100 --> 01:01:15.480
Why is the broadband standard important?
01:01:15.480 --> 01:01:17.020
Which I think most of the folks--
01:01:17.020 --> 01:01:18.090
Yeah. Oh my gosh.
01:01:18.090 --> 01:01:19.122
This pandemic has been--
01:01:19.122 --> 01:01:21.020
And why should it get to be increased?
01:01:21.020 --> 01:01:24.440
Yeah, oh my gosh.
01:01:24.440 --> 01:01:26.890
First of all, let's be ambitious.
01:01:26.890 --> 01:01:28.020
Yes (laughing).
01:01:28.020 --> 01:01:30.464
You know, like dream small?
01:01:30.464 --> 01:01:32.930
I don't think we need that. Right?
01:01:32.930 --> 01:01:36.374
Like let's set a standard
01:01:36.374 --> 01:01:40.970
that we should aspire to for everyone everywhere.
01:01:40.970 --> 01:01:41.880
For the last several years
01:01:41.880 --> 01:01:44.270
I've at least suggested a 100 megabits downstream.
01:01:44.270 --> 01:01:46.813
A 100% of us should have a 100 megabits.
01:01:47.870 --> 01:01:48.720
We're gonna have to look.
01:01:48.720 --> 01:01:51.375
We traditionally had deeper asymmetries
01:01:51.375 --> 01:01:53.000
in the way that we set our broadband standards.
01:01:53.000 --> 01:01:54.260
You see that that 25/3,
01:01:54.260 --> 01:01:56.050
we've gotta revisit that too.
01:01:56.050 --> 01:01:57.470
I mean this pandemic has involved
01:01:57.470 --> 01:01:58.930
a whole bunch of synchronous activity
01:01:58.930 --> 01:02:01.810
where upload speeds start mattering more than they used to.
01:02:01.810 --> 01:02:03.540
It's not just consumption activities,
01:02:03.540 --> 01:02:05.260
it's creation activity.
01:02:05.260 --> 01:02:06.517
But I want us to have
01:02:07.800 --> 01:02:12.680
higher standards, higher speeds and bigger and bolder goals.
01:02:12.680 --> 01:02:16.150
I hope that I can convince my colleagues of that.
01:02:16.150 --> 01:02:17.660
Perhaps the next opportunity to do so
01:02:17.660 --> 01:02:20.020
will be as we start to shape out the next
01:02:20.020 --> 01:02:22.850
annual broadband deployment report which is
01:02:23.880 --> 01:02:27.690
a byproduct of Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act.
01:02:27.690 --> 01:02:30.110
And I hope we can have a conversation about it,
01:02:30.110 --> 01:02:32.060
but already we're getting congressional letters about
01:02:32.060 --> 01:02:35.720
improving our standards and being more ambitious.
01:02:35.720 --> 01:02:38.220
I think it's time to be more ambitious nationwide.
01:02:39.520 --> 01:02:40.590
We totally agree,
01:02:40.590 --> 01:02:43.020
let's stream big together.
01:02:43.020 --> 01:02:46.230
Oh I like that, I like that.
01:02:46.230 --> 01:02:49.120
Nobody likes streaming little.
01:02:49.120 --> 01:02:51.653
Okay, Chairwoman thank you so much.
01:02:51.653 --> 01:02:53.620
This has truly been an honor.
01:02:53.620 --> 01:02:54.453
Yeah, thank you.
01:02:54.453 --> 01:02:56.670
And listen, we're looking to make sure that
01:02:56.670 --> 01:02:58.940
we're partners with States in a lot of these activities.
01:02:58.940 --> 01:03:00.510
I don't think we're gonna
01:03:00.510 --> 01:03:02.230
know everything or get everything right,
01:03:02.230 --> 01:03:03.960
if we don't talk to you with frequency.
01:03:03.960 --> 01:03:06.930
So I appreciate the opportunity to do this
01:03:06.930 --> 01:03:08.610
so soon after I took over.
01:03:08.610 --> 01:03:11.230
And I hope you'll stay in touch with my office,
01:03:11.230 --> 01:03:13.130
we look forward to your input.
01:03:13.130 --> 01:03:15.670
We absolutely will and thank you so much.
01:03:15.670 --> 01:03:18.660
And as I said, we're cheering you on
01:03:18.660 --> 01:03:22.380
and don't hesitate to reach out to us either.
01:03:22.380 --> 01:03:23.230
Okay.
01:03:23.230 --> 01:03:24.290
Thank you so much.
01:03:24.290 --> 01:03:25.227
Thank you.
01:03:25.227 --> 01:03:26.623
Have a great day.
01:03:31.370 --> 01:03:32.670
And I think Selena
01:03:32.670 --> 01:03:35.683
we now turn on the dais back to you.
01:03:37.689 --> 01:03:40.680
Great, thanks President Batjer,
01:03:40.680 --> 01:03:42.180
Commissioner Rechtschaffen
01:03:42.180 --> 01:03:46.343
and also FCC acting Chair Rosenworcel.
01:03:47.250 --> 01:03:51.123
Looks like we are ready for the next section.
01:03:53.040 --> 01:03:56.550
I believe President Batjer and Commissioner Rechtschaffen
01:03:56.550 --> 01:03:59.460
will leave just due to the BK issue.
01:03:59.460 --> 01:04:01.150
And we're waiting for
01:04:01.150 --> 01:04:06.150
Commissioners Guzman Aceves and Houck to join us very soon.
01:04:08.760 --> 01:04:10.080
Thank you Selena.
01:04:10.080 --> 01:04:11.655
I'm gonna sign off now.
01:04:11.655 --> 01:04:13.541
Thank you.
01:04:13.541 --> 01:04:14.770
I will as well.
01:04:14.770 --> 01:04:15.990
Thank you Selena.
01:04:15.990 --> 01:04:18.580
Again, I thank the team
01:04:18.580 --> 01:04:21.190
for putting such a wonderful workshop together.
01:04:21.190 --> 01:04:22.290
Appreciate it greatly.
01:04:23.270 --> 01:04:25.303
Hi Martha and Darcie,
01:04:25.303 --> 01:04:26.580
have a good session.
01:04:26.580 --> 01:04:27.413
Thank you.
Bye bye.
01:04:31.690 --> 01:04:33.970
All right, looks like we have both
01:04:33.970 --> 01:04:37.933
Commissioner Guzman Aceves and Commissioner Houck.
01:04:38.930 --> 01:04:40.040
Commissioner Guzman Aceves,
01:04:40.040 --> 01:04:43.670
would you like to introduce yourself?
01:04:43.670 --> 01:04:46.840
Yes, thank you Selena and good morning everyone.
01:04:46.840 --> 01:04:50.290
I hope everyone has enjoyed the morning so far.
01:04:50.290 --> 01:04:52.830
Really great to be with everyone today
01:04:52.830 --> 01:04:54.590
on our annual meeting.
01:04:54.590 --> 01:04:58.300
I did wanna just take a moment to reflect on
01:04:58.300 --> 01:05:00.320
all the progress that was already mentioned
01:05:00.320 --> 01:05:02.890
and share a little bit more about
01:05:02.890 --> 01:05:06.690
some of my favorite work that the program has done.
01:05:06.690 --> 01:05:09.070
And talk about the exciting year before us
01:05:09.070 --> 01:05:13.100
both also at the federal level and at the state level
01:05:13.100 --> 01:05:16.857
as we move into the legislative discussion.
01:05:16.857 --> 01:05:19.510
Of course we've already mentioned,
01:05:19.510 --> 01:05:21.510
but just the highlights.
(dog barking)
01:05:21.510 --> 01:05:23.010
Excuse me, my puppy (chuckling).
01:05:23.010 --> 01:05:24.810
My puppy wants to go outside, sorry.
01:05:26.420 --> 01:05:28.460
And, to recognize that
01:05:28.460 --> 01:05:33.460
the program really responded to the COVID needs so rapidly.
01:05:34.800 --> 01:05:37.170
Particularly with the partnership with
01:05:37.170 --> 01:05:39.683
The Department of Education on
01:05:39.683 --> 01:05:42.420
all the adoption needs of our children,
01:05:42.420 --> 01:05:44.993
particularly at the most neediest schools.
01:05:45.940 --> 01:05:49.897
In addition, I wanted to also recognize the creativity.
01:05:49.897 --> 01:05:52.420
Excuse me, (chuckling).
01:05:52.420 --> 01:05:53.480
That was taken
01:05:54.810 --> 01:05:58.350
with tribal assistance grants that were developed
01:05:58.350 --> 01:06:01.480
and the technical assistance capacity that was
01:06:03.010 --> 01:06:04.350
began this year.
01:06:04.350 --> 01:06:06.020
Very exciting to see
01:06:06.020 --> 01:06:08.650
all the amount of capacity that's being built
01:06:08.650 --> 01:06:11.170
in these really remote areas in the state,
01:06:11.170 --> 01:06:14.440
including our tribal communities.
01:06:14.440 --> 01:06:17.085
So very exciting to see that.
01:06:17.085 --> 01:06:20.560
And just all of the work that has already been mentioned
01:06:20.560 --> 01:06:22.430
in partnership with trying to bring down
01:06:22.430 --> 01:06:24.990
some of the federal funding to
01:06:24.990 --> 01:06:27.913
yield that every additional dollar of this program.
01:06:29.176 --> 01:06:32.660
And finally just wanted to talk about the
01:06:32.660 --> 01:06:34.900
excitement of this year,
01:06:34.900 --> 01:06:38.220
in particular all of the legislative enthusiasm
01:06:38.220 --> 01:06:41.270
around the need for broadband infrastructure
01:06:41.270 --> 01:06:42.970
and in particular,
01:06:42.970 --> 01:06:45.740
as we're gonna head into this next panel
01:06:45.740 --> 01:06:47.910
wanting to reiterate some of the points
01:06:47.910 --> 01:06:49.910
that were made already which is,
01:06:49.910 --> 01:06:51.500
looking to the future
01:06:51.500 --> 01:06:54.150
and having a program that really invests
01:06:54.150 --> 01:06:55.630
in local governments.
01:06:55.630 --> 01:06:59.030
Really invest in making this infrastructure future-proof
01:06:59.900 --> 01:07:02.670
and really the most resilient for our community.
01:07:02.670 --> 01:07:04.910
So looking forward to that
01:07:04.910 --> 01:07:07.560
and looking forward to hearing from the public today
01:07:07.560 --> 01:07:08.910
on all of their thoughts
01:07:08.910 --> 01:07:10.420
on what's happened thus far
01:07:10.420 --> 01:07:12.900
and what could happen in the future.
01:07:12.900 --> 01:07:16.420
And I wanted to also turn to Commissioner Houck
01:07:16.420 --> 01:07:19.990
who is gonna be taking the reins of this program
01:07:19.990 --> 01:07:23.387
and looking to her leadership.
01:07:23.387 --> 01:07:26.030
Just personally, I'm very excited that
01:07:26.030 --> 01:07:28.050
Commissioner Houck has taken this on.
01:07:28.050 --> 01:07:31.510
Her knowledge of the State of California
01:07:31.510 --> 01:07:33.850
and all of it's the diversity
01:07:33.850 --> 01:07:35.600
both in the geography
01:07:35.600 --> 01:07:36.650
and in the different types of
01:07:36.650 --> 01:07:38.610
community needs that are out there,
01:07:38.610 --> 01:07:41.180
is really gonna be an asset
01:07:41.180 --> 01:07:43.670
to this proceeding and this program.
01:07:43.670 --> 01:07:45.670
So Commissioner Houck, I'll turn to you.
01:07:47.820 --> 01:07:49.770
Thank you Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
01:07:53.100 --> 01:07:57.550
So I am filling some big shoes here,
01:07:57.550 --> 01:08:00.010
taking this on from Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
01:08:00.010 --> 01:08:02.860
And with that, I'd like to welcome all of you
01:08:02.860 --> 01:08:05.090
to this next portion of the
01:08:05.090 --> 01:08:07.143
Annual CASF Workshop.
01:08:08.010 --> 01:08:11.010
As you know, this workshop occurs each year
01:08:11.010 --> 01:08:13.950
in this forum to discuss broadband needs for access
01:08:15.530 --> 01:08:18.560
to broadband needs for areas of California
01:08:18.560 --> 01:08:21.490
that continue to lack access to services.
01:08:21.490 --> 01:08:23.040
So I first want to recognize
01:08:23.040 --> 01:08:25.800
the hard work of our communications division staff.
01:08:25.800 --> 01:08:29.660
Selena Wong, Lou Fisher, James Tang, Taylor Chan,
01:08:29.660 --> 01:08:32.840
Vincent Knapp and Rob Osborn among others.
01:08:32.840 --> 01:08:34.630
And again, a special thanks to
01:08:34.630 --> 01:08:36.940
Commissioner Guzman Aceves and her staff,
01:08:36.940 --> 01:08:40.910
including advisors Sarah Sharp and Pilar Enrique
01:08:40.910 --> 01:08:42.720
who have all dedicated so much time
01:08:42.720 --> 01:08:44.210
to preparing for this event
01:08:44.210 --> 01:08:46.120
and who have spearheaded many of the panels
01:08:46.120 --> 01:08:48.270
that are gonna be presented today.
01:08:48.270 --> 01:08:49.500
I wanted to acknowledge that
01:08:49.500 --> 01:08:51.950
planning for this event was well underway
01:08:51.950 --> 01:08:53.670
when my office came on board.
01:08:53.670 --> 01:08:56.360
The heavy lifting for putting this important event together,
01:08:56.360 --> 01:08:58.660
came from Commissioner Guzman Aceves's office
01:08:58.660 --> 01:09:00.580
and the communication division staff
01:09:00.580 --> 01:09:03.490
who did an excellent job in creating this event.
01:09:03.490 --> 01:09:05.153
As I'm sure you can see
01:09:05.153 --> 01:09:08.040
from the first part of the conference today.
01:09:08.040 --> 01:09:10.942
I'm excited to be a part of today's workshop.
01:09:10.942 --> 01:09:13.770
Again, as Commissioner Guzman Aceves mentioned
01:09:13.770 --> 01:09:17.700
was recently assigned to the CASF rulemaking.
01:09:17.700 --> 01:09:19.520
And over this past year
01:09:19.520 --> 01:09:22.010
of adjusting to life under pandemic conditions,
01:09:22.010 --> 01:09:23.140
I think we've all seen that
01:09:23.140 --> 01:09:25.810
access to high-speed broadband is fundamental
01:09:25.810 --> 01:09:27.950
to full participation in daily life
01:09:27.950 --> 01:09:29.730
from working and schooling online,
01:09:29.730 --> 01:09:32.330
to accessing telehealth services.
01:09:32.330 --> 01:09:33.520
We've also been reminded
01:09:33.520 --> 01:09:35.620
how critical our broadband networks are
01:09:35.620 --> 01:09:37.990
for public safety and emergency response,
01:09:37.990 --> 01:09:40.540
allowing Californians to access safety alerts
01:09:40.540 --> 01:09:42.890
and other critical information
01:09:42.890 --> 01:09:45.140
you know requires broadband services.
01:09:45.140 --> 01:09:47.500
It's clear that these functions are not luxuries,
01:09:47.500 --> 01:09:48.880
but are baseline activities
01:09:48.880 --> 01:09:51.840
that all Californians need access to.
01:09:51.840 --> 01:09:52.770
In order to ensure that
01:09:52.770 --> 01:09:55.180
all Californians have access to these services.
01:09:55.180 --> 01:09:56.570
We must focus our efforts
01:09:56.570 --> 01:09:58.363
on the most vulnerable communities.
01:09:59.250 --> 01:10:02.590
Specifically remote communities, tribal communities
01:10:02.590 --> 01:10:05.840
and disadvantaged low-income communities.
01:10:05.840 --> 01:10:07.380
Eliminating the digital divide
01:10:07.380 --> 01:10:09.577
could not be more urgent than it is right now.
01:10:09.577 --> 01:10:12.130
And this workshop provides a forum to discuss
01:10:12.130 --> 01:10:14.710
strategies for expanding broadband access
01:10:14.710 --> 01:10:15.640
throughout the state,
01:10:15.640 --> 01:10:17.900
to discuss current legislative proposals
01:10:17.900 --> 01:10:20.580
and to hear from stakeholders and the public.
01:10:20.580 --> 01:10:22.960
While the need for a strong CASF program
01:10:22.960 --> 01:10:24.160
has never been more clear,
01:10:24.160 --> 01:10:25.780
we continue to face challenges
01:10:25.780 --> 01:10:27.430
in reaching our goals and expanding
01:10:27.430 --> 01:10:29.947
high-speed broadband throughout California.
01:10:29.947 --> 01:10:31.650
I'm looking forward to hearing from
01:10:31.650 --> 01:10:35.390
those legislatures working to address these challenges.
01:10:35.390 --> 01:10:36.930
Including ensuring that the program
01:10:36.930 --> 01:10:39.270
has sufficient funding to accomplish this goal
01:10:39.270 --> 01:10:42.680
of getting all Californians access to high-speed broadband.
01:10:42.680 --> 01:10:44.100
As we get closer to that goal,
01:10:44.100 --> 01:10:45.660
we need to think outside the box
01:10:45.660 --> 01:10:47.920
and collaborate with local governments, tribes
01:10:47.920 --> 01:10:50.160
and service providers to come up with solutions
01:10:50.160 --> 01:10:51.260
for serving communities
01:10:51.260 --> 01:10:54.040
that are the most difficult to reach geographically
01:10:54.040 --> 01:10:56.510
and ensuring that solid services are provided
01:10:56.510 --> 01:10:59.820
to the most vulnerable communities in urban areas as well.
01:10:59.820 --> 01:11:01.950
Crossing the finish line will take hard work,
01:11:01.950 --> 01:11:03.910
creativity from government, communities
01:11:03.910 --> 01:11:05.660
and all of our stakeholders.
01:11:05.660 --> 01:11:07.960
And finally, this workshop allows us the chance
01:11:07.960 --> 01:11:09.430
to look forward.
01:11:09.430 --> 01:11:10.860
Earlier, you had an opportunity
01:11:10.860 --> 01:11:15.160
to hear from FCC acting chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
01:11:15.160 --> 01:11:18.430
We greatly appreciate her participation in today's event.
01:11:18.430 --> 01:11:20.380
While California has long been a leader
01:11:20.380 --> 01:11:22.290
in expanding broadband access,
01:11:22.290 --> 01:11:25.040
we look forward to exploring additional opportunities
01:11:25.040 --> 01:11:26.150
with the federal government
01:11:26.150 --> 01:11:27.500
to ensure that all Californians
01:11:27.500 --> 01:11:29.990
have access to high speed broadband.
01:11:29.990 --> 01:11:33.450
So I welcome everyone again to today's workshop,
01:11:33.450 --> 01:11:36.050
and look forward to the opportunity to listen and learn
01:11:36.050 --> 01:11:37.750
from the participants today.
01:11:37.750 --> 01:11:40.050
And to hear from stakeholders and the public.
01:11:40.050 --> 01:11:40.883
So thank you.
01:11:40.883 --> 01:11:41.860
And I'll turn it back over to
01:11:41.860 --> 01:11:43.210
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
01:11:45.030 --> 01:11:46.322
Thank you Commissioner Houck.
01:11:46.322 --> 01:11:49.423
And I'll turn it over to Director Osborne.
01:11:50.820 --> 01:11:52.227
Thank you Commissioner Guzman Aceves
01:11:52.227 --> 01:11:53.623
ang Commissioner Houck.
01:11:54.540 --> 01:11:57.120
We're pleased to have two members are.
01:11:57.120 --> 01:12:00.400
Two representatives from the assembly and the Senate today.
01:12:00.400 --> 01:12:01.780
There's been significant interest
01:12:01.780 --> 01:12:04.020
in the CASF program from the legislature.
01:12:04.020 --> 01:12:06.050
There are currently two major proposals
01:12:06.050 --> 01:12:07.560
that are being considered.
01:12:07.560 --> 01:12:10.280
Assembly Bill 14 and Senate Bill 4.
01:12:10.280 --> 01:12:12.850
Today we'll be hearing from two legislative officers
01:12:12.850 --> 01:12:15.098
offering these bills.
01:12:15.098 --> 01:12:17.760
That have been championing broadband this year
01:12:17.760 --> 01:12:18.640
in the legislature.
01:12:18.640 --> 01:12:20.140
And so I'd like to introduce it
01:12:20.140 --> 01:12:21.910
Assembly member Aguiar-Curry.
01:12:21.910 --> 01:12:24.400
And George Soares, a policy consultant
01:12:24.400 --> 01:12:26.710
for Senator Lena Gonzales.
01:12:26.710 --> 01:12:30.040
And I have a number of questions to ask them.
01:12:30.040 --> 01:12:33.210
I'd also be happy if Commissioner Guzman Aceves
01:12:33.210 --> 01:12:35.970
and Commissioner Houck want to join in to the conversation,
01:12:35.970 --> 01:12:37.083
please feel free.
01:12:38.004 --> 01:12:41.280
How are you doing today Assembly member Aguiar-Curry?
01:12:41.280 --> 01:12:42.130
I'm great.
01:12:42.130 --> 01:12:46.320
I'm anxious and excited about this conversation.
01:12:46.320 --> 01:12:47.330
And I first of all,
01:12:47.330 --> 01:12:50.440
would like to thank Commissioner Guzman
01:12:50.440 --> 01:12:52.410
a long time friend.
01:12:52.410 --> 01:12:54.670
I'm excited about where we're going with this.
01:12:54.670 --> 01:12:57.290
As well as you Rob,
01:12:57.290 --> 01:12:59.090
we've been good friends for a long time
01:12:59.090 --> 01:13:01.070
and you've seen my struggles and my excitement
01:13:01.070 --> 01:13:02.470
about broadband.
01:13:02.470 --> 01:13:04.310
So thank you so much for having me today.
01:13:04.310 --> 01:13:07.350
And I look forward to the questions and the discussion.
01:13:07.350 --> 01:13:08.860
And I look forward to.
01:13:08.860 --> 01:13:12.436
I'm glad George Soares could join us today.
01:13:12.436 --> 01:13:15.300
Yeah. So thank you so much.
01:13:15.300 --> 01:13:16.210
Great thank you.
01:13:16.210 --> 01:13:18.430
And I think also George.
01:13:18.430 --> 01:13:19.823
Mr. Soares are you on?
01:13:20.730 --> 01:13:22.420
Yeah. Hey, how's it going everyone?
01:13:22.420 --> 01:13:24.420
Thank you so much for having me.
01:13:24.420 --> 01:13:26.310
Sorry that Senator Gonzalez can not be here,
01:13:26.310 --> 01:13:28.810
but I will, you know, do everything I can to fill in for her
01:13:28.810 --> 01:13:30.470
and just really appreciate everyone's work
01:13:30.470 --> 01:13:32.750
from the assembly woman, to the PUC
01:13:32.750 --> 01:13:33.900
and everyone involved in this.
01:13:33.900 --> 01:13:35.440
So I look forward to the conversation.
01:13:35.440 --> 01:13:36.840
Thank you.
01:13:36.840 --> 01:13:38.080
Great, thank you.
01:13:38.080 --> 01:13:39.970
So I'm gonna start off with the first question.
01:13:39.970 --> 01:13:42.710
And so I'd like to ask each of you.
01:13:42.710 --> 01:13:45.820
I'll start with Assembly member Aguiar-Curry.
01:13:45.820 --> 01:13:47.850
Could you please speak to why you feel
01:13:47.850 --> 01:13:49.660
the CASF program is important
01:13:49.660 --> 01:13:51.660
and why you think it should be extended?
01:13:52.530 --> 01:13:54.850
Well, before I came to the assembly,
01:13:54.850 --> 01:13:57.480
I worked for years trying to promote
01:13:58.615 --> 01:14:01.600
broadband internet in my small community.
01:14:01.600 --> 01:14:03.050
And I worked those years
01:14:03.050 --> 01:14:06.150
with other local elected officials to connect our students
01:14:06.150 --> 01:14:07.810
and with technology.
01:14:07.810 --> 01:14:11.460
And it just, we always came up against barriers.
01:14:11.460 --> 01:14:13.600
And I've seen firsthand how to,
01:14:13.600 --> 01:14:16.060
how accessing technology can change
01:14:16.060 --> 01:14:19.180
those students, families, our community,
01:14:19.180 --> 01:14:20.770
our business community.
01:14:20.770 --> 01:14:24.860
And so I been instrumental in trying to make sure
01:14:24.860 --> 01:14:27.410
our rural communities have access to
01:14:27.410 --> 01:14:29.330
access to the internet.
01:14:29.330 --> 01:14:31.040
You know, if we haven't learned one thing
01:14:31.040 --> 01:14:32.920
due to the pandemic,
01:14:32.920 --> 01:14:34.480
rural constituents like mine,
01:14:34.480 --> 01:14:38.831
even urban constituents like Senator Gonzalez's,
01:14:38.831 --> 01:14:40.880
we've known for many years.
01:14:40.880 --> 01:14:43.510
The availability of internet technology
01:14:43.510 --> 01:14:47.650
provides access to healthcare, access to education,
01:14:47.650 --> 01:14:50.930
job training and small business access
01:14:50.930 --> 01:14:53.480
to the digital economy.
01:14:53.480 --> 01:14:55.970
And we're changing people's lives.
01:14:55.970 --> 01:14:57.680
The extension of the CASF
01:14:57.680 --> 01:14:59.610
the California Advanced Services Fund
01:14:59.610 --> 01:15:03.030
will be accompanied by democratizing the fee
01:15:03.030 --> 01:15:04.830
so that landline users
01:15:04.830 --> 01:15:08.550
are not burdened with funding the entire program.
01:15:08.550 --> 01:15:11.130
In amendments we will be taking in the future,
01:15:11.130 --> 01:15:13.270
all telecommunications customers
01:15:13.270 --> 01:15:16.500
pay the same tiny fee of 23 cents a month
01:15:16.500 --> 01:15:18.350
for your phone line.
01:15:18.350 --> 01:15:20.350
That's a very small price to pay
01:15:20.350 --> 01:15:23.340
so that all Californians can have reliable service
01:15:23.340 --> 01:15:28.170
and contribute to our economy and the future.
01:15:28.170 --> 01:15:29.430
And so that we can keep pace
01:15:29.430 --> 01:15:31.070
with improvements in technology
01:15:31.070 --> 01:15:34.610
as the FCC updates its standards.
01:15:34.610 --> 01:15:36.310
And that's a really important part here,
01:15:36.310 --> 01:15:38.180
is that we always have to look to the future.
01:15:38.180 --> 01:15:41.970
And my concern as we go forward is that,
01:15:41.970 --> 01:15:44.160
what works today may not work in the future.
01:15:44.160 --> 01:15:46.060
And that we have to have some flexibility.
01:15:46.060 --> 01:15:48.100
And I really think that by us
01:15:48.100 --> 01:15:50.840
having a stable funding fee of 23 cents
01:15:50.840 --> 01:15:53.823
is very minimal when we look at the entire picture.
01:15:56.321 --> 01:15:57.300
Great, thank you very much.
01:15:57.300 --> 01:15:59.235
I'm glad that there's focus on
01:15:59.235 --> 01:16:01.130
funding and continuing the funding
01:16:01.130 --> 01:16:03.290
for the California advanced services program
01:16:03.290 --> 01:16:04.720
as you heard earlier.
01:16:04.720 --> 01:16:07.800
With the 54 applications, we were oversubscribed.
01:16:07.800 --> 01:16:09.330
So we're certainly hoping that
01:16:09.330 --> 01:16:11.120
the program could be extended.
01:16:11.120 --> 01:16:13.200
I'm gonna hand it over to Mr. Soares.
01:16:13.200 --> 01:16:14.347
I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing your name.
01:16:14.347 --> 01:16:17.140
But is it Sorez or Suarez?
01:16:17.140 --> 01:16:18.470
No. Either way is fine.
01:16:18.470 --> 01:16:19.970
Yeah. Thank you.
Okay.
01:16:19.970 --> 01:16:22.490
Yeah and you know, I totally agree
01:16:22.490 --> 01:16:25.070
with everything that the assembly member said.
01:16:25.070 --> 01:16:27.610
And, you know I think that that's something that's
01:16:28.620 --> 01:16:32.520
important here is that by extending the program
01:16:32.520 --> 01:16:33.657
and why it's important is because,
01:16:33.657 --> 01:16:35.260
the digital divide is still not closed.
01:16:35.260 --> 01:16:36.660
I mean, it's as simple as that.
01:16:36.660 --> 01:16:39.030
And the assembly member mentioned that,
01:16:39.030 --> 01:16:40.700
it's only been highlighted by the pandemic.
01:16:40.700 --> 01:16:43.270
And I think something else that gets missed sometimes
01:16:43.270 --> 01:16:45.380
is that this is one of the very few sources
01:16:45.380 --> 01:16:47.990
of infrastructure funding in the State of California
01:16:47.990 --> 01:16:49.610
to build broadband infrastructure.
01:16:49.610 --> 01:16:52.730
So I think it's absolutely essential that we continue it
01:16:52.730 --> 01:16:54.710
because the infrastructure gap isn't solved
01:16:54.710 --> 01:16:58.650
and that will be a big solution to a lot of the other
01:16:58.650 --> 01:17:02.420
issues around affordability and access and literacy.
01:17:02.420 --> 01:17:04.120
And then at the end of the day,
01:17:04.120 --> 01:17:06.583
I think we saw this for the past four years
01:17:06.583 --> 01:17:08.610
is that the federal government's not always
01:17:08.610 --> 01:17:11.394
gonna be able be there to help us with
01:17:11.394 --> 01:17:13.020
resources and funding.
01:17:13.020 --> 01:17:14.770
So we must have some sort of
01:17:14.770 --> 01:17:17.540
kind of California reliability
01:17:17.540 --> 01:17:19.881
to meet the broadband demand that
01:17:19.881 --> 01:17:20.900
(clears throat) the state needs.
01:17:20.900 --> 01:17:22.690
Particularly during these very tough times.
01:17:22.690 --> 01:17:26.780
So, I think that is plenty reason as to why
01:17:26.780 --> 01:17:29.510
this program is important and should be extended.
01:17:29.510 --> 01:17:30.860
Thank you.
01:17:30.860 --> 01:17:31.887
Great, thank you.
01:17:31.887 --> 01:17:33.919
I'm gonna hand it over to the Commissioners
01:17:33.919 --> 01:17:35.719
to see if they have anything to add.
01:17:38.840 --> 01:17:40.687
Well, thank you Rob.
01:17:40.687 --> 01:17:42.910
And thank you both for being here again.
01:17:42.910 --> 01:17:47.269
I know that your schedules are always so frantic
01:17:47.269 --> 01:17:48.600
(Cecilia laughing)
01:17:48.600 --> 01:17:51.980
and I do remember actually Assembly member,
01:17:51.980 --> 01:17:55.440
we went to your district and actually visited
01:17:56.500 --> 01:17:59.900
a startup there that was doing direct wireless.
01:17:59.900 --> 01:18:02.310
And it was a really great example
01:18:02.310 --> 01:18:06.340
of the innovation that takes place in communities.
01:18:06.340 --> 01:18:09.563
And this particular company was,
01:18:10.610 --> 01:18:13.330
was able to attach not too far away
01:18:13.330 --> 01:18:15.920
to some high-speed fiber.
01:18:15.920 --> 01:18:19.810
But was limited in the rest of the infrastructure
01:18:19.810 --> 01:18:21.750
in terms of how far the direct wireless
01:18:21.750 --> 01:18:24.850
could actually meet and reach out to
01:18:24.850 --> 01:18:27.775
different parts of the community in winter.
01:18:27.775 --> 01:18:28.608
Yeah.
01:18:28.608 --> 01:18:30.510
And so I just wanted to maybe
01:18:31.637 --> 01:18:34.690
ask you about some of the questions,
01:18:34.690 --> 01:18:35.920
some of the comments you just made
01:18:35.920 --> 01:18:38.320
around the future proofing and really
01:18:38.320 --> 01:18:40.540
making sure that we're prioritizing
01:18:41.550 --> 01:18:43.360
this type of infrastructure
01:18:43.360 --> 01:18:45.690
that could really last for decades
01:18:45.690 --> 01:18:48.850
in rural communities and in urban communities.
01:18:48.850 --> 01:18:50.763
And just wanted to hear.
01:18:51.740 --> 01:18:55.660
Hear your thoughts on it because this has been a limitation
01:18:55.660 --> 01:18:58.120
in our funding programs in the past
01:18:58.120 --> 01:18:59.810
and really looking to the future
01:18:59.810 --> 01:19:01.943
and giving your thoughts on that.
01:19:03.300 --> 01:19:04.133
Well quite frankly,
01:19:04.133 --> 01:19:05.350
I think the way to go.
01:19:05.350 --> 01:19:07.790
I mean, I know the way it goes to have fiber.
01:19:07.790 --> 01:19:12.790
Fiber can be expanded, it's future-proof.
01:19:13.810 --> 01:19:17.220
It's been proven time and time again.
01:19:17.220 --> 01:19:20.550
I've been investigating other States and what they're doing.
01:19:20.550 --> 01:19:23.410
And they've tried different solutions
01:19:23.410 --> 01:19:27.700
that have not necessarily kept up with the the times.
01:19:27.700 --> 01:19:29.660
And so the recommendation from many of them
01:19:29.660 --> 01:19:30.950
that I have spoken to is that
01:19:30.950 --> 01:19:33.300
fiber by far is the way to go.
01:19:33.300 --> 01:19:35.920
And as we use,
01:19:35.920 --> 01:19:38.400
in our rural communities we have done
01:19:39.566 --> 01:19:42.570
different formats in trying to be
01:19:44.470 --> 01:19:46.850
as flexible as possible.
01:19:46.850 --> 01:19:48.310
But again is that we've had issues
01:19:48.310 --> 01:19:51.956
if we're trying to do line by line.
01:19:51.956 --> 01:19:52.830
And I'm trying to figure the word.
01:19:52.830 --> 01:19:55.900
Transmission on some inter-rural communities.
01:19:55.900 --> 01:19:57.670
You know your internet might work one day,
01:19:57.670 --> 01:19:58.990
but it won't work the next day
01:19:58.990 --> 01:19:59.823
and people will,
01:19:59.823 --> 01:20:02.940
"Gosh, I've had this best connectivity ever."
01:20:02.940 --> 01:20:05.900
Well, you know what if it's a cloudy day,
01:20:05.900 --> 01:20:07.370
we may not have connectivity.
01:20:07.370 --> 01:20:09.170
If the leaves are growing on the trees
01:20:09.170 --> 01:20:11.750
and it blocks the linage passage,
01:20:11.750 --> 01:20:13.100
we may not have connectivity.
01:20:13.100 --> 01:20:15.715
So there's so many things that get in the way.
01:20:15.715 --> 01:20:18.900
You could have the internet five feet
01:20:18.900 --> 01:20:20.730
from one person to the next person.
01:20:20.730 --> 01:20:22.610
So in my community you might have
01:20:22.610 --> 01:20:25.350
an internet service provider, a big one
01:20:25.350 --> 01:20:28.800
and across the street you have no connectivity.
01:20:28.800 --> 01:20:30.540
So we need to keep the flexibility.
01:20:30.540 --> 01:20:34.440
And I truly, really do think that we need to have fiber.
01:20:34.440 --> 01:20:37.480
I think that we dig once we put the fiber in.
01:20:37.480 --> 01:20:38.940
We suggest that whenever there's
01:20:38.940 --> 01:20:40.640
infrastructure projects going in
01:20:40.640 --> 01:20:44.150
that the fiber goes in as well.
01:20:44.150 --> 01:20:47.060
So one of the success stories I will tell you,
01:20:47.060 --> 01:20:49.720
as I was sitting at the dais as a mayor
01:20:49.720 --> 01:20:52.360
and we had a new development coming to town
01:20:52.360 --> 01:20:55.200
and on the dais it dawned on me and it was,
01:20:55.200 --> 01:20:56.087
dawned on me,
01:20:56.087 --> 01:20:57.310
"What about the internet?
01:20:57.310 --> 01:20:59.030
Why don't we have fiber going in
01:20:59.030 --> 01:21:01.547
as you put in a brand new subdivision?"
01:21:03.047 --> 01:21:04.320
And during the development agreement,
01:21:04.320 --> 01:21:07.899
the gentlemen came up to the dais he said,
01:21:07.899 --> 01:21:10.240
"If you will do a handshake right now,
01:21:10.240 --> 01:21:13.170
we'll put in the infrastructure for internet right now
01:21:13.170 --> 01:21:15.340
in all the homes that we're building."
01:21:15.340 --> 01:21:18.440
We did a handshake and I'll be darned if
01:21:18.440 --> 01:21:21.240
he sold all his homes for $4,000 more,
01:21:21.240 --> 01:21:24.710
because he had internet connectivity in that neighborhood.
01:21:24.710 --> 01:21:28.330
So yeah, I think that we've gotta be future-proof
01:21:28.330 --> 01:21:31.903
and I think fiber will be the success for that.
01:21:34.960 --> 01:21:35.793
Thank you.
01:21:35.793 --> 01:21:37.790
I'm gonna hand it over to Commissioner Houck
01:21:37.790 --> 01:21:39.940
to see if you have any follow-up questions.
01:21:41.530 --> 01:21:42.373
I wanna thank.
01:21:43.280 --> 01:21:44.570
Assembly woman, I wanna thank you
01:21:44.570 --> 01:21:46.870
and Mr. Soares for both being here.
01:21:46.870 --> 01:21:48.460
This is such an important program
01:21:48.460 --> 01:21:51.350
and it's so great to hear your commitment to it.
01:21:51.350 --> 01:21:53.440
Especially given this last year
01:21:53.440 --> 01:21:57.410
with what we've all been dealing with with the pandemic.
01:21:57.410 --> 01:22:00.030
And I think you heard Mr. Osborne indicate,
01:22:00.030 --> 01:22:02.870
Rob indicate that you know, we're oversubscribed.
01:22:02.870 --> 01:22:05.930
We got a flood of applications this year,
01:22:05.930 --> 01:22:08.850
which just even shows how critical it is
01:22:08.850 --> 01:22:11.100
that we be able to move forward,
01:22:11.100 --> 01:22:13.580
especially right now with what we're looking at
01:22:13.580 --> 01:22:14.657
for next year.
01:22:14.657 --> 01:22:18.020
And the change in what's happened with schools and work.
01:22:18.020 --> 01:22:22.060
And I just, I didn't know if you wanted to provide
01:22:22.060 --> 01:22:25.153
any additional comments as to,
01:22:27.177 --> 01:22:28.990
you know, your thoughts about the program
01:22:28.990 --> 01:22:32.210
and the fact that we do have so many applications
01:22:32.210 --> 01:22:35.560
and just the critical need to reach these communities
01:22:35.560 --> 01:22:40.560
that really need access to broadband.
01:22:40.970 --> 01:22:43.450
Especially some of the remote communities
01:22:43.450 --> 01:22:44.590
and tribal communities,
01:22:44.590 --> 01:22:46.520
both in Southern and Northern California.
01:22:46.520 --> 01:22:49.470
I just wanted to see if you had any additional comments.
01:22:49.470 --> 01:22:51.280
Well, you know in my district,
01:22:51.280 --> 01:22:53.320
I know that there have been four
01:22:53.320 --> 01:22:56.420
I believe, infrastructure projects applied for
01:22:56.420 --> 01:23:01.100
there's only been one that's been started.
01:23:01.100 --> 01:23:03.320
And I've heard nothing but complaints about
01:23:03.320 --> 01:23:05.020
the one that's been started.
01:23:05.020 --> 01:23:07.780
And it's a small rural community.
01:23:07.780 --> 01:23:10.000
A lot of issues have come up there.
01:23:10.000 --> 01:23:11.870
There's lots of frustrations.
01:23:11.870 --> 01:23:13.550
I have the school that thought that
01:23:13.550 --> 01:23:15.960
they had internet up and running
01:23:15.960 --> 01:23:19.050
and they were going through their testing period
01:23:19.050 --> 01:23:20.820
at the high school.
01:23:20.820 --> 01:23:24.570
And they ended up starting everybody on the testing,
01:23:24.570 --> 01:23:26.040
and it died.
01:23:26.040 --> 01:23:28.137
And it didn't die once, it died all day long.
01:23:28.137 --> 01:23:30.560
And they have timeframes to get this done.
01:23:30.560 --> 01:23:32.540
So I met with the school superintendent,
01:23:32.540 --> 01:23:33.890
some of the teachers.
01:23:33.890 --> 01:23:36.110
And to this day they're still very frustrated
01:23:36.110 --> 01:23:39.590
by the implementation that was supposedly done.
01:23:39.590 --> 01:23:42.620
Also by a current ISP vendor
01:23:42.620 --> 01:23:45.660
that said that they had everything fixed in that community
01:23:45.660 --> 01:23:48.640
and they have nothing fixed in that community.
01:23:48.640 --> 01:23:53.640
So I think the program itself, has very good intentions.
01:23:54.650 --> 01:23:56.810
I think that we need to make sure
01:23:56.810 --> 01:24:00.310
that the funding continues.
01:24:00.310 --> 01:24:02.844
I think that we need to.
01:24:02.844 --> 01:24:05.530
I think the CPUC has done a really good job
01:24:05.530 --> 01:24:08.090
on trying to make sure that we get everybody
01:24:09.211 --> 01:24:10.190
(indistinct) have the applications,
01:24:10.190 --> 01:24:11.780
we got barriers to applications
01:24:11.780 --> 01:24:14.240
and I think we've got some solutions to that.
01:24:14.240 --> 01:24:17.910
And I think Martha has helped us quite a lot
01:24:17.910 --> 01:24:19.713
of trying to identify some of the barriers
01:24:19.713 --> 01:24:21.383
that we've had going forward.
01:24:24.020 --> 01:24:24.853
Great thank you.
01:24:24.853 --> 01:24:26.670
I want to hand it over to Mr. Soares.
01:24:26.670 --> 01:24:28.763
So he has some time to comment as well.
01:24:30.991 --> 01:24:33.047
(clears throat) Yeah so, with the you know.
01:24:33.047 --> 01:24:35.080
I mean the need is obviously there right,
01:24:35.080 --> 01:24:38.504
by the influx of applications from this last year.
01:24:38.504 --> 01:24:42.353
A lot of different things that we're doing in SB4 and AB14,
01:24:43.590 --> 01:24:44.967
are really going to be helping that you know.
01:24:44.967 --> 01:24:49.130
And one is providing not just long-term sufficient funding,
01:24:49.130 --> 01:24:52.040
but as you know more funding on an annual basis.
01:24:52.040 --> 01:24:53.960
And then also, you know
01:24:53.960 --> 01:24:55.370
adding this bonding component,
01:24:55.370 --> 01:24:56.910
to really help our local governments
01:24:56.910 --> 01:24:58.510
where they're completely unserved
01:24:58.510 --> 01:25:00.070
or have just inadequate internet
01:25:00.070 --> 01:25:01.910
and providers aren't able to serve.
01:25:01.910 --> 01:25:04.440
So kind of taking the matters into their own hands.
01:25:04.440 --> 01:25:06.780
So by doing that, we're adding a lot of funding
01:25:06.780 --> 01:25:09.090
and then we're also opening up the eligibility,
01:25:09.090 --> 01:25:11.240
which is great because you know,
01:25:11.240 --> 01:25:12.830
folks they need internet and
01:25:12.830 --> 01:25:14.930
they need high quality internet future-proof.
01:25:14.930 --> 01:25:17.280
So those are the things
01:25:17.280 --> 01:25:18.960
we're really looking forward to accomplishing
01:25:18.960 --> 01:25:20.790
in these two pieces of legislation.
01:25:20.790 --> 01:25:23.523
So yeah, we really appreciate the question.
01:25:24.370 --> 01:25:25.460
Great, thank you.
01:25:25.460 --> 01:25:26.930
I'm just going to follow up Mr. Soares
01:25:26.930 --> 01:25:29.290
with the next question which is,
01:25:29.290 --> 01:25:32.800
if you can provide some examples of challenges
01:25:32.800 --> 01:25:34.500
experienced by your constituents.
01:25:34.500 --> 01:25:37.220
Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
01:25:37.220 --> 01:25:39.180
and how you think CASF might be able
01:25:39.180 --> 01:25:40.983
to address those concerns.
01:25:41.920 --> 01:25:45.630
Yeah. So Senate district 33 is obviously,
01:25:45.630 --> 01:25:47.340
you know an urban district
01:25:47.340 --> 01:25:50.033
in Los Angeles County, Long Beach and Southeast LA.
01:25:50.870 --> 01:25:52.670
And you would initially think that, you know,
01:25:52.670 --> 01:25:54.390
maybe all of those areas are served,
01:25:54.390 --> 01:25:55.230
or connected to the internet,
01:25:55.230 --> 01:25:56.120
but that's not always the case.
01:25:56.120 --> 01:25:57.590
There are a little kind of
01:25:57.590 --> 01:25:59.570
connection deserts so to speak throughout
01:25:59.570 --> 01:26:01.700
the urban landscape.
01:26:01.700 --> 01:26:03.120
And aside from that,
01:26:03.120 --> 01:26:06.240
you know there is a big issue with affordability
01:26:06.240 --> 01:26:07.490
on the current plans offer.
01:26:07.490 --> 01:26:08.560
So a lot of the times there's only
01:26:08.560 --> 01:26:10.660
maybe one or two providers
01:26:10.660 --> 01:26:12.883
and the prices are just way too high for
01:26:12.883 --> 01:26:15.330
many of the residents and constituents
01:26:15.330 --> 01:26:16.700
and in Senate District 33.
01:26:16.700 --> 01:26:19.050
So quick case, you know,
01:26:19.050 --> 01:26:20.820
we believe that we could you know,
01:26:20.820 --> 01:26:23.550
by opening up the eligibility and getting more
01:26:23.550 --> 01:26:25.330
infrastructure projects (clears throat)
01:26:25.330 --> 01:26:26.760
across the whole state,
01:26:26.760 --> 01:26:28.650
we can help connect communities
01:26:28.650 --> 01:26:29.800
that are completely unconnected
01:26:29.800 --> 01:26:32.330
and then help some of the affordability issues.
01:26:32.330 --> 01:26:33.190
And then kind of,
01:26:33.190 --> 01:26:35.640
I'd say the third part to that would be that
01:26:35.640 --> 01:26:37.830
by making sure we have funding in advanced services fund,
01:26:37.830 --> 01:26:39.660
we could also benefit the other sub-accounts
01:26:39.660 --> 01:26:42.160
when it comes to adoption and digital literacy.
01:26:42.160 --> 01:26:44.407
Because that's been an area that Senate District 33
01:26:44.407 --> 01:26:45.900
has been able to utilize.
01:26:45.900 --> 01:26:47.380
And you know, I think that's something
01:26:47.380 --> 01:26:49.621
I could talk about a little bit more later.
01:26:49.621 --> 01:26:50.454
But yeah,
01:26:50.454 --> 01:26:52.560
so those are some of the primary challenges.
01:26:52.560 --> 01:26:54.730
Is a surprising amount of access
01:26:54.730 --> 01:26:57.430
and then having affordable plans and digital literacy.
01:26:59.070 --> 01:27:03.200
Yes and as acting chair Rosenworcel said earlier today
01:27:03.200 --> 01:27:05.640
about the emergency broadband benefit,
01:27:05.640 --> 01:27:09.120
it has the appearance of possibly
01:27:09.120 --> 01:27:12.970
a prototype for an ongoing Lifeline type
01:27:12.970 --> 01:27:15.030
approach to broadband.
01:27:15.030 --> 01:27:17.770
So it certainly could help on the adoption side
01:27:17.770 --> 01:27:19.660
if we look at how we can combine
01:27:19.660 --> 01:27:22.300
federal funding with state funding.
01:27:22.300 --> 01:27:24.300
Assembly member I'm gonna ask you the same question
01:27:24.300 --> 01:27:26.130
with regard to broadband challenges
01:27:26.130 --> 01:27:27.730
experienced by your constituents
01:27:27.730 --> 01:27:29.643
in light of the COVID-19 pandemic?
01:27:30.880 --> 01:27:32.780
Well, so many things came to the surface
01:27:32.780 --> 01:27:34.170
during this period of time.
01:27:34.170 --> 01:27:37.170
Let's just start with obviously our school children,
01:27:37.170 --> 01:27:38.510
a lack of access,
01:27:38.510 --> 01:27:40.500
but the one that really hit home the most
01:27:40.500 --> 01:27:42.640
during this period of time was telehealth
01:27:42.640 --> 01:27:45.603
and the lack of connectivity during that period of time
01:27:45.603 --> 01:27:49.750
that so many people wanted to use telehealth services.
01:27:49.750 --> 01:27:51.790
Many of the doctors that I've spoken with,
01:27:51.790 --> 01:27:55.270
as well as our healthcare providers have said to us,
01:27:55.270 --> 01:27:57.020
you know thank God for telehealth,
01:27:57.020 --> 01:28:01.080
but still we're still lacking that in our rural communities.
01:28:01.080 --> 01:28:03.410
So that was one of the biggest challenges
01:28:03.410 --> 01:28:07.000
that I feel like that we had other than the school district,
01:28:07.000 --> 01:28:08.760
and the other one is quite frankly,
01:28:08.760 --> 01:28:10.250
that we've moved to Zoom
01:28:10.250 --> 01:28:12.080
and we're trying to have this connectivity.
01:28:12.080 --> 01:28:14.270
And I can't begin to tell you how many times
01:28:14.270 --> 01:28:18.500
we're having very difficult conversations on the phone
01:28:18.500 --> 01:28:20.940
and excuse me on Zoom and they just cut out.
01:28:20.940 --> 01:28:22.650
And you don't know what's happened on the other end.
01:28:22.650 --> 01:28:24.790
And the screen goes black.
01:28:24.790 --> 01:28:26.017
And then I keep thinking to myself,
01:28:26.017 --> 01:28:28.270
"You know what that's still in the urban areas
01:28:28.270 --> 01:28:30.200
as well as it is a rural areas."
01:28:30.200 --> 01:28:32.330
So we have a lot of work to do.
01:28:32.330 --> 01:28:36.986
We need to make sure we have quality connectivity,
01:28:36.986 --> 01:28:39.380
reliable connectivity.
01:28:39.380 --> 01:28:42.090
So, those are the things that really came to mind
01:28:42.090 --> 01:28:44.027
during the pandemic.
01:28:44.027 --> 01:28:45.700
And it really came to mind that
01:28:45.700 --> 01:28:49.200
everybody in this state has a right to be connected
01:28:49.200 --> 01:28:52.260
and why we continue to have this disagreement
01:28:52.260 --> 01:28:53.590
is just incredible.
01:28:53.590 --> 01:28:56.730
We've tried to get a similar bill through before,
01:28:56.730 --> 01:28:58.597
and it was always about.
01:28:58.597 --> 01:29:00.590
"Oh we don't wanna raise the fee."
01:29:00.590 --> 01:29:02.420
Come on 23 cents?
01:29:02.420 --> 01:29:04.480
When you really look at the entire picture here,
01:29:04.480 --> 01:29:05.820
this is minimal.
01:29:05.820 --> 01:29:07.770
This is minimal cost to us.
01:29:07.770 --> 01:29:11.150
When you think about the reducing GHG
01:29:11.150 --> 01:29:12.570
by all of us working at home,
01:29:12.570 --> 01:29:14.200
less people on the road.
01:29:14.200 --> 01:29:15.800
I mean we can go on and on about
01:29:15.800 --> 01:29:17.920
23 cents is minimal to make sure that
01:29:17.920 --> 01:29:19.403
everybody has connectivity.
01:29:22.030 --> 01:29:22.863
Yeah, certainly.
01:29:22.863 --> 01:29:25.350
And that's been discussed even at the broadband council
01:29:25.350 --> 01:29:27.610
the amount of greenhouse gases
01:29:27.610 --> 01:29:30.550
that have been reduced through tele-work,
01:29:30.550 --> 01:29:32.030
certainly a huge benefit
01:29:33.030 --> 01:29:34.980
and you know something that came out
01:29:34.980 --> 01:29:36.800
of the COVID pandemic as well.
01:29:36.800 --> 01:29:38.330
Commissioners, I'm gonna hand it back to you
01:29:38.330 --> 01:29:41.250
to see if you have any additional comments on this question
01:29:41.250 --> 01:29:45.253
with regard to COVID-19 specific challenges.
01:29:50.630 --> 01:29:51.800
You know, it's difficult when you see
01:29:51.800 --> 01:29:53.953
there's so many challenges, right?
01:29:53.953 --> 01:29:55.021
I know exactly.
01:29:55.021 --> 01:29:55.854
(all laughing)
01:29:55.854 --> 01:29:58.100
You know, which one do you want to pick?
01:29:58.100 --> 01:29:58.933
Which one?
01:30:00.154 --> 01:30:01.410
You know, I mean I just.
01:30:01.410 --> 01:30:03.700
You know we can give anecdote after anecdote,
01:30:03.700 --> 01:30:06.480
but, you know having
01:30:06.480 --> 01:30:10.620
getting folks vaccinated has been the latest
01:30:10.620 --> 01:30:11.790
you know, reflection.
01:30:11.790 --> 01:30:14.350
Unfortunately the Governor has now taken
01:30:14.350 --> 01:30:16.970
a much more directive approach on
01:30:16.970 --> 01:30:20.880
filling in the gap that was, you know,
01:30:20.880 --> 01:30:23.220
showing in terms of the racial disparities
01:30:23.220 --> 01:30:25.333
and who's getting vaccinated.
01:30:26.380 --> 01:30:29.070
But a lot of that is due to the fact that
01:30:29.070 --> 01:30:32.610
we don't have equity on access to broadband
01:30:32.610 --> 01:30:34.583
to even find out about the vaccination.
01:30:35.548 --> 01:30:39.540
So what's resulted is all of this really great work
01:30:39.540 --> 01:30:42.331
in communities and the pop-up clinics to really
01:30:42.331 --> 01:30:43.550
permeate with that.
01:30:43.550 --> 01:30:45.660
But it's just the latest example
01:30:45.660 --> 01:30:50.520
of the real essential need for having that access though.
01:30:50.520 --> 01:30:51.353
Thank you for--
01:30:51.353 --> 01:30:53.620
It's very interesting like you said,
01:30:53.620 --> 01:30:55.620
is that communities are coming together
01:30:55.620 --> 01:30:58.490
or nonprofits are coming together to get the word out.
01:30:58.490 --> 01:31:01.339
And those have been pieces that keep
01:31:01.339 --> 01:31:03.310
the pandemic at bay a bit,
01:31:03.310 --> 01:31:05.330
trying to get the vaccinations done.
01:31:05.330 --> 01:31:07.730
But can you imagine if everybody could just get online
01:31:07.730 --> 01:31:10.050
and they could just see quickly
01:31:10.050 --> 01:31:11.870
where they can get a vaccination
01:31:11.870 --> 01:31:13.463
or what the next steps were?
01:31:13.463 --> 01:31:16.730
You know, when we have some of my rural communities
01:31:17.674 --> 01:31:20.790
that are being resistant on getting vaccinations.
01:31:20.790 --> 01:31:21.623
I think to myself,
01:31:21.623 --> 01:31:23.810
"If they had the information online,
01:31:23.810 --> 01:31:26.830
if they could realize where they could go get a vaccination,
01:31:26.830 --> 01:31:29.150
if they could see other people of color
01:31:29.150 --> 01:31:30.113
that are getting their vaccinations."
01:31:30.113 --> 01:31:31.960
I mean, how would that change?
01:31:31.960 --> 01:31:33.900
How would that change that
01:31:33.900 --> 01:31:35.060
getting those out?
01:31:35.060 --> 01:31:38.320
So I think this is just one of the many things
01:31:38.320 --> 01:31:40.813
that we can have an anecdotal conversation
01:31:40.813 --> 01:31:42.963
about what we've seen so far.
01:31:48.560 --> 01:31:49.393
Great, thank you.
01:31:49.393 --> 01:31:50.820
Commissioner Houck anything to add,
01:31:50.820 --> 01:31:52.673
or shall I move on to the next question?
01:31:54.006 --> 01:31:55.150
No, I think you can move on.
01:31:55.150 --> 01:31:57.360
I think we could probably go on all day on
01:31:57.360 --> 01:32:00.119
the difference circumstances
01:32:00.119 --> 01:32:05.119
and impacts that are broadband and COVID related.
01:32:05.210 --> 01:32:09.650
So I'll let us move on and we may end up coming back to this
01:32:09.650 --> 01:32:11.870
as we answer other questions.
01:32:11.870 --> 01:32:14.290
Okay, so Assembly member Aguiar-Curry,
01:32:14.290 --> 01:32:16.300
I'm gonna ask you the next question which is,
01:32:16.300 --> 01:32:19.820
if you have any success stories or other anecdotes
01:32:19.820 --> 01:32:21.810
that illustrate innovative solutions
01:32:21.810 --> 01:32:23.060
that you'd like to share?
01:32:24.350 --> 01:32:27.523
Well, can I say not enough? (laughing)
01:32:28.571 --> 01:32:31.080
We cannot force the private sector
01:32:31.080 --> 01:32:33.679
to build out services that doesn't pencil out for them.
01:32:33.679 --> 01:32:35.910
You know, if they would support that
01:32:35.910 --> 01:32:38.110
then we would all be done, but we're not.
01:32:38.110 --> 01:32:40.820
So since the passage of AB 1665,
01:32:40.820 --> 01:32:44.230
we've had a few of our projects in the fourth district
01:32:44.230 --> 01:32:45.100
which I welcome.
01:32:45.100 --> 01:32:47.070
In Williams for instance,
01:32:47.070 --> 01:32:49.610
half the community the upgrade service under
01:32:49.610 --> 01:32:52.100
the California Advanced Services Fund.
01:32:52.100 --> 01:32:55.690
That's great, but what about the other half of the people?
01:32:55.690 --> 01:32:57.810
I know that internet service providers
01:32:57.810 --> 01:32:59.530
have to run a business,
01:32:59.530 --> 01:33:02.090
which means cost must meet revenues.
01:33:02.090 --> 01:33:03.293
But if you asked me,
01:33:04.210 --> 01:33:06.160
if they don't want to build
01:33:06.160 --> 01:33:09.650
even with the California Advanced Services Fund subsidies
01:33:11.340 --> 01:33:13.280
and we can't force them to build
01:33:13.280 --> 01:33:16.030
with or without the subsidies,
01:33:16.030 --> 01:33:18.590
then they need to get out of our way.
01:33:18.590 --> 01:33:19.423
They need to get out of our way
01:33:19.423 --> 01:33:21.097
so we can get service to those communities
01:33:21.097 --> 01:33:23.000
who have been left behind.
01:33:23.000 --> 01:33:24.760
That's why both the Senator and I
01:33:24.760 --> 01:33:27.680
are greatly enhancing the ability for local governments,
01:33:27.680 --> 01:33:30.720
the tribe, regional government even co-op,
01:33:30.720 --> 01:33:33.640
like the Plumas-Sierra Electric co-op,
01:33:33.640 --> 01:33:38.640
which now runs its own broadband networks to participate.
01:33:38.980 --> 01:33:41.060
And I am looking at lots of co-ops
01:33:41.060 --> 01:33:42.810
that are starting to do this
01:33:42.810 --> 01:33:45.660
and investigating this throughout the United States.
01:33:45.660 --> 01:33:48.090
So I'm also working with Trish.
01:33:48.090 --> 01:33:51.390
Trish and some of Valley Vision who've been very helpful
01:33:51.390 --> 01:33:54.283
on trying to get projects going in our district.
01:33:54.283 --> 01:33:56.490
There's a lot of work to be done but
01:33:56.490 --> 01:33:58.880
I will say is that everybody get out of our way.
01:33:58.880 --> 01:34:01.090
Let's get this shot done, I think we can do it.
01:34:01.090 --> 01:34:02.070
I know we can do it.
01:34:02.070 --> 01:34:03.710
I know our communities wanna do it.
01:34:03.710 --> 01:34:06.980
I know that they want to figure a way of doing it.
01:34:06.980 --> 01:34:08.130
They're looking for some funding.
01:34:08.130 --> 01:34:11.640
This is a time for us all to move forward.
01:34:11.640 --> 01:34:14.580
I never thought I'd say thank God for a pandemic.
01:34:14.580 --> 01:34:17.190
But I am saying that because it's moving us fast forward
01:34:17.190 --> 01:34:19.220
and moving this to the top of the list
01:34:19.220 --> 01:34:20.320
throughout the nation.
01:34:21.670 --> 01:34:23.201
You make a really interesting point.
01:34:23.201 --> 01:34:24.970
Assembly member about
01:34:24.970 --> 01:34:27.480
how the model that we've relied on for so long
01:34:27.480 --> 01:34:29.770
has been successful up to a point.
01:34:29.770 --> 01:34:32.820
And now we're faced with communities
01:34:32.820 --> 01:34:35.740
where we're seeing disinvestment in the telephone networks
01:34:35.740 --> 01:34:37.560
and not investment in broadband.
01:34:37.560 --> 01:34:40.590
So the question is, how do we fix the broadband?
01:34:40.590 --> 01:34:41.830
How do we provide broadband
01:34:41.830 --> 01:34:43.920
to these communities where it doesn't pencil out?
01:34:43.920 --> 01:34:46.350
And I think as you indicated,
01:34:46.350 --> 01:34:48.380
we're gonna have to start looking at new models.
01:34:48.380 --> 01:34:50.090
It's not just an either or.
01:34:50.090 --> 01:34:52.278
Either we invest or we don't.
01:34:52.278 --> 01:34:53.520
It's in what way do we invest?
01:34:53.520 --> 01:34:55.750
In what way do municipalities get involved?
01:34:55.750 --> 01:34:58.370
Or do nonprofits get involved?
01:34:58.370 --> 01:35:01.040
And you mentioned co-ops as well, Plumas-Sierra.
01:35:01.040 --> 01:35:05.310
There's also Anza Electric Co-op in Southern California.
01:35:05.310 --> 01:35:06.960
I'm gonna go over to Mr. Soares
01:35:08.032 --> 01:35:10.563
to see if he has anything to say on this topic.
01:35:11.750 --> 01:35:13.610
Yeah so (clears throat),
01:35:13.610 --> 01:35:14.910
something I wanna mention is you know,
01:35:14.910 --> 01:35:17.000
just to commend the work that has been done
01:35:17.000 --> 01:35:18.180
on this project to this point.
01:35:18.180 --> 01:35:21.350
And you know, I think the assembly member mentioned earlier
01:35:21.350 --> 01:35:22.450
it's all well-intended
01:35:22.450 --> 01:35:25.339
but it's only worked for certain parts of the state.
01:35:25.339 --> 01:35:27.810
And what we really aim to do with SB4 and AB14
01:35:27.810 --> 01:35:29.480
is to make it work for the whole state.
01:35:29.480 --> 01:35:31.870
There's definitely a demand from,
01:35:31.870 --> 01:35:35.700
all of California to have this broadband connection.
01:35:35.700 --> 01:35:37.210
You know, something that I would share
01:35:37.210 --> 01:35:38.950
from Senate district 33 is that
01:35:38.950 --> 01:35:41.360
we have had zero infrastructure projects.
01:35:41.360 --> 01:35:43.610
And I think a lot of that barrier comes from,
01:35:44.620 --> 01:35:47.670
the 6/1 megabyte per second eligibility speeds.
01:35:47.670 --> 01:35:49.450
So by raising that,
01:35:49.450 --> 01:35:50.730
we'll have some community interests
01:35:50.730 --> 01:35:53.150
I think for sure across LA County
01:35:53.150 --> 01:35:56.170
and across the whole state which is excellent.
01:35:56.170 --> 01:35:57.880
You know, a couple of things that I wanna highlight is
01:35:57.880 --> 01:36:00.540
we've had some adoption and some digital literacy
01:36:00.540 --> 01:36:03.250
dollars go out from the different sub-accounts in CASF,
01:36:03.250 --> 01:36:05.030
which is great I think we need to continue that.
01:36:05.030 --> 01:36:06.820
And that's part of this too,
01:36:06.820 --> 01:36:09.210
but we really wanna focus on the infrastructure
01:36:09.210 --> 01:36:13.340
and really giving our local governments and nonprofits
01:36:13.340 --> 01:36:15.080
and so on and so forth the ability
01:36:15.080 --> 01:36:17.980
to build these networks where providers just won't.
01:36:17.980 --> 01:36:21.410
And we get those challenges there,
01:36:21.410 --> 01:36:24.680
but like it's been mentioned on this point
01:36:24.680 --> 01:36:25.640
in the last few minutes,
01:36:25.640 --> 01:36:28.140
we have to re-imagine the way that we connect folks,
01:36:28.140 --> 01:36:29.790
because it's it's absolutely essential.
01:36:29.790 --> 01:36:32.760
You know, we think about folks getting back in the workforce
01:36:32.760 --> 01:36:34.480
after the pandemic or kind of right now
01:36:34.480 --> 01:36:36.254
as they're transitioning out of it
01:36:36.254 --> 01:36:37.640
or getting relief during the pandemic.
01:36:37.640 --> 01:36:39.050
They absolutely need to be able
01:36:39.050 --> 01:36:41.410
to connect to the internet to do so.
01:36:41.410 --> 01:36:45.390
And we look forward to moving this legislation forward
01:36:45.390 --> 01:36:46.563
and helping folks.
01:36:48.350 --> 01:36:50.200
You know, it's such an exciting time.
01:36:50.200 --> 01:36:53.860
Like you said is that we need to think outside the box.
01:36:53.860 --> 01:36:55.970
And this is the time to think outside the box
01:36:55.970 --> 01:36:57.020
and we're gonna take some risks
01:36:57.020 --> 01:36:59.340
and there's going to be some challenges,
01:36:59.340 --> 01:37:02.900
but I'm confident our cities and our counties
01:37:02.900 --> 01:37:05.210
are looking forward to doing something.
01:37:05.210 --> 01:37:06.510
And I've had conversations with
01:37:06.510 --> 01:37:07.800
the League of California Cities,
01:37:07.800 --> 01:37:09.520
the California Special Districts.
01:37:09.520 --> 01:37:11.590
I've had conversation with nonprofits,
01:37:11.590 --> 01:37:13.447
you know just kind of putting it in the head,
01:37:13.447 --> 01:37:15.970
"Can you imagine if you could take on this?"
01:37:15.970 --> 01:37:17.711
And they're like, "How do we do it?
01:37:17.711 --> 01:37:19.760
What's the technical expertise?"
01:37:19.760 --> 01:37:21.950
Well, we know we're going to have to depend upon
01:37:21.950 --> 01:37:23.610
making sure we have adoption
01:37:23.610 --> 01:37:25.730
and we're gonna have a good plan for that as well.
01:37:25.730 --> 01:37:27.080
But the fact of matter is
01:37:27.080 --> 01:37:30.937
to be able to tell some of the ISP's,
01:37:30.937 --> 01:37:33.120
"We don't have to wait for you any longer.
01:37:33.120 --> 01:37:35.030
We're gonna do it. We'll get it done.
01:37:35.030 --> 01:37:37.530
We'll be creative."
01:37:37.530 --> 01:37:39.840
And we're gonna have to start looking outside the box
01:37:39.840 --> 01:37:42.610
of what other States and cities and counties
01:37:42.610 --> 01:37:43.730
are doing right now.
01:37:43.730 --> 01:37:45.560
Others are doing the same thing
01:37:45.560 --> 01:37:47.780
and there's lessons learned along the way.
01:37:47.780 --> 01:37:48.820
And that's what we need to do,
01:37:48.820 --> 01:37:51.400
is we don't necessarily have to recreate the wheel,
01:37:51.400 --> 01:37:54.330
but we can sure jump on the bus with everyone else
01:37:54.330 --> 01:37:56.243
and make sure we can internet for all.
01:37:58.280 --> 01:38:01.730
Absolutely and I know that Commissioner Guzman Aceves
01:38:01.730 --> 01:38:04.560
is in charge of a proceeding that's looking at
01:38:04.560 --> 01:38:06.960
some alternative ways of deploying broadband.
01:38:06.960 --> 01:38:08.440
Commissioner I'm not sure if you'd like to
01:38:08.440 --> 01:38:10.103
comment at all on that.
01:38:11.020 --> 01:38:11.853
Well, thank you.
01:38:11.853 --> 01:38:14.350
I mean there's so much good things have been mentioned.
01:38:14.350 --> 01:38:18.170
And I know one of the favorite models I like to highlight
01:38:18.170 --> 01:38:21.170
is actually in Senator Gonzales's district,
01:38:21.170 --> 01:38:24.020
with the South Bay Cog down there,
01:38:24.020 --> 01:38:29.020
where they really saw even in their own County buildings
01:38:29.180 --> 01:38:31.020
and local government buildings,
01:38:31.020 --> 01:38:34.300
the lack of infrastructure or high-speed connectivity
01:38:34.300 --> 01:38:36.340
in very urban areas.
01:38:36.340 --> 01:38:39.130
And they took on that leadership role
01:38:39.130 --> 01:38:41.100
developed their own capacity
01:38:41.100 --> 01:38:44.640
and actually use a local transportation bond money,
01:38:44.640 --> 01:38:46.980
for building out their fiber network.
01:38:46.980 --> 01:38:51.270
So they did such a tremendous vision
01:38:51.270 --> 01:38:53.300
and now their vision continues to grow
01:38:53.300 --> 01:38:54.950
on how they can use that backbone
01:38:54.950 --> 01:38:58.130
for even more opportunities for their communities.
01:38:58.130 --> 01:39:01.150
I think that's kind of the innovation that we need.
01:39:01.150 --> 01:39:03.477
And I do think, you know,
01:39:03.477 --> 01:39:06.510
thinking of the capacity that
01:39:06.510 --> 01:39:09.000
some local governments have versus others,
01:39:09.000 --> 01:39:11.050
some communities versus others.
01:39:11.050 --> 01:39:13.810
As you know one of the areas we were able to
01:39:14.840 --> 01:39:16.940
approve within our current framework
01:39:16.940 --> 01:39:19.860
was the technical capacity for tribes.
01:39:19.860 --> 01:39:21.409
But I do wonder,
01:39:21.409 --> 01:39:24.100
if you see the program itself in this
01:39:25.187 --> 01:39:27.790
continuation of the program,
01:39:27.790 --> 01:39:30.540
if the legislature and your leadership obviously
01:39:30.540 --> 01:39:31.790
is looking at.
01:39:31.790 --> 01:39:33.180
what is the role of the program
01:39:33.180 --> 01:39:36.060
to enhance the technical capacity of local governments
01:39:36.060 --> 01:39:37.210
and tribal governments?
01:39:39.090 --> 01:39:40.681
Well I think without a doubt,
01:39:40.681 --> 01:39:43.700
we realized I think more and more is that
01:39:43.700 --> 01:39:47.376
there's accountability and there's transparency.
01:39:47.376 --> 01:39:50.040
That we need to make sure everybody can get on board.
01:39:50.040 --> 01:39:52.083
And the adoption is,
01:39:53.020 --> 01:39:56.690
if we can't do the adoption in the tribal areas
01:39:56.690 --> 01:39:58.130
as well as anywhere else,
01:39:58.130 --> 01:39:59.829
I think we're gonna.
01:39:59.829 --> 01:40:00.950
Not that I think.
01:40:00.950 --> 01:40:04.510
I know that we are going to need the technical expertise
01:40:04.510 --> 01:40:06.503
that you all have offered in the past.
01:40:08.010 --> 01:40:10.074
I can think of my small communities,
01:40:10.074 --> 01:40:11.900
they don't have technical expertise
01:40:11.900 --> 01:40:13.190
to use local government,
01:40:13.190 --> 01:40:15.020
but maybe we could do it as a regional.
01:40:15.020 --> 01:40:18.340
Maybe we look at this as a regional solution
01:40:18.340 --> 01:40:20.160
for technical expertise.
01:40:20.160 --> 01:40:21.460
In the smallest districts,
01:40:21.460 --> 01:40:22.293
there's just not enough people
01:40:22.293 --> 01:40:24.860
and the bandwidth is so small also.
01:40:24.860 --> 01:40:26.640
I think that's one of my biggest concerns,
01:40:26.640 --> 01:40:29.980
but I think we can, again, as you say
01:40:29.980 --> 01:40:34.980
the cog down in Senator Gonzalez's area has found a solution
01:40:35.230 --> 01:40:37.980
and again maybe we just mirror what they're doing
01:40:37.980 --> 01:40:41.290
and just take those good parts and move forward
01:40:41.290 --> 01:40:44.313
and find different ways there to approach it.
01:40:49.160 --> 01:40:50.220
All right thank you.
01:40:50.220 --> 01:40:52.350
I'm gonna move on to question number four
01:40:52.350 --> 01:40:54.990
and this one we'll to Mr. Soares.
01:40:54.990 --> 01:40:56.630
So aside from CASF,
01:40:56.630 --> 01:40:59.420
what are your other legislative priorities
01:40:59.420 --> 01:41:00.763
in the broadband space?
01:41:01.600 --> 01:41:05.220
Yeah so, a couple that I want to highlight is,
01:41:05.220 --> 01:41:08.160
Senator Gonzalez is also authoring SB378.
01:41:08.160 --> 01:41:10.880
Which is a bill that has to do with some of,
01:41:10.880 --> 01:41:12.590
streamlining at kind of local levels,
01:41:12.590 --> 01:41:15.240
when it comes to the permit approval process
01:41:15.240 --> 01:41:18.440
for micro-trenching and when projects are being proposed.
01:41:18.440 --> 01:41:20.510
So just trying to speed up the timeline
01:41:20.510 --> 01:41:22.230
and we're working with all the different folks
01:41:22.230 --> 01:41:23.780
involved with that from the different utility,
01:41:23.780 --> 01:41:25.390
folks from local governments to make sure that
01:41:25.390 --> 01:41:27.340
everyone's comfortable with that Bill.
01:41:27.340 --> 01:41:29.570
But just when there's a provider,
01:41:29.570 --> 01:41:31.610
whether it be small, medium, or large provider,
01:41:31.610 --> 01:41:35.190
or local government eventually building their own network,
01:41:35.190 --> 01:41:37.630
we want those (clears throat) processes to be done
01:41:37.630 --> 01:41:40.090
in a mindful way, but in a quick way right?
01:41:40.090 --> 01:41:43.040
'Cause people needed this internet a long time ago, right?
01:41:43.040 --> 01:41:44.280
They needed broadband connection.
01:41:44.280 --> 01:41:45.633
So we're trying to do everything we can
01:41:45.633 --> 01:41:47.270
just to speed up that process
01:41:47.270 --> 01:41:50.410
and that's something that the Senator looks forward to.
01:41:50.410 --> 01:41:52.220
Advancing this year as well kind of as,
01:41:52.220 --> 01:41:55.000
even though it's not directly linked to SB4 and AB14,
01:41:55.000 --> 01:41:57.200
it's sort of a companion measure
01:41:57.200 --> 01:41:58.750
to really you know,
01:41:58.750 --> 01:42:00.150
help out with the projects.
01:42:00.150 --> 01:42:03.210
And then, something that we're all
01:42:03.210 --> 01:42:04.310
kind of monitoring as well
01:42:04.310 --> 01:42:07.240
and I think we're in support of is AB34.
01:42:07.240 --> 01:42:10.090
It is the bond measure and
01:42:10.090 --> 01:42:13.120
that would go to the ballot in 2022.
01:42:13.120 --> 01:42:14.840
And (clears throat) I believe it's
01:42:14.840 --> 01:42:16.750
a $10 billion number at the moment.
01:42:16.750 --> 01:42:20.180
And that's something that we are excited about
01:42:20.180 --> 01:42:21.830
and look forward to working on as well.
01:42:21.830 --> 01:42:23.200
Making sure there's all the kind of
01:42:23.200 --> 01:42:25.200
proper requirements for that,
01:42:25.200 --> 01:42:27.130
as far as build out speed and eligibility speed
01:42:27.130 --> 01:42:27.963
for that money.
01:42:27.963 --> 01:42:30.370
But those are the two that I would like to highlight.
01:42:30.370 --> 01:42:33.010
And I know there's a lot in the legislature,
01:42:33.010 --> 01:42:35.380
but I I don't think I could
01:42:35.380 --> 01:42:37.720
get to all of them at the moment (chuckling).
01:42:37.720 --> 01:42:39.527
That's fine, thank you.
01:42:39.527 --> 01:42:40.360
Thank you.
01:42:41.313 --> 01:42:43.994
How about you Assembly member Aguiar-Curry?
01:42:43.994 --> 01:42:46.340
Oh, you know, Mr. Soares,
01:42:46.340 --> 01:42:47.500
I have to chuckle because
01:42:47.500 --> 01:42:49.750
everybody wants to get on the broadband wagon.
01:42:49.750 --> 01:42:52.277
Because, you know I think there's no doubt about it,
01:42:52.277 --> 01:42:54.730
but Senator Gonzales and I realized
01:42:54.730 --> 01:42:58.200
that we feel that ours is the framework
01:42:58.200 --> 01:43:00.470
for other people's Bills to get this thing going.
01:43:00.470 --> 01:43:03.110
So I get the giggles out of it.
01:43:03.110 --> 01:43:08.110
But I have been passionate about my rural communities
01:43:09.370 --> 01:43:11.200
and primarily because I call,
01:43:11.200 --> 01:43:13.340
it's the number one thing that comes to mind is access.
01:43:13.340 --> 01:43:14.850
Lack of access.
01:43:14.850 --> 01:43:17.760
And so yes lack of access of the internet,
01:43:17.760 --> 01:43:20.190
lack of access to the education,
01:43:20.190 --> 01:43:22.930
lack of access for healthcare.
01:43:22.930 --> 01:43:25.770
And so I'm proposing AB32
01:43:25.770 --> 01:43:28.160
in partnership with a big coalition
01:43:28.160 --> 01:43:29.550
of advocates and legislators,
01:43:29.550 --> 01:43:31.420
which helps protect the health
01:43:31.420 --> 01:43:33.190
and wellbeing of Californians,
01:43:33.190 --> 01:43:36.530
particularly in our most vulnerable communities
01:43:36.530 --> 01:43:37.613
throughout the state.
01:43:38.540 --> 01:43:40.260
You know, the pandemic brought on a lot
01:43:40.260 --> 01:43:41.360
during this period of time.
01:43:41.360 --> 01:43:43.150
And we really realized that that period.
01:43:43.150 --> 01:43:44.720
That during this time is that
01:43:46.130 --> 01:43:47.340
healthcare is
01:43:49.640 --> 01:43:52.060
a valuable need
01:43:52.060 --> 01:43:54.340
that everybody should have healthcare.
01:43:54.340 --> 01:43:57.040
So after visiting a public place
01:43:57.040 --> 01:43:59.800
through the pandemic has subsided,
01:43:59.800 --> 01:44:02.670
we must continue to guarantee
01:44:02.670 --> 01:44:04.960
access to care for our senior citizens,
01:44:04.960 --> 01:44:09.300
our working families that must forego pay,
01:44:09.300 --> 01:44:12.163
for every moment spent traveling to and from a doctor.
01:44:13.120 --> 01:44:15.830
Those without access to local health professionals
01:44:15.830 --> 01:44:19.230
and those with mobility issues.
01:44:19.230 --> 01:44:21.960
Telehealth can revolutionize how we provide
01:44:21.960 --> 01:44:24.040
safe and effective healthcare.
01:44:24.040 --> 01:44:25.700
We know that the cost of healthcare
01:44:25.700 --> 01:44:27.960
for an unhealthy population,
01:44:27.960 --> 01:44:31.340
far exceed the cost for a healthy population.
01:44:31.340 --> 01:44:33.610
Lack of access forces many people to wait
01:44:33.610 --> 01:44:34.990
until they are in distress
01:44:34.990 --> 01:44:37.470
to access a healthcare system.
01:44:37.470 --> 01:44:40.057
That hurts them and it hurts their families.
01:44:40.057 --> 01:44:42.170
But the insanity is,
01:44:42.170 --> 01:44:44.770
it also is more expensive for the health plans,
01:44:44.770 --> 01:44:46.418
the hospitals and clinics
01:44:46.418 --> 01:44:49.580
and doctors and our tax payers.
01:44:49.580 --> 01:44:51.250
So the time has come for Californians
01:44:51.250 --> 01:44:54.540
to assure access to health benefits that we pay for
01:44:54.540 --> 01:44:57.390
are received as part of our employee compensation
01:44:57.390 --> 01:45:01.580
or are eligible for government services.
01:45:01.580 --> 01:45:03.704
Telehealth is a huge tool for
01:45:03.704 --> 01:45:07.440
assuring that access to healthcare for all.
01:45:07.440 --> 01:45:10.053
So during this period of time,
01:45:11.000 --> 01:45:13.830
I can't believe how many people
01:45:13.830 --> 01:45:16.460
have accessed telehealth.
01:45:16.460 --> 01:45:18.430
And it was on a temporary basis.
01:45:18.430 --> 01:45:23.210
We had our Bill went through under Emergency Declaration
01:45:23.210 --> 01:45:25.060
and now we wanna make it permanent.
01:45:25.060 --> 01:45:28.700
That everybody can have access to telehealth
01:45:28.700 --> 01:45:31.710
and the doctors and providers they pay for.
01:45:31.710 --> 01:45:34.350
So AB32.
01:45:34.350 --> 01:45:36.864
Let's all here vote for AB32.
01:45:36.864 --> 01:45:39.531
(all laughing).
01:45:40.970 --> 01:45:41.900
That's what I have,
01:45:41.900 --> 01:45:42.980
but I will tell you is that,
01:45:42.980 --> 01:45:45.410
I've met with the speaker.
01:45:45.410 --> 01:45:47.700
Assembly Speaker and he showed us about
01:45:47.700 --> 01:45:52.110
14 bills that people have throughout the assembly.
01:45:52.110 --> 01:45:54.980
I have not had the time yet
01:45:54.980 --> 01:45:56.600
to go through all those Bills yet,
01:45:56.600 --> 01:45:59.330
but it looks like there's quite a plethora of ideas
01:45:59.330 --> 01:46:00.630
that are out there.
01:46:00.630 --> 01:46:04.320
But by far Senator Gonzales and I
01:46:04.320 --> 01:46:07.830
feel that ours is ready to go.
01:46:07.830 --> 01:46:09.690
We have a few amendments we have put through.
01:46:09.690 --> 01:46:11.930
We have a lot of support behind us
01:46:11.930 --> 01:46:13.810
with assembly and Senators.
01:46:13.810 --> 01:46:18.810
Our leadership has been reviewing all of our Bills,
01:46:19.200 --> 01:46:22.160
as well as the administration.
01:46:22.160 --> 01:46:24.640
We've gotten the input from the CPUC
01:46:24.640 --> 01:46:26.360
and I'm sure we'll have more,
01:46:26.360 --> 01:46:27.550
but we're ready to go.
01:46:27.550 --> 01:46:29.360
I mean, we can talk and talk and talk
01:46:29.360 --> 01:46:30.220
until we're blue in the face
01:46:30.220 --> 01:46:31.320
but come on everybody's,
01:46:31.320 --> 01:46:33.370
let's just get this over the finish line.
01:46:34.271 --> 01:46:35.920
And I'm very confident that
01:46:35.920 --> 01:46:37.970
we can get this one over the finish line.
01:46:39.690 --> 01:46:42.378
I'm going to give the Governor an ink pen to get it done.
01:46:42.378 --> 01:46:44.961
(all laughing)
01:46:46.590 --> 01:46:49.760
Well I guess Telehealth really just underscores
01:46:49.760 --> 01:46:51.510
the necessity of broadband.
01:46:51.510 --> 01:46:53.370
You know, I remember several years back,
01:46:53.370 --> 01:46:55.690
someone asking me, "Well, why should we subsidize
01:46:55.690 --> 01:46:57.710
people's ability to watch Netflix?"
01:46:57.710 --> 01:47:00.677
And that's not even brought up anymore with the pandemic.
01:47:00.677 --> 01:47:02.720
You know, this is a lifeline now
01:47:02.720 --> 01:47:05.410
connecting everyone to the world.
01:47:05.410 --> 01:47:07.160
So I get that--
01:47:07.160 --> 01:47:09.460
You know, Rob mot even that is something
01:47:09.460 --> 01:47:12.730
that has bothered me, is it because you know.
01:47:12.730 --> 01:47:13.810
now we have the Netflix,
01:47:13.810 --> 01:47:16.040
we have all of these subscriptions to watch
01:47:16.040 --> 01:47:19.010
Disney+, or Amazon or whatever the case might be.
01:47:19.010 --> 01:47:23.040
For $4.99 here, 4.99 here.
01:47:23.040 --> 01:47:27.290
I believe Verizon now has new iCloud product, it's 19.99.
01:47:27.290 --> 01:47:28.450
I mean, we keep adding a stuff
01:47:28.450 --> 01:47:31.335
and we're complaining about 23 cents?
01:47:31.335 --> 01:47:34.920
Come on guys, let's get this across the finish line.
01:47:34.920 --> 01:47:36.463
This is not difficult.
01:47:37.420 --> 01:47:38.710
And you know, I gotta tell you
01:47:38.710 --> 01:47:41.180
with the CPUC and the leadership that we have there,
01:47:41.180 --> 01:47:44.330
I'm totally confident that we can move forward.
01:47:44.330 --> 01:47:47.300
But you know, we've got lots of work to do
01:47:47.300 --> 01:47:48.330
and think out of the box.
01:47:48.330 --> 01:47:49.600
I wanna be at the table.
01:47:49.600 --> 01:47:53.070
I know the Senator would like to be at the table too.
01:47:53.070 --> 01:47:54.390
We've got lots of work to do
01:47:54.390 --> 01:47:56.023
and I'll be there for it.
01:47:56.890 --> 01:48:00.390
Great, I wanna thank you Assembly member Aguiar-Curry
01:48:00.390 --> 01:48:04.130
and Mr. Soares for joining today's discussion.
01:48:04.130 --> 01:48:06.070
I'm gonna see if the Commissioners
01:48:06.070 --> 01:48:07.370
have any closing comments.
01:48:08.530 --> 01:48:09.363
Thank you, Rob.
01:48:09.363 --> 01:48:11.700
I'll just reiterate and thank you both
01:48:11.700 --> 01:48:14.130
for the leadership that you've shown
01:48:14.130 --> 01:48:17.150
early and continuously.
01:48:17.150 --> 01:48:20.880
And I do very much look forward to an exciting year.
01:48:20.880 --> 01:48:23.750
I know there are many good proposals
01:48:23.750 --> 01:48:27.750
and looking at different elements of this puzzle.
01:48:27.750 --> 01:48:30.660
So I want us to continue this dialogue
01:48:30.660 --> 01:48:33.230
and know that we are obviously a resource to
01:48:34.070 --> 01:48:36.700
all of you as you move through this very
01:48:37.790 --> 01:48:41.273
organic process as the legislation process always is.
01:48:42.745 --> 01:48:44.250
And we're so fortunate obviously,
01:48:44.250 --> 01:48:47.750
for the Governor's leadership on this (clears throat).
01:48:47.750 --> 01:48:51.100
As Rob mentioned the Executive Order from last Fall,
01:48:51.100 --> 01:48:54.060
and now the budget prioritization that he's given to it.
01:48:54.060 --> 01:48:55.950
So there's without a doubt,
01:48:55.950 --> 01:48:59.640
I think his pen is probably ready to go as well.
01:48:59.640 --> 01:49:01.670
So thank you and
01:49:01.670 --> 01:49:04.013
I look forward to our continued dialogue.
01:49:04.920 --> 01:49:05.753
Thank you.
01:49:07.550 --> 01:49:09.520
I also want to join in everything that
01:49:09.520 --> 01:49:11.010
Commissioner Guzman Aceves said
01:49:11.010 --> 01:49:12.820
and thank both of you for joining us.
01:49:12.820 --> 01:49:14.400
I'm new in my role,
01:49:14.400 --> 01:49:17.250
but this is something that's very very important to me.
01:49:17.250 --> 01:49:18.860
And it's great to hear
01:49:18.860 --> 01:49:21.100
how important it is to both of your offices.
01:49:21.100 --> 01:49:23.550
And I'm excited to be able to be part of this team
01:49:23.550 --> 01:49:26.200
and work with all of you to get across the finish line.
01:49:26.200 --> 01:49:27.885
So please let us know,
01:49:27.885 --> 01:49:31.794
how we can be helpful and what we can do to
01:49:31.794 --> 01:49:35.740
help make sure we reach this goal.
01:49:35.740 --> 01:49:38.060
So again, I'm excited and thank you both
01:49:38.060 --> 01:49:39.233
for joining us today.
01:49:42.000 --> 01:49:43.020
Thank you very much.
01:49:43.020 --> 01:49:44.420
We appreciate the time
01:49:44.420 --> 01:49:46.530
and go back to see my grandchildren.
01:49:46.530 --> 01:49:47.827
Thank you everyone.
01:49:47.827 --> 01:49:49.090
(all laughing)
01:49:49.090 --> 01:49:50.640
Thank you so much for having us.
01:49:50.640 --> 01:49:51.850
We really appreciate it
01:49:51.850 --> 01:49:54.120
and look forward to working with you all.
01:49:54.120 --> 01:49:56.150
Thank you very much.
01:49:56.150 --> 01:49:58.750
All right Selena, I'm gonna hand it back to you now.
01:49:59.600 --> 01:50:00.610
Thank you.
01:50:00.610 --> 01:50:03.130
Thanks Rob and thanks Commissioners.
01:50:03.130 --> 01:50:07.810
And thank you Assembly member Aguiar-Curry and George.
01:50:07.810 --> 01:50:10.210
So next I would like to introduce
01:50:10.210 --> 01:50:12.760
Louis Fisher and James Pang.
01:50:12.760 --> 01:50:16.360
For our CASF overview presentation.
01:50:16.360 --> 01:50:18.520
Louis is the supervisor for the
01:50:18.520 --> 01:50:22.630
CASF infrastructure and market analysis section.
01:50:22.630 --> 01:50:25.937
Her section handles the Infrastructure Account
01:50:25.937 --> 01:50:28.570
and Line Extension Program.
01:50:28.570 --> 01:50:30.880
James Pang is the supervisor of the
01:50:30.880 --> 01:50:34.310
CASF Adoption and Access section.
01:50:34.310 --> 01:50:35.680
His section handles
01:50:35.680 --> 01:50:40.070
the adoption, consortia, public housing accounts
01:50:40.070 --> 01:50:42.720
and tribal technical assistance.
01:50:42.720 --> 01:50:44.550
And both of them will provide
01:50:44.550 --> 01:50:47.383
an overview of the CASF programs.
01:50:47.383 --> 01:50:50.280
With that, I'll hand it off to Louis.
01:50:50.280 --> 01:50:51.113
Thank you.
01:50:52.620 --> 01:50:54.210
Thank you Selena.
01:50:54.210 --> 01:50:56.723
Can I get a nod, is everybody hearing me okay?
01:50:57.800 --> 01:50:59.610
Okay, great.
01:50:59.610 --> 01:51:02.733
Go ahead to our next slide please Joe.
01:51:04.140 --> 01:51:06.070
Okay, well first off
01:51:06.070 --> 01:51:08.000
thank you to everybody that went before me.
01:51:08.000 --> 01:51:10.030
I was saying this is a really tough act to follow.
01:51:10.030 --> 01:51:12.670
So I hope I can now hold your attention.
01:51:12.670 --> 01:51:13.730
I'm gonna talk about
01:51:13.730 --> 01:51:16.900
the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account,
01:51:16.900 --> 01:51:20.280
which is the account that we gave the money
01:51:20.280 --> 01:51:23.210
to the service providers to build and deploy
01:51:23.210 --> 01:51:26.320
the broadband networks throughout the State.
01:51:26.320 --> 01:51:27.660
And as most of you know
01:51:27.660 --> 01:51:29.990
the goal is to provide broadband access
01:51:29.990 --> 01:51:34.100
to at least 98% of all California households
01:51:34.100 --> 01:51:37.070
in each consortia region.
01:51:37.070 --> 01:51:38.013
Next slide please.
01:51:41.694 --> 01:51:42.943
Here's a quick overview.
01:51:44.220 --> 01:51:47.076
As it's been mentioned several times
01:51:47.076 --> 01:51:51.640
we have $565 million in funding,
01:51:51.640 --> 01:51:55.470
of which 265 million has been awarded.
01:51:55.470 --> 01:52:00.100
Since the inception of the program back in 2012,
01:52:00.100 --> 01:52:04.160
we've had 91 projects which is serving,
01:52:04.160 --> 01:52:08.120
we'll call it about 325,000 households
01:52:08.120 --> 01:52:09.910
or as they call it homes passed
01:52:09.910 --> 01:52:12.000
throughout 39 counties.
01:52:12.000 --> 01:52:15.910
A recent resolution T-17709
01:52:17.010 --> 01:52:19.590
increased the surcharge to collect
01:52:19.590 --> 01:52:22.723
another 66 million during 2021.
01:52:23.780 --> 01:52:25.040
So let's see,
01:52:25.040 --> 01:52:28.410
in terms of eligibility this breaks up into
01:52:28.410 --> 01:52:29.363
sort of two parts.
01:52:30.290 --> 01:52:31.730
People that received the service
01:52:31.730 --> 01:52:34.090
and the people still were getting the service.
01:52:34.090 --> 01:52:39.090
So eligible households are in areas which are underserved,
01:52:39.500 --> 01:52:41.500
meaning they're defined as
01:52:41.500 --> 01:52:44.410
lacking access to broadband service
01:52:44.410 --> 01:52:46.913
at speeds of at least or bandwidth of at least
01:52:46.913 --> 01:52:51.260
6 Mbps down 1 Mbps up.
01:52:51.260 --> 01:52:53.130
The service providers,
01:52:53.130 --> 01:52:54.743
the people we give the money to,
01:52:55.900 --> 01:52:58.600
can be either telephone corporations.
01:52:58.600 --> 01:53:01.750
Those that have a CPCM, wireless carriers,
01:53:01.750 --> 01:53:04.390
facility-based broadband providers
01:53:04.390 --> 01:53:08.420
or local governmental or tribal agencies.
01:53:08.420 --> 01:53:13.420
So the 2020 cycles, which we've been speaking about.
01:53:13.430 --> 01:53:15.180
Boy did we have good marketing.
01:53:15.180 --> 01:53:18.130
So little shout out to my colleague James Tang,
01:53:18.130 --> 01:53:20.690
his team and all of our consortium partners
01:53:20.690 --> 01:53:24.223
who you will hear from shortly.
01:53:24.223 --> 01:53:26.710
We received requests for
01:53:27.720 --> 01:53:31.530
way more money than we had 533 million,
01:53:31.530 --> 01:53:32.697
from 11 different providers.
01:53:32.697 --> 01:53:35.460
We had some new providers, so welcome.
01:53:35.460 --> 01:53:38.310
And we had 54 applications.
01:53:38.310 --> 01:53:41.070
14 projects total were approved.
01:53:41.070 --> 01:53:44.270
There were a few stragglers that came in in 2021.
01:53:44.270 --> 01:53:46.230
So we did have 14.
01:53:46.230 --> 01:53:49.630
The remainder of the 2020 projects
01:53:49.630 --> 01:53:52.900
are still under deliberative review,
01:53:52.900 --> 01:53:55.450
pending the outcome of the RDOF,
01:53:55.450 --> 01:53:59.380
or Rural Digital Opportunity Fund awards.
01:53:59.380 --> 01:54:01.423
Okay next slide.
01:54:03.760 --> 01:54:05.710
All right, this is just sort of
01:54:05.710 --> 01:54:07.560
repetitive so that I wouldn't forget.
01:54:08.410 --> 01:54:13.140
The total approved awards 265 million.
01:54:13.140 --> 01:54:16.620
The amount of funding that we've already dispersed
01:54:16.620 --> 01:54:20.520
in the program is approximately 173 million
01:54:20.520 --> 01:54:22.810
and thanks to my colleague Vince,
01:54:22.810 --> 01:54:24.810
who churns these numbers out,
01:54:24.810 --> 01:54:27.500
that is as of the beginning of March.
01:54:27.500 --> 01:54:29.773
Okay next slide please.
01:54:34.080 --> 01:54:36.310
So the question we keep getting
01:54:36.310 --> 01:54:38.310
and I hope that many of you saw the letter
01:54:38.310 --> 01:54:40.140
that went out on March 26th,
01:54:40.140 --> 01:54:42.123
if not please contact me
01:54:42.123 --> 01:54:44.170
and we'll make sure you get that.
01:54:44.170 --> 01:54:45.900
The final action,
01:54:45.900 --> 01:54:47.980
we would call sort of a Dean denial
01:54:47.980 --> 01:54:52.980
of all 2020 applications that were sent to us in May.
01:54:53.800 --> 01:54:56.520
The final action has been postponed
01:54:56.520 --> 01:54:59.560
till December 31st, 2021.
01:54:59.560 --> 01:55:00.700
And as I mentioned,
01:55:00.700 --> 01:55:03.320
this is pending the certification of the
01:55:03.320 --> 01:55:08.320
RDOF Phase I Auction 904 results.
01:55:08.820 --> 01:55:11.790
We don't want to overbuild in those areas.
01:55:11.790 --> 01:55:15.980
We want to work together sort of synergistically
01:55:15.980 --> 01:55:19.720
and have CASF remaining funds
01:55:19.720 --> 01:55:22.460
be used in the most efficient way possible.
01:55:22.460 --> 01:55:24.890
CASF staff, my staff,
01:55:24.890 --> 01:55:29.420
are continuing to process some of these applications.
01:55:29.420 --> 01:55:31.890
So they are in process
01:55:31.890 --> 01:55:35.880
and there will be some more projects,
01:55:35.880 --> 01:55:37.620
I should say applications
01:55:37.620 --> 01:55:40.610
that will fund projects throughout the year.
01:55:40.610 --> 01:55:43.290
So by no means are we just stopping everything,
01:55:43.290 --> 01:55:45.733
we are continuing to move forward.
01:55:47.907 --> 01:55:52.907
The 2021 cycle has been postponed.
01:55:53.060 --> 01:55:57.000
It should have been April 1st next week.
01:55:57.000 --> 01:56:02.000
That has been postponed until February 28th of 2022.
01:56:02.470 --> 01:56:05.093
Primarily due to the various uncertainties.
01:56:06.180 --> 01:56:09.680
Okay, so that was the Broadband Infrastructure Account.
01:56:09.680 --> 01:56:11.610
Next slide, I will be talking about
01:56:11.610 --> 01:56:13.243
the Line Extension Program.
01:56:15.392 --> 01:56:17.910
So what the Line Extension Program does
01:56:17.910 --> 01:56:21.900
is it provides grants to individuals.
01:56:21.900 --> 01:56:26.100
The individual low income households or property owners
01:56:26.100 --> 01:56:28.670
that will help offset the cost of connecting
01:56:28.670 --> 01:56:33.413
to an existing or proposed broadband provider.
01:56:34.280 --> 01:56:38.440
So this is for the area of the household
01:56:38.440 --> 01:56:40.820
or the property owner that's already
01:56:40.820 --> 01:56:43.050
in an area that is served,
01:56:43.050 --> 01:56:47.300
but it's too far away and it's very costly.
01:56:47.300 --> 01:56:50.110
This was primarily a low income program.
01:56:50.110 --> 01:56:51.453
Next slide please.
01:56:55.213 --> 01:56:56.663
Okay so there was a carve out
01:56:57.900 --> 01:57:00.730
from the infrastructure grant account
01:57:00.730 --> 01:57:03.860
of $5 million in funding for this.
01:57:03.860 --> 01:57:06.360
It started in 2019
01:57:06.360 --> 01:57:11.360
and so far we've had one project awarded in 2020,
01:57:11.635 --> 01:57:14.870
for $5,200 total.
01:57:14.870 --> 01:57:16.483
The eligibility.
01:57:18.850 --> 01:57:21.240
Sorry, customers that are eligible for this
01:57:21.240 --> 01:57:24.030
are individual household or property owners
01:57:26.240 --> 01:57:28.773
that can apply, sorry.
01:57:29.970 --> 01:57:33.140
These customers must meet the low income threshold.
01:57:33.140 --> 01:57:35.683
Now this would be either CARE or Lifeline.
01:57:37.615 --> 01:57:39.290
Foreign special circumstances
01:57:39.290 --> 01:57:42.350
can get an exemption from Commissioners.
01:57:42.350 --> 01:57:44.723
And I'm getting.
01:57:45.570 --> 01:57:48.253
Okay, sorry I interrupted myself there.
01:57:49.370 --> 01:57:52.300
So in the 2021 cycle,
01:57:52.300 --> 01:57:55.793
we have actually gotten a lot of interest in Line Extension.
01:57:57.100 --> 01:57:59.280
What has often happens,
01:57:59.280 --> 01:58:01.360
most of these requests don't meet
01:58:01.360 --> 01:58:04.490
the stringent low income eligibility.
01:58:04.490 --> 01:58:07.860
We the staff are looking into this
01:58:07.860 --> 01:58:10.350
and we're hoping to mitigate this issue
01:58:10.350 --> 01:58:13.423
in the upcoming CASF proceedings.
01:58:14.450 --> 01:58:18.240
And that is all I have.
01:58:18.240 --> 01:58:22.787
So James, I'm going to turn this over to you.
01:58:22.787 --> 01:58:23.943
Thank you Lou.
01:58:25.810 --> 01:58:27.320
Good afternoon everybody.
01:58:27.320 --> 01:58:29.780
I'll be continuing the overview
01:58:29.780 --> 01:58:31.653
for the accounts in my section.
01:58:34.140 --> 01:58:35.283
Next slide please.
01:58:38.260 --> 01:58:41.090
The first account is the Broadband Adoption Account.
01:58:41.090 --> 01:58:43.300
The purpose of this account is to
01:58:44.190 --> 01:58:47.100
provide grants to increase publicly available
01:58:47.100 --> 01:58:50.940
or afterschool broadband access and digital inclusion,
01:58:50.940 --> 01:58:55.030
such as digital literacy training programs.
01:58:55.030 --> 01:58:56.023
Next slide please.
01:59:00.959 --> 01:59:03.030
The adoption account is authorized
01:59:03.030 --> 01:59:06.050
for $20 million in funding.
01:59:06.050 --> 01:59:08.620
And since inception
01:59:09.667 --> 01:59:13.190
$11.2 million have been awarded
01:59:13.190 --> 01:59:17.360
for 25 projects serving over
01:59:17.360 --> 01:59:20.853
300,000 participants in 30 counties.
01:59:21.810 --> 01:59:25.990
In addition to those awards as mentioned earlier,
01:59:25.990 --> 01:59:28.420
CPUC has distributed $5 million to
01:59:29.490 --> 01:59:32.020
the Department of Education during COVID
01:59:32.020 --> 01:59:34.673
to distribute devices to schools.
01:59:37.110 --> 01:59:40.697
Currently approximately we have about
01:59:40.697 --> 01:59:44.373
$1.3 million remaining in funds.
01:59:46.150 --> 01:59:50.380
Eligible participants of the adoption account are
01:59:50.380 --> 01:59:53.283
local governments, senior centers, schools,
01:59:54.430 --> 01:59:58.260
public libraries, nonprofits organizations
01:59:58.260 --> 02:00:01.000
and community-based organizations.
02:00:01.000 --> 02:00:03.430
There was three project types.
02:00:03.430 --> 02:00:06.670
Digital literacy, broadband access
02:00:06.670 --> 02:00:08.393
and broadband call centers.
02:00:09.450 --> 02:00:13.480
For the 2021 application cycle,
02:00:13.480 --> 02:00:16.790
which is January 1st cycle this year,
02:00:16.790 --> 02:00:21.790
we receive over $4 million in requests
02:00:22.140 --> 02:00:25.313
for 49 projects from 17 applicants.
02:00:26.220 --> 02:00:28.300
This is three times more than we have
02:00:28.300 --> 02:00:31.170
in remaining funds.
02:00:31.170 --> 02:00:35.320
We anticipate that the funds will be exhausted.
02:00:35.320 --> 02:00:39.710
Unfortunately not all applicants
02:00:39.710 --> 02:00:43.943
will be able to participate because we're over subscribed.
02:00:45.390 --> 02:00:46.313
Next slide please.
02:00:49.452 --> 02:00:51.750
Now this is a picture of a project for
02:00:51.750 --> 02:00:54.070
the City of Sunnyvale.
02:00:54.070 --> 02:00:59.070
And this is a graduation of a class for digital literacy.
02:01:00.338 --> 02:01:02.710
This project provided training to
02:01:02.710 --> 02:01:06.043
low income English learner community.
02:01:07.750 --> 02:01:08.650
Next slide please.
02:01:11.790 --> 02:01:12.930
The next account is the
02:01:12.930 --> 02:01:15.847
Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Account.
02:01:15.847 --> 02:01:19.450
And the purpose of this grant is for
02:01:19.450 --> 02:01:21.850
regional consortia to facilitate
02:01:21.850 --> 02:01:24.490
deployment of broadband infrastructure
02:01:24.490 --> 02:01:27.250
by assisting infrastructure grant applicants
02:01:27.250 --> 02:01:31.373
in the project development or grant application process.
02:01:32.300 --> 02:01:33.133
Next slide.
02:01:36.470 --> 02:01:41.020
This account is authorized for $20 million in funding.
02:01:41.020 --> 02:01:46.020
So far $18.2 million have been awarded,
02:01:46.190 --> 02:01:51.190
with approximating the $6.8 million in remaining funds.
02:01:53.182 --> 02:01:57.990
The grant provides a funding cap per consortium
02:01:57.990 --> 02:02:01.363
of $150,000 for up to three years.
02:02:02.660 --> 02:02:07.070
Eligibility includes local and regional government,
02:02:07.070 --> 02:02:10.570
public safety, elementary and secondary education,
02:02:10.570 --> 02:02:15.570
healthcare, libraries, post-secondary education,
02:02:15.600 --> 02:02:18.840
community-based organizations, tourism,
02:02:18.840 --> 02:02:21.540
parks and recreation, agriculture,
02:02:21.540 --> 02:02:25.830
business workforce organizations and air pollution control,
02:02:25.830 --> 02:02:27.923
or air quality districts.
02:02:29.210 --> 02:02:33.103
We currently have 12 active consortia.
02:02:34.050 --> 02:02:37.430
We're still in the process of
02:02:37.430 --> 02:02:41.180
working on one additional application
02:02:41.180 --> 02:02:45.440
from last year's cycle that is for
02:02:46.810 --> 02:02:51.563
resolution T-17726 for Tahoe basin project.
02:02:54.880 --> 02:02:58.833
And that one's slated to be on the Commission agenda
02:02:58.833 --> 02:03:02.113
for the April 15th meeting.
02:03:02.960 --> 02:03:06.443
Comments are due by April 5th.
02:03:08.310 --> 02:03:12.500
And in the latest February, 2021 cycle
02:03:12.500 --> 02:03:15.823
we received four applications.
02:03:16.711 --> 02:03:20.193
And those applications are currently under review.
02:03:21.500 --> 02:03:22.463
Next slide please.
02:03:25.710 --> 02:03:27.150
This is a picture of the
02:03:27.150 --> 02:03:30.780
Connected Capital Broadband Consortium.
02:03:30.780 --> 02:03:33.120
This consortium serves
02:03:33.120 --> 02:03:38.120
the counties of Sacramento, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba.
02:03:40.420 --> 02:03:41.320
Next slide please.
02:03:43.960 --> 02:03:47.410
The next account is the Broadband Public Housing Account.
02:03:47.410 --> 02:03:50.760
The purpose of this grant is to provide funding
02:03:51.610 --> 02:03:54.500
dedicated to broadband connectivity and adoption
02:03:54.500 --> 02:03:57.483
in publicly supported housing communities.
02:03:58.340 --> 02:03:59.373
Next slide please.
02:04:02.410 --> 02:04:07.123
This account was authorized for $25 million in funding.
02:04:08.600 --> 02:04:13.017
So far we have awarded $13.9 million.
02:04:14.650 --> 02:04:19.320
Eligibility is under a publicly supported community
02:04:19.320 --> 02:04:22.380
that's owned by a public housing agency
02:04:22.380 --> 02:04:25.947
or an incorporated nonprofit 501(c)(3).
02:04:28.720 --> 02:04:31.563
Projects since inception,
02:04:33.338 --> 02:04:35.943
CPUC has awarded a total of 323
02:04:38.520 --> 02:04:40.140
housing infrastructure projects
02:04:40.140 --> 02:04:45.140
and 128 housing adoption projects throughout California.
02:04:46.200 --> 02:04:48.070
I just want to point out that
02:04:48.070 --> 02:04:52.370
as per Public Utilities Code Section 281,
02:04:52.370 --> 02:04:55.730
all remaining unawarded funds
02:04:55.730 --> 02:04:59.994
as of December 30th of 2020,
02:04:59.994 --> 02:05:01.347
are to be transferred back to the
02:05:01.347 --> 02:05:03.453
Broadband Infrastructure Account,
02:05:05.350 --> 02:05:06.600
So what that means is that
02:05:06.600 --> 02:05:08.940
we're no longer taking new applications,
02:05:08.940 --> 02:05:12.130
but we're continuing the administration
02:05:12.130 --> 02:05:14.913
of projects that are already on progress.
02:05:16.320 --> 02:05:17.323
Next slide please.
02:05:20.090 --> 02:05:22.020
This is a picture of
02:05:22.020 --> 02:05:26.140
the Lockwood Gardens Apartments in Oakland.
02:05:26.140 --> 02:05:29.490
This is owned by the Oakland Housing Authority.
02:05:29.490 --> 02:05:34.490
And this project provides onsite digital literacy training
02:05:36.610 --> 02:05:40.633
to (indistinct) for low income residents.
02:05:42.910 --> 02:05:43.923
Next slide please.
02:05:46.810 --> 02:05:49.000
As mentioned earlier,
02:05:49.000 --> 02:05:53.293
we have a new Technical Tribal Assistance Program.
02:05:54.280 --> 02:05:57.030
This provides grants to tribes to develop
02:05:57.030 --> 02:06:01.040
market studies, feasibility studies and business plans
02:06:01.040 --> 02:06:04.650
to pursue improved communications.
02:06:04.650 --> 02:06:05.573
Next slide please.
02:06:09.330 --> 02:06:13.683
This account provides up to $5 million in funding.
02:06:14.880 --> 02:06:16.330
Just wanted to point out that
02:06:17.340 --> 02:06:20.897
the portion of the CASF funds is
02:06:20.897 --> 02:06:25.193
the state operations portion that funds this account.
02:06:26.800 --> 02:06:31.800
This program was recently adopted last year in August
02:06:33.670 --> 02:06:37.973
in decision 20-08-005.
02:06:39.120 --> 02:06:43.680
And we had our first cycle in October of 2020.
02:06:43.680 --> 02:06:46.860
There's four cycles a year.
02:06:46.860 --> 02:06:49.510
So every three months.
02:06:49.510 --> 02:06:52.590
January and April,
02:06:52.590 --> 02:06:54.683
July and October.
02:06:56.250 --> 02:07:00.180
Eligibility are California tribes,
02:07:00.180 --> 02:07:02.870
with or without federal recognition
02:07:02.870 --> 02:07:05.293
that demonstrate tribal leadership support.
02:07:06.540 --> 02:07:10.720
And the grants are not to exceed 150,000 per tribe
02:07:10.720 --> 02:07:11.953
per fiscal year.
02:07:13.870 --> 02:07:15.373
Through the first two cycles
02:07:15.373 --> 02:07:18.450
October of last year and January of this year,
02:07:18.450 --> 02:07:21.930
CPUC has approved a total of 15 projects
02:07:21.930 --> 02:07:25.917
to eight tribes for over $887,000.
02:07:29.290 --> 02:07:30.190
Next slide please.
02:07:34.357 --> 02:07:38.260
That takes us into our next segment
02:07:38.260 --> 02:07:41.693
and I'm gonna turn it back over to Selena.
02:07:43.920 --> 02:07:45.920
Thanks James.
02:07:45.920 --> 02:07:49.760
Commissioner Guzman Aceves and Commissioner Houck,
02:07:49.760 --> 02:07:51.390
do you wanna add anything
02:07:51.390 --> 02:07:54.200
before we take a quick break
02:07:54.200 --> 02:07:55.690
and then we can resume
02:07:55.690 --> 02:07:59.500
the Consortia Engagement and Adoption Stories
02:07:59.500 --> 02:08:01.633
and Q&A and next steps?
02:08:05.310 --> 02:08:07.180
I just wanna thank everybody.
02:08:07.180 --> 02:08:09.760
Obviously I think there was as I mentioned earlier,
02:08:09.760 --> 02:08:13.510
so much flexibility used by the program
02:08:13.510 --> 02:08:16.090
to be responsive this year.
02:08:16.090 --> 02:08:19.020
And I think that there's a lot to be learned
02:08:19.020 --> 02:08:23.180
in some of our limitations from what's
02:08:23.180 --> 02:08:24.100
been playing in statute,
02:08:24.100 --> 02:08:26.500
but also in some of what we did administratively.
02:08:26.500 --> 02:08:31.500
So I do look forward to us being continuously adoptive.
02:08:31.740 --> 02:08:33.630
And I'm very excited obviously
02:08:33.630 --> 02:08:36.870
for some of the some of the more recent work
02:08:36.870 --> 02:08:39.473
that we've been doing with this program.
02:08:39.473 --> 02:08:42.083
And I've got nothing else thank you.
02:08:46.660 --> 02:08:48.480
And I'm just looking forward to again,
02:08:48.480 --> 02:08:50.280
being part of the process as we
02:08:51.384 --> 02:08:53.530
start to look at how we can think outside the box
02:08:53.530 --> 02:08:55.480
and move forward both administratively
02:08:55.480 --> 02:08:59.110
and seeing what comes out of the legislation that's pending.
02:08:59.110 --> 02:09:00.596
So with that,
02:09:00.596 --> 02:09:02.510
I don't have any additional comments
02:09:02.510 --> 02:09:04.800
other than to thank everyone
02:09:04.800 --> 02:09:07.333
that participated in the panels earlier.
02:09:09.500 --> 02:09:11.820
Thanks Commissioner Guzman Aceves
02:09:11.820 --> 02:09:13.500
and Commissioner Houck.
02:09:13.500 --> 02:09:17.640
So with that, let's take a 12 minute break.
02:09:17.640 --> 02:09:19.410
And we'll resume the
02:09:19.410 --> 02:09:22.290
Consortia Engagement and Adoption Stories
02:09:22.290 --> 02:09:26.670
portion of the agenda at 12:30.
02:09:26.670 --> 02:09:27.503
Thank you.
02:09:29.100 --> 02:09:31.683
(upbeat music)
02:09:42.760 --> 02:09:45.650
All right, welcome back everyone.
02:09:45.650 --> 02:09:47.890
So it's 12:31.
02:09:47.890 --> 02:09:51.360
Let's get started with our next section.
02:09:51.360 --> 02:09:55.040
And the next portion of the agenda is called
02:09:55.040 --> 02:09:58.740
Consortia Engagement and Adoption Story.
02:09:58.740 --> 02:10:00.950
And I'll hand it off to James Tang
02:10:00.950 --> 02:10:05.250
who will introduce our guests and speakers.
02:10:05.250 --> 02:10:08.323
David Espinoza, Sabrina Tang and Angela Tam.
02:10:11.380 --> 02:10:13.380
Thank you Selena.
02:10:13.380 --> 02:10:16.150
Our first speaker is David Espinoza
02:10:16.150 --> 02:10:20.993
representing the Connected Capital Broadband Consortium.
02:10:22.120 --> 02:10:23.680
David is our program manager
02:10:23.680 --> 02:10:27.410
for innovation and infrastructure at Valley Vision
02:10:27.410 --> 02:10:29.020
that supports the efforts of the
02:10:29.020 --> 02:10:32.370
Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium,
02:10:32.370 --> 02:10:35.943
to reduce the digital divide in the Capitol region.
02:10:36.800 --> 02:10:40.810
David's pursuit to reduce the digital divide incorporates
02:10:40.810 --> 02:10:45.810
conducting multi-disciplinary data-driven analysis
02:10:46.860 --> 02:10:49.640
and working with broadband stakeholders in the region
02:10:49.640 --> 02:10:52.780
to develop cost efficient, sustainable
02:10:52.780 --> 02:10:55.680
and scalable models for expanding
02:10:55.680 --> 02:10:59.450
affordable, reliable, high-speed internet (clears throat)
02:10:59.450 --> 02:11:02.913
services to unserved and unserved areas.
02:11:03.860 --> 02:11:05.333
Welcome David,
02:11:05.333 --> 02:11:07.233
I'll turn the dais over to you.
02:11:09.607 --> 02:11:10.923
Thank you James.
02:11:12.356 --> 02:11:14.350
I was wondering if we can make the slides
02:11:14.350 --> 02:11:18.033
auto maximizing because there're some maps.
02:11:20.685 --> 02:11:21.518
Thank you.
02:11:21.518 --> 02:11:23.080
Thank you very much.
02:11:23.080 --> 02:11:24.533
Okay, next slide please.
02:11:30.330 --> 02:11:32.410
I'm gonna start with a brief overview of
02:11:32.410 --> 02:11:35.270
the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium.
02:11:35.270 --> 02:11:36.740
This consortium is funded by
02:11:36.740 --> 02:11:39.320
the California Urban Services Fund,
02:11:39.320 --> 02:11:42.230
Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortium.
02:11:42.230 --> 02:11:45.321
The consortium is managed by Valley Vision.
02:11:45.321 --> 02:11:47.880
A regional civic leadership organization
02:11:47.880 --> 02:11:51.230
based in Sacramento and covers four counties.
02:11:51.230 --> 02:11:54.090
Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yoba.
02:11:54.090 --> 02:11:55.770
Which can be seen circled in blue
02:11:55.770 --> 02:11:56.920
in the map on the left.
02:11:58.070 --> 02:12:00.200
The scope of work of the consortium
02:12:00.200 --> 02:12:02.540
includes supporting the California goal
02:12:02.540 --> 02:12:05.990
to achieve 98% broadband access to households.
02:12:05.990 --> 02:12:07.430
And to that aim,
02:12:07.430 --> 02:12:10.580
we support providers and other eligible applicants
02:12:10.580 --> 02:12:14.850
to apply to CASF infrastructure grants,
02:12:14.850 --> 02:12:16.850
and other funding sources.
02:12:16.850 --> 02:12:20.700
We also promote the broadband congressional speed-testing
02:12:20.700 --> 02:12:22.750
using CPUC tools
02:12:22.750 --> 02:12:25.407
and support local governments,
02:12:25.407 --> 02:12:28.140
providing their model policies
02:12:28.140 --> 02:12:32.080
to expedite program deployment.
02:12:32.080 --> 02:12:33.260
We also support
02:12:35.130 --> 02:12:38.600
the expansion of broadband to rural areas.
02:12:38.600 --> 02:12:40.360
And in the presentation,
02:12:40.360 --> 02:12:43.530
I will go over the results for some of these items.
02:12:43.530 --> 02:12:44.633
Next slide please.
02:12:48.980 --> 02:12:51.960
We use CPUC Broadband availability data
02:12:51.960 --> 02:12:54.540
to assess where the current broadband coverage
02:12:54.540 --> 02:12:57.440
in our consortium region.
02:12:57.440 --> 02:12:59.090
In this linear map,
02:12:59.090 --> 02:13:01.540
we kind of see the colors for different
02:13:01.540 --> 02:13:03.657
broadband speed standards.
02:13:03.657 --> 02:13:06.240
And the map shows that
02:13:06.240 --> 02:13:09.070
for the gigabit standard,
02:13:09.070 --> 02:13:13.150
only the Sacramento City Metro area has
02:13:13.150 --> 02:13:17.003
availability of this gigabit speed.
02:13:18.330 --> 02:13:23.090
Then coverage of 100 megabit down, 20 megabit up
02:13:23.090 --> 02:13:26.650
are available also in densely populated urban areas
02:13:26.650 --> 02:13:29.010
and also some suburban areas.
02:13:29.010 --> 02:13:32.630
Then for the next speed standard 25/3,
02:13:32.630 --> 02:13:36.570
it's available in urban areas, suburban areas
02:13:36.570 --> 02:13:39.510
and extends to some rural areas.
02:13:39.510 --> 02:13:42.814
Then for the California Standard of 6/1,
02:13:42.814 --> 02:13:45.793
it extends a little bit more to more rural areas.
02:13:46.710 --> 02:13:48.360
But there's still we can see
02:13:48.360 --> 02:13:50.550
yellow and red unserved areas.
02:13:50.550 --> 02:13:53.290
Those are areas that are below the 6/1 standard
02:13:53.290 --> 02:13:55.793
or doesn't have internet service at all.
02:13:56.760 --> 02:13:57.833
Next slide please.
02:14:02.770 --> 02:14:04.230
This table shows
02:14:04.230 --> 02:14:06.550
the number of served and unserved households
02:14:06.550 --> 02:14:08.970
at the different speed standards.
02:14:08.970 --> 02:14:12.723
And for the four counties and for the whole CCAC region.
02:14:13.662 --> 02:14:16.940
We can see that at the 6/1 standard,
02:14:16.940 --> 02:14:19.167
we are served at 97.4%
02:14:20.964 --> 02:14:25.219
leaving our own 17,000 unserved households.
02:14:25.219 --> 02:14:27.650
At the FCC 25/3 standard,
02:14:27.650 --> 02:14:31.510
we are around 96.9%
02:14:31.510 --> 02:14:32.930
and we have a little bit more than
02:14:32.930 --> 02:14:34.913
20,000 unserved households.
02:14:36.040 --> 02:14:37.143
Next slide please.
02:14:39.960 --> 02:14:42.797
Now we use the number of unserved households
02:14:42.797 --> 02:14:46.660
and also reviewing CASF infrastructure grant projects
02:14:46.660 --> 02:14:49.060
from 2013 to 2019,
02:14:49.060 --> 02:14:53.672
to estimate the cost of a fiber to the home deployment,
02:14:53.672 --> 02:14:55.650
fixed wireless per household.
02:14:55.650 --> 02:14:58.570
Then using both the number of unserved households
02:14:58.570 --> 02:15:00.860
and the estimated cost per households.
02:15:00.860 --> 02:15:03.460
We estimate that how much would it cost to
02:15:03.460 --> 02:15:07.804
connect all unserved households at the 6/1 standard
02:15:07.804 --> 02:15:12.030
and also the unserved households that doesn't have the
02:15:12.030 --> 02:15:15.870
speeds at the 25/3 standard.
02:15:15.870 --> 02:15:17.200
We calculated that
02:15:19.170 --> 02:15:22.888
connecting these unserved households at 6/1
02:15:22.888 --> 02:15:24.438
would cost around $200 million.
02:15:25.369 --> 02:15:27.470
And the unserved households at the FCC standard
02:15:27.470 --> 02:15:29.023
around $250 million.
02:15:30.030 --> 02:15:32.040
But then if we add into the equation
02:15:32.040 --> 02:15:34.170
that some deployments can be carried out
02:15:34.170 --> 02:15:35.960
using a fixed wireless,
02:15:35.960 --> 02:15:38.530
then the prices, the total costs
02:15:38.530 --> 02:15:41.381
started going down a little bit.
02:15:41.381 --> 02:15:44.333
That's because in some rural high cost areas,
02:15:44.333 --> 02:15:48.070
with a local vegetation in a forested area,
02:15:48.070 --> 02:15:50.733
in some cases fixed wireless will makes sense.
02:15:52.060 --> 02:15:52.993
Next slide please.
02:15:57.039 --> 02:15:58.957
We have been working with internet service providers
02:15:58.957 --> 02:16:01.340
and other eligible applicants
02:16:01.340 --> 02:16:04.210
to apply to CASF infrastructure grants.
02:16:04.210 --> 02:16:08.470
And in the 2020 applications cycle,
02:16:08.470 --> 02:16:10.620
one of the projects was approved.
02:16:10.620 --> 02:16:12.920
That was a project by Digital Path,
02:16:12.920 --> 02:16:14.970
a wireless internet service provider.
02:16:14.970 --> 02:16:18.690
And this project will provide connectivity
02:16:18.690 --> 02:16:23.550
to 279 unserved households
02:16:23.550 --> 02:16:25.640
and will make available the speeds of
02:16:25.640 --> 02:16:28.305
50 megabits down 10 megabits up,
02:16:28.305 --> 02:16:32.055
with capacity to reach 100 megabits down too.
02:16:33.294 --> 02:16:34.627
This project is,
02:16:36.084 --> 02:16:37.807
as you cans see in the map on the left,
02:16:37.807 --> 02:16:39.386
is in the circle in blue.
02:16:39.386 --> 02:16:41.070
And it will carry out deployment
02:16:41.070 --> 02:16:42.593
in Sutter and Placer County.
02:16:43.440 --> 02:16:46.250
There are other three projects
02:16:46.250 --> 02:16:48.670
that are currently being reviewed.
02:16:48.670 --> 02:16:51.520
One by Frontier to carry out
02:16:51.520 --> 02:16:55.560
fiber to the home deployments in Sutter and Yolo counties.
02:16:55.560 --> 02:16:59.530
That aims to serve 104 unserved households.
02:16:59.530 --> 02:17:04.030
Then we have other two projects by Digital Path
02:17:04.030 --> 02:17:08.210
to deploy fixed wireless services in Sacramento
02:17:08.210 --> 02:17:09.610
and Yuba and Butte Counties.
02:17:10.680 --> 02:17:11.763
Next slide please.
02:17:15.800 --> 02:17:17.700
We have also reached out
02:17:17.700 --> 02:17:20.550
or are in the process of reaching out
02:17:20.550 --> 02:17:23.420
to winners of the RDOF auction,
02:17:23.420 --> 02:17:26.321
which were announced in December.
02:17:26.321 --> 02:17:30.030
Some of the ISP's that have been,
02:17:30.030 --> 02:17:34.279
were announced in December in our region were
02:17:34.279 --> 02:17:39.279
Cal.Net, Geolinks, Frontier, LTD Broadband and Space X.
02:17:40.479 --> 02:17:43.560
We understand that this process is still going on.
02:17:43.560 --> 02:17:45.783
So we will wait a few months
02:17:45.783 --> 02:17:48.710
to learn about the specific areas
02:17:48.710 --> 02:17:52.393
that these ISP's will be awarded.
02:17:52.393 --> 02:17:54.693
Also a few years ago,
02:17:54.693 --> 02:17:58.090
from the Connect America Fund-Phase 2 auction,
02:17:58.090 --> 02:18:01.640
Cal.Net will be carrying out deployment
02:18:01.640 --> 02:18:04.187
in three Counties in our consortia region.
02:18:05.060 --> 02:18:09.760
We have also been working, encouraging and assisting ISP's
02:18:09.760 --> 02:18:12.310
to develop develop project applications
02:18:12.310 --> 02:18:14.713
for USDA improvement grants.
02:18:15.651 --> 02:18:19.130
More specifically for the Reconnect Program
02:18:19.130 --> 02:18:20.920
and the Community Connect.
02:18:20.920 --> 02:18:23.730
Unfortunately we didn't have applications
02:18:23.730 --> 02:18:25.420
completed and submitted yet,
02:18:25.420 --> 02:18:27.403
but hopefully in next coming cycle.
02:18:28.290 --> 02:18:29.343
Next slide please.
02:18:33.600 --> 02:18:37.062
So in order to identify more potential projects
02:18:37.062 --> 02:18:40.690
and areas that need broadband expansion or upgrade,
02:18:40.690 --> 02:18:42.600
we have been working with local governments
02:18:42.600 --> 02:18:46.261
to identify a specific priority area.
02:18:46.261 --> 02:18:48.613
And we gathered a list of cities and towns
02:18:48.613 --> 02:18:52.080
and unincorporated communities across the region.
02:18:52.080 --> 02:18:55.030
I started assessing what are unserved areas
02:18:55.030 --> 02:18:57.790
nearby these priority areas.
02:18:57.790 --> 02:18:58.793
Next slide please.
02:19:02.650 --> 02:19:05.720
We have been trying to identify Middle-Mile
02:19:05.720 --> 02:19:07.923
across the Four County consortia region.
02:19:08.934 --> 02:19:12.580
The neighboring consortiums were very kind
02:19:13.500 --> 02:19:15.290
to share their information.
02:19:15.290 --> 02:19:18.060
Thank you to North Eastern and Upstate consortia
02:19:18.060 --> 02:19:20.590
and Central Coast Broadband Consortia.
02:19:20.590 --> 02:19:23.660
We share information about
02:19:23.660 --> 02:19:26.630
potential fiber optics and middle-mile routes
02:19:26.630 --> 02:19:28.180
across all regions.
02:19:28.180 --> 02:19:31.405
This information or this data is not provided
02:19:31.405 --> 02:19:36.190
directly by ISP's as that's proprietary information.
02:19:36.190 --> 02:19:41.040
But this is more potential locations that
02:19:41.040 --> 02:19:44.850
different consortium were gathering in the last few years.
02:19:44.850 --> 02:19:45.933
Next slide please.
02:19:50.350 --> 02:19:52.920
We have been also working with the
02:19:52.920 --> 02:19:56.430
Sacramento Area Council of Governments or SACOG,
02:19:56.430 --> 02:20:01.430
and Caltrans to identify potential transportation projects
02:20:02.200 --> 02:20:05.340
that can incorporate broadband infrastructure along.
02:20:05.340 --> 02:20:08.870
So as a result reducing the cost of deploying
02:20:08.870 --> 02:20:12.243
broadband infrastructure especially to reach unserved area.
02:20:14.170 --> 02:20:18.380
This is some of the roads of the Caltrans Project,
02:20:18.380 --> 02:20:21.410
listed in Caltrans global opportunity map.
02:20:21.410 --> 02:20:22.960
Which includes a
02:20:22.960 --> 02:20:27.140
State Highway Operations and Protection Program Project
02:20:27.140 --> 02:20:27.990
or SHOPP project.
02:20:28.840 --> 02:20:33.660
Also Project Initiation Documents Project or PID Project.
02:20:35.015 --> 02:20:38.139
And the last few years our
02:20:38.139 --> 02:20:40.373
consortium also work with Caltrans,
02:20:41.339 --> 02:20:46.110
CPUC, CETF, the California Department of Technology
02:20:46.110 --> 02:20:49.220
and regional consortia across the state
02:20:49.220 --> 02:20:51.750
to develop the strategic broadband corridors.
02:20:51.750 --> 02:20:54.400
That's also data that we are incorporating
02:20:54.400 --> 02:20:56.330
in our analysis.
02:20:56.330 --> 02:20:57.373
Next slide please.
02:21:02.270 --> 02:21:06.130
CENIC was also very kind to be our
02:21:06.130 --> 02:21:09.597
broadband champion for continued expansion in the state
02:21:09.597 --> 02:21:11.210
and the Capitol region.
02:21:11.210 --> 02:21:14.412
So they shared information and data about
02:21:14.412 --> 02:21:18.315
their network and their nodes located in our region.
02:21:18.315 --> 02:21:22.550
This information includes the location of the nodes,
02:21:22.550 --> 02:21:27.290
the providers, the capacity and the technology used.
02:21:27.290 --> 02:21:31.385
Currently many of these nodes,
02:21:31.385 --> 02:21:33.390
are educational institutions that connect to
02:21:33.390 --> 02:21:35.400
these higher speed network.
02:21:35.400 --> 02:21:37.000
It has your rate (indistinct)
02:21:37.000 --> 02:21:37.860
Which should by sense
02:21:37.860 --> 02:21:40.150
allow to extend the connectivity beyond
02:21:40.150 --> 02:21:41.790
the school's property.
02:21:41.790 --> 02:21:45.048
However by learning the infrastructure
02:21:45.048 --> 02:21:48.377
that ISP in order to reach some of the schools,
02:21:48.377 --> 02:21:51.877
that help us to have some information that
02:21:53.645 --> 02:21:56.440
would allow us to reach out to these ISP's
02:21:56.440 --> 02:21:58.590
and assess and evaluate the opportunities
02:21:58.590 --> 02:22:02.970
to expand from these infrastructure facilities
02:22:02.970 --> 02:22:05.763
to unserved areas especially in rural area.
02:22:07.026 --> 02:22:08.503
Next slide please.
02:22:13.555 --> 02:22:17.390
Part of our data prepping analysis includes
02:22:17.390 --> 02:22:19.630
identifying potential assets,
02:22:19.630 --> 02:22:22.370
owned by different local government jurisdictions,
02:22:22.370 --> 02:22:24.750
at different government levels.
02:22:24.750 --> 02:22:28.100
And also assets owned by public utilities,
02:22:28.100 --> 02:22:32.320
and other relevant Government stakeholders in the region.
02:22:32.320 --> 02:22:34.350
We have been identifying the footprint
02:22:34.350 --> 02:22:36.346
of different electric utilities
02:22:36.346 --> 02:22:37.530
assets in the ground,
02:22:37.530 --> 02:22:39.750
along with land ownership.
02:22:39.750 --> 02:22:42.880
That will help assess if some areas,
02:22:42.880 --> 02:22:45.220
especially in remote rural areas
02:22:47.030 --> 02:22:51.530
might need additional energy or power deployments.
02:22:51.530 --> 02:22:52.563
Next slide please.
02:22:57.040 --> 02:22:59.480
We shall also identify from local governments
02:22:59.480 --> 02:23:03.220
what are the public right of ways among other assets.
02:23:03.220 --> 02:23:04.233
Next slide please.
02:23:11.302 --> 02:23:14.900
If you can recall from the unserved areas map,
02:23:14.900 --> 02:23:19.900
the unserved areas were scattered and located
02:23:21.100 --> 02:23:25.157
in different rural areas across the region.
02:23:25.157 --> 02:23:26.690
So in many cases,
02:23:26.690 --> 02:23:31.690
they were in low density of population and household areas
02:23:31.920 --> 02:23:34.110
and high cost areas.
02:23:34.110 --> 02:23:35.660
So in order to make a more
02:23:35.660 --> 02:23:37.620
attractive business case for ISP's
02:23:37.620 --> 02:23:39.760
to put together applications and projects,
02:23:39.760 --> 02:23:42.134
we have also identifying what is existing
02:23:42.134 --> 02:23:46.260
business government correlation in the region.
02:23:46.260 --> 02:23:47.363
Next slide please.
02:23:51.330 --> 02:23:55.000
So we use CPUC broadband availability data,
02:23:55.000 --> 02:23:57.080
but for business broadband service.
02:23:57.080 --> 02:24:01.260
And identify what is the existing footprint
02:24:01.260 --> 02:24:04.870
and using also from local government
02:24:04.870 --> 02:24:07.180
zoning and parcels data,
02:24:07.180 --> 02:24:08.580
we assessed was the current coverage
02:24:08.580 --> 02:24:12.110
in agriculture, commercial and industrial areas.
02:24:12.110 --> 02:24:13.690
And determine which areas where unserved
02:24:13.690 --> 02:24:17.390
for the business broadband service.
02:24:17.390 --> 02:24:21.730
Then using the footprint of buildings in this area,
02:24:21.730 --> 02:24:24.610
we could estimate what was the number
02:24:24.610 --> 02:24:27.630
of potential business customers in this area.
02:24:27.630 --> 02:24:30.690
So altogether, unserved households
02:24:30.690 --> 02:24:32.690
and potential business customers,
02:24:32.690 --> 02:24:35.170
would make a more compelling case for ISP's
02:24:35.170 --> 02:24:37.010
to expand to those areas.
02:24:37.010 --> 02:24:38.093
Next slide please.
02:24:41.090 --> 02:24:42.677
We built with product information
02:24:42.677 --> 02:24:44.820
presented in the previous slide
02:24:44.820 --> 02:24:48.320
profiles for the different communities.
02:24:48.320 --> 02:24:50.570
Unserved communities in our consortia region.
02:24:50.570 --> 02:24:52.630
For example this is the profile
02:24:52.630 --> 02:24:54.680
for the Brownsville-Challenge community,
02:24:54.680 --> 02:24:57.333
located in the Northeast part of Yuba County.
02:24:58.520 --> 02:25:00.135
We listed the existing
02:25:00.135 --> 02:25:02.870
ISP for residential and business service.
02:25:02.870 --> 02:25:03.893
Next slide please.
02:25:06.420 --> 02:25:08.797
And also the number of unserved households.
02:25:08.797 --> 02:25:12.670
And number of unserved buildings
02:25:12.670 --> 02:25:16.276
for agriculture, commercial, industrial and business,
02:25:16.276 --> 02:25:18.600
and potential business customers.
02:25:18.600 --> 02:25:21.280
We included also if there is a potential
02:25:22.410 --> 02:25:26.540
partnerships with carriers that might have middle mile
02:25:26.540 --> 02:25:28.130
along that area.
02:25:28.130 --> 02:25:31.270
Also if there's any Caltrans government project
02:25:31.270 --> 02:25:33.630
in the next few months or year,
02:25:33.630 --> 02:25:36.230
and if there is also CENIC facilities
02:25:36.230 --> 02:25:38.493
or any items for the asset inventory.
02:25:39.450 --> 02:25:40.573
Next slide please.
02:25:42.300 --> 02:25:46.180
So we built these profiles for the different communities.
02:25:46.180 --> 02:25:48.986
This is the one for the community of Wheatland,
02:25:48.986 --> 02:25:50.700
to the South of Yuba County.
02:25:50.700 --> 02:25:51.743
Next slide please.
02:25:55.110 --> 02:25:59.090
Putting together the aggregated potential demand
02:25:59.090 --> 02:26:01.991
which includes unserved households,
02:26:01.991 --> 02:26:05.350
and potential number of business buildings
02:26:05.350 --> 02:26:07.450
for business customers
02:26:07.450 --> 02:26:08.970
and potential partnerships.
02:26:08.970 --> 02:26:10.113
Next slide please.
02:26:13.107 --> 02:26:16.860
Another important area we have been working on
02:26:16.860 --> 02:26:20.380
is broadband Speed Validation across the region.
02:26:20.380 --> 02:26:21.493
Next slide please.
02:26:23.760 --> 02:26:27.700
We have requested the CPUC data
02:26:27.700 --> 02:26:29.570
about the number of speed testing.
02:26:29.570 --> 02:26:31.780
This is for fixed broadband in the last few years,
02:26:31.780 --> 02:26:33.560
you know four County region.
02:26:33.560 --> 02:26:34.683
Next slide please.
02:26:37.384 --> 02:26:39.250
And this is from mobile broadband testing.
02:26:39.250 --> 02:26:42.790
So we are trying to increase this number of testing
02:26:42.790 --> 02:26:45.923
to a number of thousands in the next few months.
02:26:45.923 --> 02:26:47.123
Next slide please.
02:26:50.530 --> 02:26:52.610
More regarding CalSPEED testing
02:26:52.610 --> 02:26:54.810
is that currently based on input
02:26:54.810 --> 02:26:57.420
from educational partners and school districts,
02:26:57.420 --> 02:26:59.950
we are in the process of reaching out our request
02:26:59.950 --> 02:27:01.480
to the CPUC
02:27:01.480 --> 02:27:05.300
to develop the CalSPEED version for Chrome OS.
02:27:05.300 --> 02:27:07.980
which is widely using Chromebooks,
02:27:07.980 --> 02:27:11.290
which are distributed to schools.
02:27:11.290 --> 02:27:13.193
To students in schools across the region
02:27:13.193 --> 02:27:15.440
and across the state.
02:27:15.440 --> 02:27:19.453
We also are requesting and in the process to reach out
02:27:19.453 --> 02:27:21.190
to the CPUC to request CalSPEED
02:27:21.190 --> 02:27:23.270
home broadband study data,
02:27:23.270 --> 02:27:26.290
in order to put together an index that can help
02:27:26.290 --> 02:27:30.430
internet service customers to make a more informed decision
02:27:30.430 --> 02:27:33.170
about which service they want to purchase
02:27:33.170 --> 02:27:35.344
based on the performance of their ISP's
02:27:35.344 --> 02:27:37.380
and the technology.
02:27:37.380 --> 02:27:38.280
Next slide please.
02:27:40.489 --> 02:27:44.917
This is some of the other priorities
02:27:44.917 --> 02:27:47.440
and areas of work we have been working,
02:27:47.440 --> 02:27:50.090
including in partnership with SACOG, Metro chamber
02:27:50.090 --> 02:27:52.953
and Greater Sacramento Economic Council,
02:27:52.953 --> 02:27:55.870
developing the Capitol Regional Prosperity Strategy
02:27:55.870 --> 02:27:59.000
which incorporates broadband as a regional priority.
02:27:59.000 --> 02:28:00.653
That project was funded by EDA
02:28:01.520 --> 02:28:04.940
and a project also in partnership with (indistinct).
02:28:04.940 --> 02:28:06.490
Sacramento partners include
02:28:06.490 --> 02:28:08.740
developing the strategic broadband corridors.
02:28:10.050 --> 02:28:13.100
Then also in partnership with CETF,
02:28:13.100 --> 02:28:14.980
we updated the best practices for
02:28:14.980 --> 02:28:17.080
local governments resource guide,
02:28:17.080 --> 02:28:20.906
which will be rolled out in May this year.
02:28:20.906 --> 02:28:23.406
And also developed the Preferred Scenarios Report.
02:28:24.390 --> 02:28:28.500
Currently with the Yuba Water Agency and Yuba County,
02:28:28.500 --> 02:28:29.710
we're also developing the
02:28:29.710 --> 02:28:33.030
Yuba County Strategic Master Broadband Plan.
02:28:33.030 --> 02:28:35.230
And last but not least,
02:28:35.230 --> 02:28:37.060
we're working with different partners
02:28:37.060 --> 02:28:38.760
in the Greater Sacramento region
02:28:38.760 --> 02:28:41.680
such as the City of Sacramento, The Public Library,
02:28:41.680 --> 02:28:43.730
higher education institutions.
02:28:43.730 --> 02:28:44.630
We are leading the
02:28:44.630 --> 02:28:46.930
Sacramento Coalition of Digital Inclusion,
02:28:46.930 --> 02:28:49.290
which has three main areas of work.
02:28:49.290 --> 02:28:51.710
Which are government access and adoption,
02:28:51.710 --> 02:28:53.110
access to hardware devices
02:28:53.110 --> 02:28:57.133
and digital skills and digital literacy.
02:28:58.890 --> 02:28:59.817
Next slide please.
02:28:59.817 --> 02:29:01.730
And that concludes my presentation.
02:29:01.730 --> 02:29:02.563
Thank you.
02:29:04.615 --> 02:29:06.620
Thank you David, for your presentation.
02:29:06.620 --> 02:29:09.560
And for sharing your insights
02:29:09.560 --> 02:29:12.203
and work that you're doing for your community.
02:29:15.220 --> 02:29:19.982
Our next speaker is Sabrina Tam,
02:29:19.982 --> 02:29:24.982
from the Computer Technology Network, also known as CTN.
02:29:26.530 --> 02:29:30.120
They are a nonprofit organization that provides
02:29:30.120 --> 02:29:32.200
digital literacy training
02:29:32.200 --> 02:29:35.053
to economically disadvantaged people
02:29:35.053 --> 02:29:39.330
with a special focus on seniors for over 12 years.
02:29:39.330 --> 02:29:40.547
Principally in the Bay Area,
02:29:40.547 --> 02:29:43.140
but also in Austin, Texas.
02:29:43.140 --> 02:29:45.600
They offer their services both in person
02:29:45.600 --> 02:29:47.463
and now with COVID, online.
02:29:49.120 --> 02:29:53.510
They have experience of working with the CASF grantees.
02:29:53.510 --> 02:29:57.916
They have worked with or are presently partnering with
02:29:57.916 --> 02:29:59.810
six grantees from the CASF
02:30:00.910 --> 02:30:03.600
Public Housing Account for (indistinct) five projects
02:30:03.600 --> 02:30:07.070
and 14 adoption account grantees
02:30:07.070 --> 02:30:08.453
for 40 projects.
02:30:09.360 --> 02:30:11.450
They're also working directly with nonprofits
02:30:11.450 --> 02:30:12.917
on how to be trainers.
02:30:12.917 --> 02:30:16.093
And how to access the CTN curriculum.
02:30:17.040 --> 02:30:20.663
Sabrina Tam is the Senior Program Manager.
02:30:21.650 --> 02:30:24.160
She's been with CTN since 2017
02:30:25.440 --> 02:30:27.850
and she currently manages and oversees
02:30:27.850 --> 02:30:32.850
all CASF funded programs which CTN is supporting.
02:30:34.620 --> 02:30:36.690
Before we bring Selena.
02:30:36.690 --> 02:30:38.093
Sabrina on,
02:30:39.001 --> 02:30:41.240
I just wanted to point out that she has
02:30:41.240 --> 02:30:44.230
technical difficulty connecting to WebEx.
02:30:44.230 --> 02:30:47.000
So we won't be able to see her video,
02:30:47.000 --> 02:30:48.693
but she is on the phone.
02:30:50.080 --> 02:30:51.230
Sabrina, are you there?
02:30:52.870 --> 02:30:54.360
Yes hi, I'm here.
02:30:55.270 --> 02:30:56.890
Sabrina welcome.
Thanks.
02:30:58.140 --> 02:30:59.620
Since you're on a phone,
02:30:59.620 --> 02:31:02.940
please go ahead and give a verbal cue
02:31:02.940 --> 02:31:07.263
when you need to turn over the slide to the next slide.
02:31:08.849 --> 02:31:10.303
Okay, thank you.
02:31:10.303 --> 02:31:11.136
That's good.
02:31:11.136 --> 02:31:12.010
Okay, thank you Sabrina.
02:31:12.010 --> 02:31:13.703
The dais is yours.
02:31:15.060 --> 02:31:16.870
My name is Sabrina.
02:31:16.870 --> 02:31:18.680
Thank you for the introduction.
02:31:18.680 --> 02:31:20.873
We can move on to the next slide please.
02:31:22.740 --> 02:31:25.180
And thank you for having me today.
02:31:25.180 --> 02:31:27.460
And in the next 10 minutes or so,
02:31:27.460 --> 02:31:29.750
I'm going to tell you a little bit more about CTN.
02:31:29.750 --> 02:31:31.010
What do we do?
02:31:31.010 --> 02:31:32.080
Give you a summary of
02:31:32.080 --> 02:31:34.540
all the CASF assessment programs
02:31:34.540 --> 02:31:38.140
that CTN has supported or is supporting now.
02:31:38.140 --> 02:31:41.510
Some challenges that we've faced, lessons learned
02:31:41.510 --> 02:31:44.140
and I wanna share a success story.
02:31:44.140 --> 02:31:44.973
Next please.
02:31:48.190 --> 02:31:52.740
So CTN just turned 13 on March 3rd.
02:31:52.740 --> 02:31:54.600
We are officially a teenager now
02:31:54.600 --> 02:31:57.120
and we are very excited about it.
02:31:57.120 --> 02:31:59.320
Currently, we have offices in San Francisco
02:31:59.320 --> 02:32:02.590
as well as Austin, Texas as mentioned before.
02:32:02.590 --> 02:32:04.170
We work in partnerships with
02:32:04.170 --> 02:32:06.700
nonprofits and government agencies,
02:32:06.700 --> 02:32:08.850
including the CPUC,
02:32:08.850 --> 02:32:11.840
Department of Disability and Aging Services,
02:32:11.840 --> 02:32:13.223
MOHPD et cetera.
02:32:14.123 --> 02:32:17.070
CTN's mission is to transform lives
02:32:17.070 --> 02:32:19.110
through digital literacy.
02:32:19.110 --> 02:32:20.550
And to accomplish our mission,
02:32:20.550 --> 02:32:24.400
we provide basic/intermediate digital literacy training
02:32:24.400 --> 02:32:27.240
for low income adults and seniors.
02:32:27.240 --> 02:32:29.980
We cover different types of devices
02:32:29.980 --> 02:32:33.610
and we offer training in multiple different languages.
02:32:33.610 --> 02:32:36.500
In addition, we also offer training for trainers.
02:32:36.500 --> 02:32:39.520
And there's an increasing demand of that.
02:32:39.520 --> 02:32:40.353
Next please.
02:32:43.700 --> 02:32:45.153
Before the pandemic.
02:32:46.400 --> 02:32:47.697
Before the pandemic,
02:32:47.697 --> 02:32:49.720
all the training were done in person
02:32:49.720 --> 02:32:51.890
at our partner locations.
02:32:51.890 --> 02:32:55.180
Including senior centers, housing development,
02:32:55.180 --> 02:32:58.030
community centers, schools et cetera.
02:32:58.030 --> 02:33:00.460
We offer structured classes,
02:33:00.460 --> 02:33:03.920
typically ranging from three to six weeks programs.
02:33:03.920 --> 02:33:05.590
And again we offer classes
02:33:05.590 --> 02:33:07.480
on different types of devices
02:33:07.480 --> 02:33:09.163
based on the learners needs.
02:33:10.242 --> 02:33:11.113
Next.
02:33:14.940 --> 02:33:19.020
So from 2015 to February 2020,
02:33:19.020 --> 02:33:21.400
roughly a five-year period.
02:33:21.400 --> 02:33:24.980
We have partnered with nine organizations.
02:33:24.980 --> 02:33:28.970
We offer our programs in 60 sites.
02:33:28.970 --> 02:33:32.003
We trained a little over 1600 learners,
02:33:33.980 --> 02:33:37.650
an average of 323 per year.
02:33:37.650 --> 02:33:41.230
Over 50% of these learners are seniors,
02:33:41.230 --> 02:33:43.850
37% are low income families
02:33:43.850 --> 02:33:46.487
and just under 10% are adults living in SRO.
02:33:48.480 --> 02:33:49.313
Next.
02:33:53.650 --> 02:33:55.550
In March 2020,
02:33:55.550 --> 02:33:58.250
we now know that everything's changed.
02:33:58.250 --> 02:34:00.780
All of our partner locations were closed.
02:34:00.780 --> 02:34:03.540
We could no longer teach in person there.
02:34:03.540 --> 02:34:08.010
All of our programs were either on hold or delayed,
02:34:08.010 --> 02:34:10.990
but after a couple of months in May.
02:34:10.990 --> 02:34:13.043
I think it's in May.
02:34:13.043 --> 02:34:14.730
CTN and some of our partners
02:34:14.730 --> 02:34:17.290
were able to adjust to remote training.
02:34:17.290 --> 02:34:20.430
We piloted with one or two partners
02:34:20.430 --> 02:34:23.810
and then we gradually offered the online program
02:34:23.810 --> 02:34:25.403
to more and more partners.
02:34:26.990 --> 02:34:27.823
Next.
02:34:31.030 --> 02:34:33.860
So since March, 2020,
02:34:33.860 --> 02:34:36.010
we have been working with seven partners
02:34:36.010 --> 02:34:38.890
through 29 different programs.
02:34:38.890 --> 02:34:43.890
And we trained 137 trainers this one year,
02:34:44.370 --> 02:34:46.730
which is a huge drop from previous years.
02:34:46.730 --> 02:34:50.040
If you remember it's 300 plus learners a year.
02:34:50.040 --> 02:34:52.100
But we are proud that our staff
02:34:52.100 --> 02:34:55.350
and our partners were able to least see this off
02:34:55.350 --> 02:34:56.750
and accomplish that
02:34:56.750 --> 02:35:00.630
considering all the challenges that we face.
02:35:00.630 --> 02:35:02.920
And I'll talk about more about these challenges
02:35:02.920 --> 02:35:04.133
on the next slide.
02:35:04.980 --> 02:35:09.050
So over one third of these learners are seniors,
02:35:09.050 --> 02:35:10.823
the majority are families.
02:35:11.876 --> 02:35:14.553
A small percentage are clients living at SRO.
02:35:16.140 --> 02:35:16.973
Next.
02:35:20.590 --> 02:35:22.340
So challenges.
02:35:22.340 --> 02:35:24.263
We face a lot of different challenges.
02:35:25.120 --> 02:35:27.780
Number one, it's learners.
02:35:27.780 --> 02:35:29.580
What makes it so hard to convert
02:35:29.580 --> 02:35:32.890
the digital literacy literacy program to virtual?
02:35:32.890 --> 02:35:36.060
Well that's because the majority of these learners
02:35:36.060 --> 02:35:39.240
lack the skills for independent online learning.
02:35:39.240 --> 02:35:41.300
Many of them don't have email accounts.
02:35:41.300 --> 02:35:44.820
Many of them don't know how to join Zoom meetings.
02:35:44.820 --> 02:35:47.790
So how are you gonna teach something on Zoom,
02:35:47.790 --> 02:35:49.900
if all of your students struggle to get on Zoom?
02:35:49.900 --> 02:35:51.700
You know they don't have the skills.
02:35:52.560 --> 02:35:55.920
They also lack access to stable wifi at home.
02:35:55.920 --> 02:35:57.060
In the past,
02:35:57.060 --> 02:36:00.420
they were able to attend classes at a senior center
02:36:00.420 --> 02:36:02.670
or maybe if they lived at affordable housing,
02:36:02.670 --> 02:36:05.570
they could take the class in the community room
02:36:05.570 --> 02:36:08.020
where there's usually free wifi.
02:36:08.020 --> 02:36:09.790
But because of the shelter in place order,
02:36:09.790 --> 02:36:11.510
no gatherings are allowed.
02:36:11.510 --> 02:36:13.880
Everyone's was bound to take classes
02:36:13.880 --> 02:36:17.230
in their own apartment or in their own unit,
02:36:17.230 --> 02:36:18.613
where they may not be,
02:36:18.613 --> 02:36:20.103
they may not have wifi.
02:36:21.360 --> 02:36:24.787
The trainers also have to redesign and modify
02:36:24.787 --> 02:36:28.290
the curriculum to fit for remote training.
02:36:28.290 --> 02:36:29.770
So like all of a sudden,
02:36:29.770 --> 02:36:32.100
Zoom became the most popular topic.
02:36:32.100 --> 02:36:33.483
So did telehealth.
02:36:34.490 --> 02:36:37.410
The handouts that we usually give to the learners,
02:36:37.410 --> 02:36:39.900
we had to put a lot more step-by-step guides,
02:36:39.900 --> 02:36:41.350
even for the simplest things.
02:36:42.520 --> 02:36:44.750
Very detailed notes
02:36:44.750 --> 02:36:46.290
and also not only the learners
02:36:46.290 --> 02:36:48.960
need to adapt to this virtual learning environment,
02:36:48.960 --> 02:36:52.020
the trainers themselves also have to,
02:36:52.020 --> 02:36:53.710
learn how to use Zoom.
02:36:53.710 --> 02:36:57.300
How to teach efficiently online.
02:36:57.300 --> 02:36:59.983
So there's a learning curve for the trainers as well.
02:37:01.700 --> 02:37:04.610
Last year, there was a shortage of low cost devices.
02:37:04.610 --> 02:37:06.680
Whether they're new or refurbished,
02:37:06.680 --> 02:37:08.860
they just went out of stock.
02:37:08.860 --> 02:37:11.370
The devices that we usually use,
02:37:11.370 --> 02:37:12.320
they were out of stock.
02:37:12.320 --> 02:37:14.880
We had to look into different options.
02:37:14.880 --> 02:37:18.690
We were not able to get the new device that we wanted,
02:37:18.690 --> 02:37:19.830
we looked into refurbished,
02:37:19.830 --> 02:37:23.010
so a lot of time spent on just, you know,
02:37:23.010 --> 02:37:25.003
purchasing these devices.
02:37:26.000 --> 02:37:29.030
And it's a lot more difficult to outreach,
02:37:29.030 --> 02:37:32.570
simply because limited in-person interaction,
02:37:32.570 --> 02:37:34.610
there are no more like community events
02:37:34.610 --> 02:37:39.470
where we can set up a table and talk to the clients.
02:37:39.470 --> 02:37:42.510
We have to rely a lot on phone calls
02:37:42.510 --> 02:37:45.263
and which is not the most efficient way to outreach.
02:37:46.110 --> 02:37:48.160
Training space issue.
02:37:48.160 --> 02:37:50.420
I think even if things gradually reopen,
02:37:50.420 --> 02:37:52.461
this is going to remain an issue for,
02:37:52.461 --> 02:37:54.800
a certain period of time.
02:37:54.800 --> 02:37:56.240
Since we have to keep people
02:37:56.240 --> 02:37:58.810
at a certain distance in the classroom.
02:37:58.810 --> 02:38:01.890
In the past we could fit like 10 people in a room,
02:38:01.890 --> 02:38:03.957
maybe down to three to five now.
02:38:03.957 --> 02:38:07.510
And this doubles or triples the programs cost
02:38:07.510 --> 02:38:10.150
because we have to split into smaller groups
02:38:10.150 --> 02:38:11.700
and do the same class training.
02:38:12.930 --> 02:38:14.920
Some rooms without proper ventilation
02:38:14.920 --> 02:38:17.940
and wouldn't be suitable for even small group lessons
02:38:17.940 --> 02:38:21.220
and therefore we have to continue on with virtual training
02:38:21.220 --> 02:38:23.780
or be put on hold for a longer time.
02:38:25.660 --> 02:38:30.163
On the right, you see a couple Non-COVID related issues.
02:38:31.080 --> 02:38:34.190
The limited eligibility for take home devices
02:38:34.190 --> 02:38:35.620
has made a little bit challenging
02:38:35.620 --> 02:38:37.160
for some of our partners.
02:38:37.160 --> 02:38:39.450
Especially their housing partners.
02:38:39.450 --> 02:38:42.280
All of the residents at this low income housings
02:38:42.280 --> 02:38:45.080
meet the criteria, of income criteria,
02:38:45.080 --> 02:38:47.760
but since not all of them are enrolled in SNAP,
02:38:47.760 --> 02:38:50.130
or the school lunch programs,
02:38:50.130 --> 02:38:52.570
under the current guidelines they are not eligible
02:38:52.570 --> 02:38:54.200
to receive a take home device.
02:38:54.200 --> 02:38:56.890
Or maybe I should say that it's not reimbursable.
02:38:56.890 --> 02:38:58.580
So make it difficult for them
02:38:58.580 --> 02:39:02.760
to participate or take advantage of the program.
02:39:02.760 --> 02:39:05.660
We do see some advantages of virtual classes.
02:39:05.660 --> 02:39:07.480
And this could be something to stay,
02:39:07.480 --> 02:39:12.330
even if we're open to teach in person again.
02:39:12.330 --> 02:39:16.410
But however, virtual classes has made reporting
02:39:16.410 --> 02:39:17.383
more complicated.
02:39:18.250 --> 02:39:21.430
Many of our partners have multiple sites of programs
02:39:21.430 --> 02:39:25.650
and it's been hard to fill an online class roster,
02:39:25.650 --> 02:39:28.910
with participants from just one single site.
02:39:28.910 --> 02:39:31.840
So therefore we have at least became very creative.
02:39:31.840 --> 02:39:34.850
We have some crossovers
02:39:34.850 --> 02:39:38.140
and allow multiple people from multiple programs
02:39:38.140 --> 02:39:40.100
to participate in the same class.
02:39:40.100 --> 02:39:41.743
But you can imagine that
02:39:41.743 --> 02:39:44.230
that makes tracking and reporting
02:39:44.230 --> 02:39:46.193
much more difficult or complicated.
02:39:47.126 --> 02:39:49.840
When you have people from different programs on
02:39:49.840 --> 02:39:50.973
in the same class.
02:39:52.490 --> 02:39:53.467
Next please.
02:39:57.110 --> 02:39:59.653
And we do have a success story we wanna share.
02:40:01.450 --> 02:40:04.730
Center of Elders Independence.
02:40:04.730 --> 02:40:07.566
CEI is one of our partners,
02:40:07.566 --> 02:40:11.440
that has six programs approved and currently ongoing.
02:40:11.440 --> 02:40:14.560
They are in organizations on the Easy Bay,
02:40:14.560 --> 02:40:16.290
based on the Easy Bay.
02:40:16.290 --> 02:40:19.410
And they provide all inclusive care for Seniors
02:40:19.410 --> 02:40:22.313
from healthcare to recreational services.
02:40:22.313 --> 02:40:24.890
We were right in the realm of faith
02:40:24.890 --> 02:40:27.490
and then the pandemic hit us last year.
02:40:27.490 --> 02:40:28.560
We switched from.
02:40:28.560 --> 02:40:31.240
We quickly switched from planning for in-person
02:40:32.080 --> 02:40:34.190
to virtual classes from the get-go.
02:40:34.190 --> 02:40:36.190
So since May 2020,
02:40:36.190 --> 02:40:39.643
we graduated 41 seniors in 10 months.
02:40:40.485 --> 02:40:43.100
And we also have a number of incomplete,
02:40:43.100 --> 02:40:44.690
whom we've been trying to help them
02:40:44.690 --> 02:40:46.143
complete all the training.
02:40:47.320 --> 02:40:51.100
We use SIM enabled iPad's for these trainings.
02:40:51.100 --> 02:40:52.183
So there's no need to worry about,
02:40:52.183 --> 02:40:55.103
whether or not the seniors have wifi at home.
02:40:56.530 --> 02:40:58.020
These are very tiny groups.
02:40:58.020 --> 02:41:00.938
We only two to three seniors on Zoom.
02:41:00.938 --> 02:41:02.800
We usually sign up for five,
02:41:02.800 --> 02:41:05.120
although I would say we have to over recruit
02:41:05.120 --> 02:41:07.360
because oftentimes not everyone can join
02:41:07.360 --> 02:41:09.340
the Zoom class successfully.
02:41:09.340 --> 02:41:11.250
Usually only, if you have five signups
02:41:12.130 --> 02:41:15.660
two to three can attend successfully.
02:41:15.660 --> 02:41:17.830
But the key success factor is that we have
02:41:18.902 --> 02:41:20.913
a very dedicated partner.
02:41:21.830 --> 02:41:23.730
They do one-on-one orientations
02:41:23.730 --> 02:41:25.990
with these seniors to make sure
02:41:25.990 --> 02:41:29.100
the seniors know how to join the Zoom call.
02:41:29.100 --> 02:41:32.193
They also stand by on each Zoom class,
02:41:33.070 --> 02:41:34.770
provide IT support on the Zoom call
02:41:34.770 --> 02:41:38.923
in case the seniors encounter any technical difficulties.
02:41:39.840 --> 02:41:42.080
They were able to utilize
02:41:42.080 --> 02:41:45.290
their existing distribution and delivery system
02:41:45.290 --> 02:41:47.750
to distribute the device and training booklets,
02:41:47.750 --> 02:41:49.120
so we don't have to worry about
02:41:49.120 --> 02:41:51.250
shipping or anything like that.
02:41:51.250 --> 02:41:52.360
And they're also you know,
02:41:52.360 --> 02:41:55.183
able to outreach to their existing clients.
02:41:56.290 --> 02:41:58.076
So all in all,
02:41:58.076 --> 02:42:00.910
CEI have been very dedicated partners
02:42:00.910 --> 02:42:04.513
which I think is a key success factor for this program.
02:42:06.160 --> 02:42:06.993
Next.
02:42:10.220 --> 02:42:14.522
Quickly, I wanna share this great picture.
02:42:14.522 --> 02:42:17.563
He's a learner from CEI,
02:42:17.563 --> 02:42:20.060
who took the classes with the help of his wife.
02:42:20.060 --> 02:42:22.060
And his name is David
02:42:22.060 --> 02:42:25.230
and CEI sent them a graduation packet,
02:42:25.230 --> 02:42:27.330
with caps and certificates to celebrate.
02:42:27.330 --> 02:42:30.240
And we do a graduation Zoom call
02:42:30.240 --> 02:42:33.150
with all the learners and the teachers
02:42:33.150 --> 02:42:34.593
and staff from CEI.
02:42:36.680 --> 02:42:37.513
Next.
02:42:41.080 --> 02:42:43.993
So from now to 2023 or beyond,
02:42:44.970 --> 02:42:46.800
currently we still have seven partners
02:42:46.800 --> 02:42:49.613
that we're working with and we're adding six new ones.
02:42:50.730 --> 02:42:55.170
We have 29 current programs and adding six new sites.
02:42:55.170 --> 02:42:58.780
We're targeting to reach 2000 learners
02:42:58.780 --> 02:43:00.180
in the next couple of years.
02:43:01.244 --> 02:43:03.710
This is an ambitious goal.
02:43:03.710 --> 02:43:08.690
We're all in to close the digital divide.
02:43:08.690 --> 02:43:12.610
That's what CTN is here for, and that's my dream.
02:43:12.610 --> 02:43:13.443
Thank you.
02:43:14.540 --> 02:43:17.160
That concludes my presentation.
02:43:17.160 --> 02:43:17.993
Thank you.
02:43:19.320 --> 02:43:21.853
Thank you Sabrina for your presentation.
02:43:22.910 --> 02:43:24.880
It's nice to see that
02:43:24.880 --> 02:43:27.810
you're continuing to serve the participants
02:43:27.810 --> 02:43:31.233
in light of COVID and continuing to do so.
02:43:32.127 --> 02:43:33.127
Thank you very much.
02:43:34.800 --> 02:43:38.770
Our final speaker is Angela Chan.
02:43:38.770 --> 02:43:43.080
She is representing the City of Sunnyvale.
02:43:43.080 --> 02:43:46.450
Angela is a Youth and Family Resources Manager
02:43:46.450 --> 02:43:48.260
in the City of Sunnyvale,
02:43:48.260 --> 02:43:52.770
Department of Library and Recreation Services.
02:43:52.770 --> 02:43:55.300
She manages the programs, services
02:43:55.300 --> 02:43:57.990
and partner organizations that operate
02:43:57.990 --> 02:44:00.730
out of the Columbia Neighborhood Center.
02:44:00.730 --> 02:44:02.970
A one-stop resource and learning center
02:44:02.970 --> 02:44:07.160
for youth and families in North Sunnyvalle.
02:44:07.160 --> 02:44:09.660
She has worked in her current role for 14 years
02:44:09.660 --> 02:44:13.180
and has over 25 years of experience in working with
02:44:13.180 --> 02:44:16.660
youth and families with a focus on underserved
02:44:17.782 --> 02:44:21.270
and under-resourced residents.
02:44:21.270 --> 02:44:24.300
She has a master's of arts degree in social work,
02:44:24.300 --> 02:44:27.880
and has worked in municipalities, school districts,
02:44:27.880 --> 02:44:31.720
and (clears throat) nonprofit organizations.
02:44:31.720 --> 02:44:33.150
Welcome Angela.
02:44:33.150 --> 02:44:35.357
I'll turn the dais over to you.
02:44:35.357 --> 02:44:36.707
Thank you James.
02:44:37.850 --> 02:44:38.900
Thanks for having me.
02:44:39.770 --> 02:44:42.150
We can go ahead and go to the next slide.
02:44:49.920 --> 02:44:52.060
So here's a quick background on
02:44:52.060 --> 02:44:54.860
the City of Sunnyvale's digital literacy program.
02:44:54.860 --> 02:44:56.793
The city is the lead agency.
02:44:57.630 --> 02:45:01.090
We were funded by CASF in January of 2019.
02:45:02.670 --> 02:45:05.350
We have multiple partners on the project.
02:45:05.350 --> 02:45:08.430
CTN and Sabrina have been
02:45:08.430 --> 02:45:10.210
a great partner from the beginning.
02:45:10.210 --> 02:45:12.590
We also partner with Sunnyvale School District
02:45:13.540 --> 02:45:16.910
and the Google Foundation was essential in helping us
02:45:16.910 --> 02:45:17.910
bridge some funding.
02:45:19.510 --> 02:45:22.090
We actually have six different grants,
02:45:22.090 --> 02:45:25.350
with six specific schools in Sunnyvale School District.
02:45:25.350 --> 02:45:28.660
The schools were identified either as Title I schools
02:45:28.660 --> 02:45:30.780
with high numbers of free reduced lunch students
02:45:30.780 --> 02:45:33.200
or high numbers of english learners.
02:45:33.200 --> 02:45:36.120
So those were the two populations we were targeting.
02:45:36.120 --> 02:45:39.750
The overall combined goal of all six grants
02:45:39.750 --> 02:45:42.760
is that we will at the end of the project,
02:45:42.760 --> 02:45:46.360
serve 650 adults or parents
02:45:46.360 --> 02:45:49.270
who have completed the basic literacy training
02:45:49.270 --> 02:45:50.810
with eight hours.
02:45:50.810 --> 02:45:53.030
And that we have about 300 families
02:45:53.030 --> 02:45:55.363
who subscribe to internet services.
02:45:56.750 --> 02:45:57.650
Next slide please.
02:46:01.850 --> 02:46:04.130
We had our first six months ramp up period,
02:46:04.130 --> 02:46:06.230
from January to June to 2019,
02:46:06.230 --> 02:46:08.380
kind of the significant accomplishment
02:46:08.380 --> 02:46:10.170
during that period for us.
02:46:10.170 --> 02:46:13.710
We contracted with CTN
02:46:13.710 --> 02:46:16.510
and they worked on curriculum development
02:46:16.510 --> 02:46:20.870
and looked at an instruction specifically for our project.
02:46:20.870 --> 02:46:22.960
We met with all the school leaders
02:46:22.960 --> 02:46:25.120
and developed specific outreach
02:46:25.120 --> 02:46:28.200
and recruitment plans with a plan to start recruitment
02:46:28.200 --> 02:46:32.150
and serving their families in fall of 2019.
02:46:32.150 --> 02:46:35.200
We secured a grant from Google Foundation.
02:46:35.200 --> 02:46:36.840
One of our goals with this project
02:46:36.840 --> 02:46:39.970
was to make sure families who completed the project
02:46:39.970 --> 02:46:43.063
was able to keep a Chromebook and take it home.
02:46:44.580 --> 02:46:49.580
The CASF grant allowed us a maximum of 67 devices per grant.
02:46:50.680 --> 02:46:54.880
And we were serving between 75 and 125 families.
02:46:54.880 --> 02:46:56.840
And so the Google grant helped us
02:46:56.840 --> 02:46:58.330
bridge that funding difference.
02:46:58.330 --> 02:47:01.350
So that we were able to issue a Chromebook
02:47:01.350 --> 02:47:02.960
for every family and participant
02:47:02.960 --> 02:47:04.760
that completed the program.
02:47:04.760 --> 02:47:08.340
And we also met with Internet Essentials program staff
02:47:08.340 --> 02:47:09.570
based out of San Jose
02:47:09.570 --> 02:47:11.480
and they were great to kind of
02:47:11.480 --> 02:47:13.810
brainstorm with us and educate us about
02:47:13.810 --> 02:47:17.340
what their low cost internet program at home looks like.
02:47:17.340 --> 02:47:19.460
Gave us ideas on how we can partner with them
02:47:19.460 --> 02:47:23.610
when we were ready to get the information out to families,
02:47:23.610 --> 02:47:27.300
as well as bring in other vendors outside of Comcast
02:47:27.300 --> 02:47:30.560
to present a comprehensive list of vendors
02:47:30.560 --> 02:47:32.493
that families can meet and talk with.
02:47:33.720 --> 02:47:34.620
Next slide please.
02:47:37.850 --> 02:47:40.267
So our year one of our project
02:47:40.267 --> 02:47:44.100
was from July 1st of 2019, to June 30th.
02:47:44.100 --> 02:47:46.280
The chart is a snapshot of kind of
02:47:46.280 --> 02:47:49.680
what our actual numbers of that project was.
02:47:49.680 --> 02:47:51.320
Our plan for year one
02:47:51.320 --> 02:47:53.200
was to follow the academic calendar
02:47:53.200 --> 02:47:55.630
and offer between three to four sessions
02:47:56.957 --> 02:47:59.530
at each of the six schools.
02:47:59.530 --> 02:48:02.730
So a Fall session, a Winter session, a Spring session.
02:48:02.730 --> 02:48:03.650
And if we needed it,
02:48:03.650 --> 02:48:05.500
we were gonna offer a summer session.
02:48:06.580 --> 02:48:10.180
We were able to implement the first two sessions as planned.
02:48:10.180 --> 02:48:11.470
So we issued,
02:48:11.470 --> 02:48:15.200
we implemented in-person fall 2019
02:48:15.200 --> 02:48:18.860
and winter 2020 sessions at all six schools.
02:48:18.860 --> 02:48:21.670
And a traditional parent education program,
02:48:21.670 --> 02:48:25.480
we offered it either in the evenings or on Saturdays
02:48:25.480 --> 02:48:27.210
and with partners,
02:48:27.210 --> 02:48:30.420
with our school partners we had childcare if needed.
02:48:30.420 --> 02:48:33.000
We provided kind of light refreshments
02:48:33.000 --> 02:48:35.090
and obviously CTN came on board
02:48:35.090 --> 02:48:36.450
and taught our classes.
02:48:36.450 --> 02:48:38.420
And we also have city staff
02:48:38.420 --> 02:48:41.463
as classroom aides when they were in person.
02:48:43.180 --> 02:48:44.640
And then in March, 2020,
02:48:44.640 --> 02:48:46.090
because of the COVID pandemic,
02:48:46.090 --> 02:48:48.010
we shut down with all of the programming.
02:48:48.010 --> 02:48:50.510
So really we were only able to implement
02:48:50.510 --> 02:48:55.360
50% of what we had planned to offer that year one.
02:48:55.360 --> 02:48:57.413
And kind of those numbers reflect that.
02:48:58.540 --> 02:48:59.440
Next slide please.
02:49:05.420 --> 02:49:07.690
The participants we recruited were
02:49:07.690 --> 02:49:10.920
parents, guardians that were on free reduced lunch.
02:49:10.920 --> 02:49:14.180
We had a lot of help from our school staff
02:49:14.180 --> 02:49:16.158
and partners to make sure
02:49:16.158 --> 02:49:17.460
we were targeting the right families.
02:49:17.460 --> 02:49:19.060
And that worked out really well.
02:49:19.950 --> 02:49:24.350
We were on track to kind of hit our targets for year one
02:49:24.350 --> 02:49:25.670
before the pandemic hit.
02:49:25.670 --> 02:49:27.470
And then again, we were able to do just
02:49:27.470 --> 02:49:29.393
50% of what we have planned.
02:49:34.020 --> 02:49:37.590
We were trying to be strategic about
02:49:37.590 --> 02:49:41.500
planning a technology fair at the end of year one.
02:49:41.500 --> 02:49:44.400
We thought we would have enough graduates at that point
02:49:44.400 --> 02:49:46.770
to have a really nice event
02:49:46.770 --> 02:49:48.970
that we'll invite actually an entire community to
02:49:48.970 --> 02:49:51.570
and not just kind of the graduates.
02:49:51.570 --> 02:49:53.885
And again, the idea was to invite
02:49:53.885 --> 02:49:56.570
multiple vendors to talk about technology
02:49:56.570 --> 02:50:00.160
and present all of the different offerings.
02:50:00.160 --> 02:50:01.620
And we were not able to do that
02:50:01.620 --> 02:50:02.640
because of the pandemic
02:50:02.640 --> 02:50:05.490
and hope to bring that back in the future.
02:50:05.490 --> 02:50:07.010
We have a picture of
02:50:07.010 --> 02:50:09.040
one of our school graduations happening.
02:50:09.040 --> 02:50:11.700
We actually have multiple pictures of all our graduations
02:50:11.700 --> 02:50:13.820
for the first two sessions we offered
02:50:13.820 --> 02:50:16.260
and then an actual in-person class
02:50:16.260 --> 02:50:17.880
with one of the CTN instructors
02:50:17.880 --> 02:50:20.130
is what you see in the front of that picture.
02:50:21.140 --> 02:50:22.677
Next slide please.
02:50:25.310 --> 02:50:27.470
Year one challenges again,
02:50:27.470 --> 02:50:28.303
we can't say it enough
02:50:28.303 --> 02:50:29.570
the pandemic really ended
02:50:29.570 --> 02:50:32.480
all of our in-person activities
02:50:32.480 --> 02:50:34.133
right after our winter session.
02:50:35.580 --> 02:50:38.530
Sabrina mentioned this in her programming.
02:50:38.530 --> 02:50:40.070
In her presentation.
02:50:40.070 --> 02:50:42.950
We realized a couple of months into the pandemic that
02:50:42.950 --> 02:50:44.660
we were gonna have to get creative,
02:50:44.660 --> 02:50:45.980
otherwise we weren't gonna be able to
02:50:45.980 --> 02:50:47.560
continue serving the families
02:50:47.560 --> 02:50:49.650
with digital literacy training.
02:50:49.650 --> 02:50:53.213
So CTN went ahead and modified their curriculum
02:50:53.213 --> 02:50:57.113
and piloted a virtual learning class for us in May.
02:50:58.060 --> 02:50:59.040
And what we did was
02:50:59.040 --> 02:51:01.850
we went ahead and reengaged participants
02:51:01.850 --> 02:51:04.150
that were not able to complete the classes
02:51:04.150 --> 02:51:06.080
in Fall and Winter.
02:51:06.080 --> 02:51:08.170
So either their schedule got busy
02:51:08.170 --> 02:51:10.070
or the work schedule changed
02:51:10.070 --> 02:51:12.050
and they started a couple of classes with us,
02:51:12.050 --> 02:51:16.170
but they did not finish all of the in-person classes.
02:51:16.170 --> 02:51:19.400
So we reached out to those specific participants
02:51:19.400 --> 02:51:21.010
that missed one to three classes,
02:51:21.010 --> 02:51:22.623
either in the fall or winter.
02:51:23.900 --> 02:51:26.070
And then when CTN modified and piloted
02:51:26.070 --> 02:51:27.290
their virtual programming,
02:51:27.290 --> 02:51:30.720
they designed either two hours of virtual learning
02:51:30.720 --> 02:51:32.110
or four hours,
02:51:32.110 --> 02:51:35.020
plus two to four hours of homework assignments
02:51:35.020 --> 02:51:38.020
that the participants had to complete and turn in
02:51:38.020 --> 02:51:39.927
to demonstrate the skills that they learned.
02:51:39.927 --> 02:51:41.427
For them to be able to say,
02:51:41.427 --> 02:51:45.380
"Oh yeah, I spent some more time on this curriculum,
02:51:45.380 --> 02:51:46.230
on these assignments.
02:51:46.230 --> 02:51:48.607
On top of what I learned with Zoom."
02:51:49.960 --> 02:51:53.570
We went ahead and re-engaged 17 participants through
02:51:53.570 --> 02:51:55.260
kind of the pilot program in May.
02:51:55.260 --> 02:51:56.773
And out of that 17,
02:51:56.773 --> 02:52:01.150
13 of them completed the eight hour training virtually.
02:52:01.150 --> 02:52:03.663
So that's about 76%.
02:52:04.730 --> 02:52:05.630
Next slide please.
02:52:08.160 --> 02:52:11.820
So for us, year two is what we're in right now.
02:52:11.820 --> 02:52:15.253
July 1st of 2022, June 30th, 2021.
02:52:16.153 --> 02:52:18.860
We are all virtual only.
02:52:18.860 --> 02:52:21.390
And that program design is
02:52:21.390 --> 02:52:24.640
six sessions of one hour Zoom classes,
02:52:24.640 --> 02:52:28.310
with two hours of self-learning independent assignments.
02:52:28.310 --> 02:52:29.600
That the participants complete
02:52:29.600 --> 02:52:30.820
and turn into the instructors
02:52:30.820 --> 02:52:33.913
for a total of eight hours of digital literacy training.
02:52:35.616 --> 02:52:39.130
As you can see between the Fall and Winter numbers,
02:52:39.130 --> 02:52:42.400
we have gotten better in terms of
02:52:42.400 --> 02:52:45.110
understanding the needs of the participants
02:52:45.110 --> 02:52:46.370
and what they need virtually.
02:52:46.370 --> 02:52:49.180
The instructors and support staff have gotten
02:52:49.180 --> 02:52:50.910
stronger in their ability to make sure
02:52:50.910 --> 02:52:52.930
participants are signing on,
02:52:52.930 --> 02:52:54.880
understanding what needs to happen.
02:52:54.880 --> 02:52:56.300
And then that means that,
02:52:56.300 --> 02:52:58.310
our number of participants per session
02:52:58.310 --> 02:53:00.523
have gone up from eight to 15.
02:53:01.880 --> 02:53:04.310
Before they start the first lesson,
02:53:04.310 --> 02:53:06.860
they actually make an appointment to come in
02:53:06.860 --> 02:53:09.250
to Columbia Neighborhood Center,
02:53:09.250 --> 02:53:10.410
where the program is based
02:53:10.410 --> 02:53:13.550
and get an in-person orientation with staff,
02:53:13.550 --> 02:53:15.700
pick up the Chromebooks,
02:53:15.700 --> 02:53:17.310
show us that they actually
02:53:17.310 --> 02:53:20.490
can figure out the basics of how to log on.
02:53:20.490 --> 02:53:22.170
We download the Zoom link for them.
02:53:22.170 --> 02:53:23.510
All of that happens within
02:53:23.510 --> 02:53:25.900
a 45 minute in-person orientation,
02:53:25.900 --> 02:53:28.100
before they take the devices home
02:53:28.100 --> 02:53:30.573
and log on to the first Zoom class.
02:53:31.890 --> 02:53:33.093
Next slide please.
02:53:37.098 --> 02:53:41.623
Some summary of our year two challenges and successes.
02:53:43.010 --> 02:53:44.270
We're thrilled to be able to offer,
02:53:44.270 --> 02:53:45.740
continue to offer the program.
02:53:45.740 --> 02:53:48.590
We are still seeing the need more so than ever now,
02:53:48.590 --> 02:53:50.710
because of how important being online is
02:53:51.680 --> 02:53:53.500
during the pandemic times.
02:53:53.500 --> 02:53:55.250
So we were happy that we could
02:53:56.960 --> 02:54:00.730
pivot and continue to offer the program online.
02:54:00.730 --> 02:54:02.930
We've been really lucky with great partners.
02:54:05.892 --> 02:54:08.059
(silence)
02:59:12.260 --> 02:59:15.280
Preamble is requiring the seniors
02:59:15.280 --> 02:59:17.440
to be enrolled in CalFresh,
02:59:17.440 --> 02:59:19.860
unfairly disqualifies individuals
02:59:19.860 --> 02:59:23.143
who live in residential care facilities,
02:59:23.143 --> 02:59:27.340
from participating in digital literacy programs
02:59:27.340 --> 02:59:29.360
funded by the CPUC.
02:59:29.360 --> 02:59:31.790
They cannot enroll in CalFresh because,
02:59:31.790 --> 02:59:35.500
their residential homes include a meal plan.
02:59:35.500 --> 02:59:36.960
The question is,
02:59:36.960 --> 02:59:39.560
will the Commission rescind its requirements
02:59:39.560 --> 02:59:41.700
and determine eligibility
02:59:41.700 --> 02:59:45.230
based on the seniors meeting the financial threshold
02:59:45.230 --> 02:59:49.273
for CalFresh and therefore not require them to be enrolled?
02:59:51.360 --> 02:59:52.810
Thanks for the question.
02:59:52.810 --> 02:59:56.220
So we are aware of this issue
02:59:56.220 --> 02:59:59.500
and the Commission has been meeting internally
02:59:59.500 --> 03:00:02.710
to discuss ways to address this issue,
03:00:02.710 --> 03:00:05.810
because ultimately the goal was to
03:00:05.810 --> 03:00:10.810
make sure that those that are eligible to receive devices,
03:00:10.870 --> 03:00:13.950
should be able to receive devices.
03:00:13.950 --> 03:00:17.060
So please be on the lookout
03:00:17.060 --> 03:00:21.480
for additional updates on the CASF proceeding
03:00:21.480 --> 03:00:25.113
and the proceeding number is R20-08-021.
03:00:31.580 --> 03:00:36.320
And thanks again for reminding us of this issue.
03:00:36.320 --> 03:00:38.610
Like I said, we've been working on it
03:00:38.610 --> 03:00:40.493
and please stay tuned.
03:00:43.457 --> 03:00:46.120
So I have one more question
03:00:46.120 --> 03:00:51.120
and it's maybe the host, I'm not sure.
03:00:51.220 --> 03:00:55.400
The question is can the CPUC mandate that
03:00:56.330 --> 03:00:59.643
telco providers, I assume meaning service providers.
03:01:00.980 --> 03:01:02.170
Telecom providers
03:01:04.130 --> 03:01:06.850
offer technical assistance to
03:01:06.850 --> 03:01:09.703
older adults who sign up for internet service?
03:01:10.830 --> 03:01:14.253
Leaving the hookup and signing onto the internet.
03:01:15.680 --> 03:01:17.010
Sorry, I'm having trouble reading this.
03:01:17.010 --> 03:01:19.750
Leaving the hookup and sign on to the internet
03:01:19.750 --> 03:01:22.200
up to the older adult customer
03:01:22.200 --> 03:01:24.410
may prohibit them from using this service.
03:01:24.410 --> 03:01:27.483
So I think that's a technical assistance question?
03:01:31.544 --> 03:01:32.780
Thank you Angela for--
All right Rob,
03:01:32.780 --> 03:01:37.780
would you like to take this question or Commissioners?
03:01:41.270 --> 03:01:43.640
Sure, Rob I wasn't sure
03:01:43.640 --> 03:01:45.920
if you were going to jump in.
03:01:45.920 --> 03:01:48.570
Unfortunately, right now we're very limited
03:01:48.570 --> 03:01:53.350
on what can we mandate of internet service providers.
03:01:53.350 --> 03:01:56.480
Although I think the recommendation is a very,
03:01:56.480 --> 03:01:58.260
a very, very good one.
03:01:58.260 --> 03:01:59.440
And interestingly enough,
03:01:59.440 --> 03:02:02.310
when we do these types of things on the energy side,
03:02:02.310 --> 03:02:05.780
we very much have the electric and gas utilities
03:02:05.780 --> 03:02:08.820
provide that sort of technical assistance for enrollment
03:02:08.820 --> 03:02:10.270
in those low-income programs.
03:02:10.270 --> 03:02:12.540
But unfortunately until,
03:02:12.540 --> 03:02:16.520
as we discussed with the FCC Chairwoman this morning,
03:02:16.520 --> 03:02:20.060
until there's a change in how we regulate the internet,
03:02:20.060 --> 03:02:22.820
we're currently limited to require
03:02:22.820 --> 03:02:26.170
specific things from these providers.
03:02:26.170 --> 03:02:28.410
But Rob, if you have a more creative answer
03:02:28.410 --> 03:02:30.490
on how we could do it please chime in
03:02:30.490 --> 03:02:31.653
or Commissioner Houck.
03:02:38.920 --> 03:02:39.753
Yeah, I don't know that
03:02:39.753 --> 03:02:42.940
I have anything else to add to what you said,
03:02:42.940 --> 03:02:44.050
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
03:02:44.050 --> 03:02:46.680
I don't know if staff has any but I think that
03:02:48.510 --> 03:02:50.970
we do definitely wanna see what possibilities
03:02:50.970 --> 03:02:54.840
there are with looking at how we're revisiting the program
03:02:54.840 --> 03:02:57.310
and what opportunities we have
03:02:57.310 --> 03:02:59.360
to make it as user-friendly as possible
03:02:59.360 --> 03:03:02.080
and ensure that people have the services they need
03:03:02.080 --> 03:03:03.513
to use the technology.
03:03:07.700 --> 03:03:09.850
Thank you Commissioners.
The only thing.
03:03:09.850 --> 03:03:11.720
Sorry Selena, the only other thing I would add
03:03:11.720 --> 03:03:13.410
is it just reinforces the importance
03:03:13.410 --> 03:03:15.650
of having adoption funding.
03:03:15.650 --> 03:03:17.530
So that there are organizations like those
03:03:17.530 --> 03:03:20.660
we've just heard from to help with that sort of role.
03:03:20.660 --> 03:03:23.820
But I agree that the more holistic and direct approach
03:03:23.820 --> 03:03:26.420
would be to have the authority to require
03:03:26.420 --> 03:03:28.460
that coming from the providers.
03:03:28.460 --> 03:03:30.180
But short of that,
03:03:30.180 --> 03:03:32.030
it just highlights the importance of
03:03:32.030 --> 03:03:34.550
having more funding in the adoption fund.
03:03:34.550 --> 03:03:35.383
Thank you.
03:03:37.836 --> 03:03:40.300
I agree with that, thanks Commissioner.
03:03:40.300 --> 03:03:44.350
So, let me see if there's any other questions
03:03:44.350 --> 03:03:46.973
from the Verizon telephone line.
03:03:46.973 --> 03:03:49.800
If not, we can move on to the next step.
03:03:49.800 --> 03:03:52.500
Because we only have five more minutes.
03:03:52.500 --> 03:03:55.750
Operator, do we have anyone on the line?
03:03:55.750 --> 03:03:58.280
We do, we do have Eileen Harris.
03:03:58.280 --> 03:03:59.303
Your line is open.
03:04:00.790 --> 03:04:01.900
Thank you all so much.
03:04:01.900 --> 03:04:03.970
And I represent Human ATE,
03:04:03.970 --> 03:04:06.310
which is a nonprofit that currently works on
03:04:06.310 --> 03:04:08.980
a CPUC grant particularly around,
03:04:08.980 --> 03:04:11.780
with broadband access and digital literacy.
03:04:11.780 --> 03:04:14.669
And I had one comment and a question as well.
03:04:14.669 --> 03:04:16.620
And so we're part of the
03:04:16.620 --> 03:04:18.640
National Digital Inclusion Alliance,
03:04:18.640 --> 03:04:21.460
which has really elevated
03:04:21.460 --> 03:04:24.460
how progressive California has been in terms of
03:04:24.460 --> 03:04:26.790
being ahead of the curve when it comes to
03:04:26.790 --> 03:04:29.252
investing in broadband adoption
03:04:29.252 --> 03:04:31.650
and having these public conversations.
03:04:31.650 --> 03:04:34.560
I think, oftentimes we're reminded in that group
03:04:34.560 --> 03:04:35.610
how fortunate we are to be
03:04:35.610 --> 03:04:36.533
operating in the State of California,
03:04:36.533 --> 03:04:38.670
because so many other States
03:04:38.670 --> 03:04:39.960
don't have this type of leadership.
03:04:39.960 --> 03:04:41.970
So I just wanted to make sure that
03:04:41.970 --> 03:04:44.413
reflection came back to you all at the CPUC.
03:04:45.385 --> 03:04:47.380
And in terms of the question,
03:04:47.380 --> 03:04:48.910
one thing you know I've heard a lot
03:04:48.910 --> 03:04:52.669
in terms of infrastructure being very essential
03:04:52.669 --> 03:04:56.890
and that second question is once people have that access,
03:04:56.890 --> 03:04:59.810
and particularly for those in urban areas,
03:04:59.810 --> 03:05:02.010
we find there's still a huge concentration of people
03:05:02.010 --> 03:05:05.196
who can't necessarily afford that access.
03:05:05.196 --> 03:05:07.740
And not only afford it, but aren't aware.
03:05:07.740 --> 03:05:10.590
We saw a study recently from Commonsense Media
03:05:10.590 --> 03:05:14.150
that acknowledged about 70% of consumers who are
03:05:14.150 --> 03:05:16.620
eligible for a low cost option
03:05:16.620 --> 03:05:18.470
aren't aware that it exists.
03:05:18.470 --> 03:05:20.070
So we find awareness continues to be
03:05:20.070 --> 03:05:21.710
one of the biggest gaps there.
03:05:21.710 --> 03:05:25.947
And so we are really incredibly grateful that
03:05:25.947 --> 03:05:28.130
the broadband adoption account exists.
03:05:28.130 --> 03:05:30.970
And we were able to sign up about
03:05:30.970 --> 03:05:33.600
4,000 low-income households in 13 months
03:05:33.600 --> 03:05:35.970
through the grant at CPUC.
03:05:35.970 --> 03:05:38.410
We know that right now that fund is set to
03:05:38.410 --> 03:05:40.170
tap out in this next round,
03:05:40.170 --> 03:05:41.990
about two years ahead of schedule.
03:05:41.990 --> 03:05:44.490
And so I think this was answered a bit earlier,
03:05:44.490 --> 03:05:46.530
but I wanted to ask the group
03:05:46.530 --> 03:05:50.990
if there's room to expand funding within that particular,
03:05:50.990 --> 03:05:52.690
you know broadband access project,
03:05:52.690 --> 03:05:53.930
knowing that the need is so high.
03:05:53.930 --> 03:05:57.010
And if there's anything that community-based organizations
03:05:57.010 --> 03:06:00.580
can do to support folks at the CPUC and otherwise
03:06:00.580 --> 03:06:03.750
to really drive more funding and resources
03:06:03.750 --> 03:06:05.050
towards that type of work?
03:06:07.840 --> 03:06:09.280
Commissioners, do you wanna
03:06:09.280 --> 03:06:10.823
quickly respond to this?
03:06:13.760 --> 03:06:15.250
Oh sure, I'll take a crack.
03:06:15.250 --> 03:06:18.733
And then Darcie, Commissioner Houck feel free to add.
03:06:20.520 --> 03:06:22.670
Unfortunately, the funds
03:06:22.670 --> 03:06:25.980
the fund accounts are not interchangeable,
03:06:25.980 --> 03:06:29.980
with the exception of what we were required to do by statute
03:06:29.980 --> 03:06:33.170
on the housing funding when it was unused.
03:06:33.170 --> 03:06:38.170
So you know, I think the greatest focus for all of you
03:06:39.040 --> 03:06:41.580
that recognize the need for this,
03:06:41.580 --> 03:06:44.220
is to talk to your legislators and
03:06:44.220 --> 03:06:48.340
really encourage not just the extension of the program
03:06:48.340 --> 03:06:51.200
but perhaps the consideration of
03:06:51.200 --> 03:06:54.010
the augmentation of this particular need.
03:06:54.010 --> 03:06:57.590
I think it's just something they all know
03:06:57.590 --> 03:07:01.013
and but I think that's probably the most,
03:07:03.660 --> 03:07:06.420
probably the quickest way to augment the fund
03:07:06.420 --> 03:07:10.053
would be to have the legislature act in that quickly.
03:07:11.980 --> 03:07:16.650
But yes, I unfortunately don't think we have any
03:07:16.650 --> 03:07:20.513
flexibility within our program now.
03:07:25.170 --> 03:07:27.170
Thank you Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
03:07:27.170 --> 03:07:28.620
How about Commissioner Houck?
03:07:30.030 --> 03:07:32.610
I agree that the legislation
03:07:32.610 --> 03:07:34.157
is the place to focus
03:07:34.157 --> 03:07:36.910
and we have some champions over at the legislature.
03:07:36.910 --> 03:07:39.178
Obviously this is something that
03:07:39.178 --> 03:07:42.587
is very important to the representatives
03:07:42.587 --> 03:07:45.100
we heard today and their offices
03:07:45.100 --> 03:07:46.690
and the Governor's office.
03:07:46.690 --> 03:07:50.303
So I agree with Commissioner Guzman Aceves,
03:07:50.303 --> 03:07:54.670
I think we know we need some changes to the program
03:07:54.670 --> 03:07:56.470
and we need to figure out how to get
03:07:57.750 --> 03:08:01.080
access and resources in place
03:08:01.080 --> 03:08:03.083
to make sure we can serve California.
03:08:05.331 --> 03:08:07.400
I don't know that I have
03:08:07.400 --> 03:08:10.390
unfortunately much more I can add to that,
03:08:10.390 --> 03:08:12.870
but we are looking forward to hopefully
03:08:13.910 --> 03:08:17.780
being able to move forward once legislation is passed
03:08:17.780 --> 03:08:20.930
to expand the program and what we're able to do
03:08:20.930 --> 03:08:22.013
in that regard.
03:08:23.220 --> 03:08:25.391
Thank you so much Commissioner.
03:08:25.391 --> 03:08:26.608
And actually Commissioner Houck,
03:08:26.608 --> 03:08:27.949
as you were speaking one thing I was
03:08:27.949 --> 03:08:30.940
remiss about is there's a small chunk of funding
03:08:30.940 --> 03:08:34.120
in what's called the Digital Divide Account,
03:08:34.120 --> 03:08:37.310
that we are currently in a separate rulemaking,
03:08:37.310 --> 03:08:41.430
the broadband infrastructure deployment rulemaking,
03:08:41.430 --> 03:08:44.477
which I'll ask maybe my staff to put in the,
03:08:45.791 --> 03:08:49.130
I don't know if the public can see the chat or the Q&A.
03:08:49.130 --> 03:08:54.130
But anyhow that rulemaking currently deliberating on
03:08:54.270 --> 03:08:59.270
is a small amount of money $1 million for adoption purposes.
03:09:00.579 --> 03:09:05.570
So that's one venue that's currently again
03:09:05.570 --> 03:09:06.910
being deliberated.
03:09:06.910 --> 03:09:09.310
Well thank you Selena for`the rulemaking (indistinct).
03:09:09.310 --> 03:09:14.310
I dunno, hopefully it's rulemaking 20-09-001.
03:09:15.081 --> 03:09:17.140
But again, it's a very small amount
03:09:17.140 --> 03:09:19.517
and really what we need is
03:09:19.517 --> 03:09:22.750
the extension of the program and the augmentation.
03:09:22.750 --> 03:09:23.583
Thank you.
03:09:25.690 --> 03:09:26.730
All right, thank you.
03:09:26.730 --> 03:09:31.730
So unfortunately the workshop is a little bit behind.
03:09:32.610 --> 03:09:33.970
It's already 1:31.
03:09:33.970 --> 03:09:38.530
So, I'll just quickly, sum up what the next steps are.
03:09:38.530 --> 03:09:41.460
As we learned today, broadband is very important,
03:09:41.460 --> 03:09:43.160
it is a necessity.
03:09:43.160 --> 03:09:45.340
So we still have a lot of work to do
03:09:45.340 --> 03:09:47.660
to close the digital divide.
03:09:47.660 --> 03:09:52.350
But I hope that those that were able to join us today
03:09:52.350 --> 03:09:55.720
can participate in the CASF proceedings.
03:09:55.720 --> 03:09:58.003
Again that's the rulemaking 20-08-021.
03:10:00.120 --> 03:10:02.837
And we're looking at the reexamining
03:10:02.837 --> 03:10:05.230
the issues in that proceeding,
03:10:05.230 --> 03:10:07.720
based on the discussions that we have
03:10:07.720 --> 03:10:12.340
and the legislative updates that you heard earlier today.
03:10:12.340 --> 03:10:15.280
We do need to think outside of the box.
03:10:15.280 --> 03:10:18.530
And we will continue to review the
03:10:18.530 --> 03:10:22.020
unprecedented number of infrastructure applications
03:10:22.020 --> 03:10:24.510
that we've received in 2020.
03:10:24.510 --> 03:10:29.510
And looking into how to incorporate the RDOF funding.
03:10:29.910 --> 03:10:32.710
So please continue to make your voices heard
03:10:32.710 --> 03:10:34.440
in the legislature,
03:10:34.440 --> 03:10:38.640
and pushing the legislators to support Bills
03:10:38.640 --> 03:10:42.260
that ensure the CASF program can continue
03:10:42.260 --> 03:10:46.410
and will keep up with the changing needs.
03:10:46.410 --> 03:10:47.740
So let's stop.
03:10:47.740 --> 03:10:51.360
I want to thank everyone again for joining today,
03:10:51.360 --> 03:10:55.738
and thanks to the Commissioners and President Batjer
03:10:55.738 --> 03:10:58.113
and all all the other speakers and staff
03:10:58.113 --> 03:11:00.983
that helped put together the workshop today.
03:11:01.850 --> 03:11:04.520
With that, any last minute remarks from
03:11:04.520 --> 03:11:07.363
Commissioner Guzman Aceves or Commissioner Houck?
03:11:09.950 --> 03:11:11.680
No, just thank you very much
03:11:11.680 --> 03:11:12.597
for all the hard work
03:11:12.597 --> 03:11:15.400
and for everyone's continued engagement.
03:11:15.400 --> 03:11:16.233
Thank you.
03:11:18.929 --> 03:11:21.235
Yes, thank you everyone for your participation.
03:11:21.235 --> 03:11:23.209
This has been very helpful for me.
03:11:23.209 --> 03:11:27.320
And I look forward to doing more work in this area.
03:11:27.320 --> 03:11:29.669
So thank you.
03:11:29.669 --> 03:11:30.502
Thank you.
03:11:30.502 --> 03:11:33.060
So the workshop is adjourned.
03:11:33.060 --> 03:11:34.363
Thank you everyone.
03:11:36.260 --> 03:11:37.660
Bye bye.
03:11:37.660 --> 03:11:39.000
Thank you all for participating
03:11:39.000 --> 03:11:39.960
in today's conference,
03:11:39.960 --> 03:11:41.120
you may disconnect your line
03:11:41.120 --> 03:11:43.087
and enjoy the rest of the day.