We are live blogging from the 2009 CETF Rural Connections Workshop.

Representing the Central Sierra Connect project at the conference we have Shelly Hance, Michelle Shelton, Mary Boblet, Sandy Romena, Sharon Crost, Ben Hulet, Meghan Krenecki, Erin Mutch, Eric Shippam and myself.

 CETF President & CEO Sunne Wright McPeak is giving an introduction to the goals of the workshop. Ultimately, we want to make sure that at least 50% of underserved communities are provided with highspeed internet access in rural communities, and to make sure there is sufficient infrastructure to serve those communities.

During introductions, Hap Hazard, Mono County District 2 Supervisor, makes an excellent point. Despite the fact that our counties' populations are small, we have millions of tourists visiting our region every year, and the lack of high-speed internet is becoming an increasing deterrent to tourists. Our very own Shelly Hance points out the tremendous asset that our community collaborations are to the success of not just this project, but the many projects in our region. This cannot be stressed enough - we have WONDERFUL community teamwork. We are so proud to work with all of you!

Wow! 17 million people in the state of California do not have high-speed internet access - this is equivalent to the entire population of Illinois, the 5th largest state in the nation!

Commissioner Rachelle Chong of the CPUC is updating us on the ARRA funding. ARRA funding opportunities will be a huge asset to all of our regional projects throughout the state. The focus of ARRA Broadband funding is to provide access to unserved areas, improve access to underserved areas, provide broadband education and awareness, and public safety. Programs must be designed to create jobs, grow economy and increase broadband adoption. The details for the grant process will be finalized sometime after June 20th.

After a lovely lunch at the Red Lion Redding, we heard from Heather Bernikoff of the California Consumer Protection Foundation (CCPF). She spoke about grant matching opportunites for broadband projects. These funds can be leveraged against other funding streams, specifically for Telemedicine, our next project for CSC, already in progress. Rushton Brandis then spoke about E-Rate, a federal program to fund connectivity to schools and libraries. These funds can be used in conjunction with funding from CPUC.

With the largest Native American population in the nation, it is very important that tribal needs are addressed in the broadband movement. A panel of Native American leaders is discussing opportunities for collaboration to bridge the digital divide in our regional reservations and rancherias. Many of our reservations are located in our most rural locations with limited to no connectivity. Beyond the tribal implications, this discussion is bringing home how important broadband accessibility and adoption are in this day and age to everyone, for economic development, workforce development, education opportunities, and in so many other ways. The internet is not just for "surfing". Broadband is a vital communication medium that must be made available to everyone as we move into the future in order to be competitive and build sustainable communities.

 Redwood Coast Connect, the first CETF Rural Broadband project, gave their project update. Good news - the project has completed. They have come up with some very specific recommendations, and have been able to use their project information to bring many ISPs to the table. By the time that the projects are completed, 80% of all unserved and underserved communities will have broadband project. The next step is to identify and recruit businesses to the region that fit the needs and possibilities of the communities. A great video demonstrating the nightmare process of getting all of the permits was shown to demonstrate how important it will be to talk to all of the agencies now for infrastructure projects before applying for ARRA funding so that the projects are truly "shovel-ready". In closing, we sang a rural broadband song written by Connie Stewart, Executive Director of the California Center for Rural Policy at Humboldt State University. The song was sung to the tune of Green Acres. Erin Mutch, our GIS contractor recorded it - we'll post on youtube - too funny!

We just heard a great presentation from Gold Country Connect, our project neighbors to the north. They have done a wonderful job, some very exciting projects in the works. The innovation demonstrated by these groups is exhilarating.

Michelle, Shelly and Sharon just completed our project presentation and a presentation on alternative scenarios. They did a FABULOUS job describing all the great work that has been done by our coalition this past year.

That wraps up day 1. We'll be back tomorrow with a panel discussion with the ISPs and more discussion about federal stimulus opportunities. Stay tuned!

Summary

This Resolution adopts conditional funding for the Mother Lode Broadband project of Rapid Link Inc. and Mother Lode Internet (Mother Lode) from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) amounting to $2,771,341 pending Commission approval of and Rapid Link's compliance with, if any, the decision in Application (A.) 09-02-021, an application by Rapid Link to acquire Telenational Communications Inc. (TNC). The amount granted represents 40% of the total project cost of this unserved area application filed in accordance with Resolution T-17143.

Background

On December 20, 2007, the Commission approved Decision (D.) 07-12-054 which established the two-year CASF program to provide matching funds of up to 40% of the total project costs for the deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas in California.¹ Resolution T-17143, approved on June 12, 2008, adopted the application requirements, scoring criteria for the award of funds, and a prescribed timeline for other filings and notifications including a projected Commission Meeting date for final approval of award(s). This same Resolution directed interested applicants, seeking funding for unserved projects, to file their project proposals and funding requests on July 24, 2008. Twenty three (23) project proposals that sought CASF funding for unserved areas were received. Of these numbers, six proposals were unchallenged and received approval for funding on November 21, 2008 via Resolution T-17182. Various parties challenged another sixteen (16) project proposals, contending that the areas included in the proposals were already served. On February 20, 2009, the Commission adopted two resolutions for five challenged unserved projects as follows: Resolution T-17187 approved Broadband Associates' Highway 299 Broadband Network Project and Resolution T-17195 approved four AT&T projects. On March 12, 2009, the Commission adopted Resolution T-17183 which approved Willits' Online's Covelo and Laytonville projects.

Mother Lode's application was one the 16 projects mentioned above with some of its proposed areas, challenged by existing broadband providers. In addition, another applicant submitted a proposal for some of the areas included in Mother Lode's proposal. Communications Division (CD) has verified that the specific Census Block Group (CBG) covering the proposed areas qualify as "unserved area", as defined in Res. T-17143. Further details are presented in the Discussion Section of this resolution.

Notice/Protests

The Census Block Group (CBG) list appeared by county on the Commission's CASF website page under "UNDERSERVED areas proposed to be served as of August 25, 2008: Census Block Groups (CBGs)." Of the 126 CBGs Mother Lode submitted, 103 CBGs were formally challenged by either existing service providers or other interested parties. Therefore, CD proceeded with a review and an analysis of these project areas to verify that they were indeed unserved as of the applicants' filing date.

Discussion

CD has completed its review and analysis of the project areas included in Mother Lode's application. As a result, this Resolution conditionally adopts a total of $2,771,341 in CASF funding support for the Mother Lode Broadband project. The project is described in detail in Appendix A.

For qualification purposes under the CASF program, unserved areas are defined as areas not served by any form of facilities-based broadband or where Internet connectivity is available only through dial-up service or satellite. CD reviewed this project's eligibility in the unserved review phase by analyzing required data which the applicants submitted. These data include, but are not limited to: proof of CPCN registration; descriptions of current and proposed broadband infrastructure, Geographic Information System (GIS) formatted Shapefiles ² mapping the subject areas; assertion that the area is underserved; potential subscriber size and household incomes; project construction schedule; project budget; proposed pricing and commitment period for new subscribers; and, financial qualifications of the applicant.

In addition, CD reviewed the Shapefiles submitted which mapped the broadband deployment proposed using United States 2000 Census data and the January, 2008, Broadband Task Force Report (BBTF) including its on-line maps. Comparisons of submitted maps to that of the BBTF verified the non-existence of broadband service or the existence of Broadband service with upload speeds less than 3 MBPS download and 1 MBPS upload in the identified areas.

Rapid Link, Inc., a national voice and data carrier and Mother Lode Internet (Mother Lode), a leading Internet Service Provider in the South/Central area of the region submitted its proposal for the Mother Lode Broadband project to provide wireless broadband services in portions of the Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties. Mother Lode plans to leverage local broadband provider experience, support and presence by expanding a network of fixed wireless broadband services.  The project will provide expanded backhaul to a regional network of primarily existing main towers linked via high capacity licensed spectrum which will feed a network of repeater towers focused to deliver broadband to these unserved areas. The network will have a broad coverage of 3,063 square miles and will be able to serve approximately 14,629 households at speeds of up to 11.9 Mega Bits per Second (MBPS) for both upload and download. The 40% CASF subsidy is $2,771,341 of the total project cost of $6,928,352.

Of the 126 CBGs Mother Lode has included in its proposal, existing service providers and/or other interested parties formally challenged 103 CBGs. The challenging parties asserted that parts of the CBGs in the proposed area already are served. CD requested that Mother Lode correct its application and only reflect the truly unserved CBGs in its proposed area.

On September 29, 2008, Mother Lode resubmitted its corrected application proposing to provide service to 103 CBGs in the unserved areas of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties. However, after additional analysis and review, CD established that an additional 55 CBGs are partially served, 31 CBGs are 100% served as indicated in the BBTF and 17 CBGs are 100% unserved. Mother Lode once again reviewed the 55 CBGs and made modifications to its application and resubmitted it to CD. In summary, CD determined that out of the 103 CBGs Mother Lode submitted, 72 CBGs covering the proposed areas of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties qualify as "unserved area", as defined in Resolution T-17143.

The Application Requirements and Guidelines on the awarding of CASF Funds ³ put forth the information required for each proposed broadband project filed including, but not limited to, each applicant's possession of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) or a U-Number. Further, applicants who do not have a CPCN or U-number and are not registered wireless carriers may partner with or apply through a consortium, so long as the financial agent for the consortium is an entity with a CPCN or U-number. In this case, Mother Lode partnered with Telenational Communications Inc. (TNC), a telephone corporation which holds a valid CPCN authorized to provide interLATA and intraLATA services in California. CD investigated the application further and discovered that TNC was acquired by Rapid Link on May 3, 2006. Rapid Link, however, did not seek, pursuant to PU Code § 854(a) ⁴, Commission approval for the acquisition of TNC. Accordingly, on February 25, 2009, Rapid Link filed a formal application, A.09-02-021, to acquire TNC. Since Rapid Link's Section 854 application is still to be pending before the Commission, CD recommends a conditional approval of the Mother Lode Broadband project pending final Commission approval of Rapid Link's application and Rapid Link's compliance with, if any, the decision in A.09-02-021.   Further, CD recommends that Mother Lode Internet/Rapid Link Inc., notify and provide CD with a copy of the decision that approves Rapid Link's acquisition of TNC as well as proof of Rapid Link's compliance with the decision.

The Mother Lode Broadband Project was evaluated using the scoring criteria adopted in Resolution T-17143 vis-a-vis a proposal submitted by another applicant for some of the areas proposed by Mother Lode in its application. Of the two applicants for these unserved areas, Mother Lode scored the higher.

Mother Lode proposes to provide an average speed of up to 11.9 MBPS both download and upload which will be able to serve 14,629 households covering an area of approximately 3,063 sq. miles. Mother Lode plans to complete its project within 20 months. The Mother Lode Broadband Project is, therefore, recommended for conditional approval and award of CASF funding of $2,771,341.

The Application Requirements and Guidelines on the awarding of CASF funds ⁵ provide that the execution of a Performance Bond is not required if 60% of the total project costs comes from the applicants' capital budget and is not obtained from outside financing sources. In its application, Mother Lode certified in writing that 60% of the total project costs will come from its existing capital budget. Therefore, we need not require Mother Lode to post a performance bond.

Mother Lode's application indicates that all proposed antennas will be mounted on existing facilities and no new towers will need to be constructed.  Therefore, we conclude that the project will have no physical impact on the environment, and thus, is exempt from a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.

Mother Lode is required to comply with all other guidelines, requirements and conditions associated with the granting of CASF funds as specified in Resolution T-17143 including but not limited to, the submission of Form 477.

Payments to CASF Recipients

Submission of invoices and payments to Mother Lode shall be made in accordance with Section IX of Appendix A of Resolution T-17143 and according to the guidelines and supporting documentation required in Resolution T-17143.

Since CASF funding is limited to entities with a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) that qualify as a "telephone corporation" as defined under P.U. Code

Please save the date: 4-17-09 from 10-1 at Calaveras Works and HSA Sequoia Room.

Due to the rapidly developing ARRA (stimulus) opportunities, I am arranging an urgent Advisory Council Meeting to talk about our regional status, current information on ARRA, and forming groups to complete a regional application for funding for both Infrastructure and Digital Divide/computer literacy/outreach projects. With assistance from each county and various groups and organizations, I have collected a large amount of projects that could be bundled into regional applications for NTIA and USDA RUS funds, both large and small. This could mean a large amount of money for our 5 county region of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne. By working together in collaboration, we strengthen our applications, improve our chances for receiving funding and reduce direct competition against others in our region.

As we are moving to a full meeting status, we will be canceling the phone conferences and meeting for this week.  I am working on getting a guest speaker as well, and will let you know when that gets arranged.

If you are unable to attend, please designate someone to come in your place.  If you know someone you feel should be involved, please invite them to come.