News

Awardees for the fifth and sixth rounds of California’s $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program have been named.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

Throughout August, the California Public Utilities Commission has named awardees for two rounds of funding in the state’s Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program.

The program aims to expand broadband access for underserved portions of California.

Funding recommendations for the program’s fifth round, totaling $91 million, included grants to seven agencies: the City of Ukiah, the City of Fort Bragg, Round Valley Indian Tribe, Comcast, Marin County, Surfnet, and Hankins Information Technology.

Meanwhile, recommendations for the program’s sixth round of funding, announced August 23, includes grants for three Tribal entities in Del Norte and Humboldt counties: the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, the Karuk Tribe, and Yurok Telecommunications Corporation.

The grants will fund projects in Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Santa Clara, and Siskiyou counties, according to the CPUC’s recent release.

Grants recommended through the fifth round of funding, which will go to projects in Marin, Mendocino, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Sutter counties, are expected to benefit an estimated 32,000 Californians, the CPUC’s August 8 release stated.

The draft resolutions for both rounds of funding are expected to be on upcoming September agendas for the CPUC, the releases explained.

According to the CPUC, 484 grant applications, amounting to more than $4.6 billion in funding requests, have been reviewed since initial applications were closed in September 2023.

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