Christopher Mitchell on PK's In the Know Podcast

California community leaders, activists, and a coalition of partners gathered earlier this month to celebrate the launch of a new broadband infrastructure project at Sequoia Courts and Sequoia Courts Terrace in Fresno, bringing free high-speed Internet access to more than 350 residents. The Fresno grant was for $471,000, with $1,000 or less per unit cost to build, according to details on the project included in a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) filing, which notes that the enterprise-grade wireless mesh network used in the project was more costly, but provided “flexibility and scalability for future expansion.”

Today, the American Prospect published an analysis authored by our own Sean Gonsalves that examines how a recently filed bill in California aims to strip telecommunications oversight authority away from the California Public Utilities Commission and undermines the state's effort to make broadband more affordable.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams – a non-voting member of the New York City Council with the right to introduce and co-sponsor legislation – released a detailed “Get Connected” report calling “for the city to deliver high-speed, low-cost citywide municipal Internet service akin to a public utility.” The 53-page report lays the policy groundwork for what at least has the potential to become the Mamdani administration's signature infrastructure initiative.

Grays Harbor Public Utility District (PUD), a wholesale open access telecom utility in Washington state, will soon enter phase four of an ambitious fiber expansion project that will bring affordable next-gen broadband access to rural residents written off by the monopolies that were supposed to serve them. The PUD also says that Phase 4 of the PUD’s fiber internet expansion in south Elma, Porter and Cedarville will be reached later this Spring, bringing access to locals who have been waiting for years for faster, more reliable, and more affordable service.

The California State Assembly recently voted 67-1 to strip telecom oversight authority away from the CPUC and shift it to a more easily lobbied state legislature – and an as-yet-undefined state broadband office. The effort still has a long road before it’s formalized. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9, authored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, now moves on to the California Senate, where it needs to secure a two-thirds vote before appearing on a statewide ballot before California voters.

UTOPIA Fiber says it deployed more than a million feet of fiber and conduit across Utah last year accumulating 67,000 total subscribers, as the collaborative open access fiber provider continues to make steady inroads in transforming the state’s broadband competition landscape. According to a new update by the organization, UTOPIA not only laid a million feet of fiber across Utah last year, the network continues to see steady subscriber growth and profitability.