Is Your Internet Up to Speed? Inquiring Counties Want to Know - Noozhawk

Residents crossed Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties are being asked to trial their net speed. Results from a broadband needs appraisal survey and velocity trial volition assistance place opportunities to amended net speed, entree and cost. 

The Broadband Consortium of the Pacific Coast (BCPC) has launched a tri-county net needs appraisal survey and velocity trial run for the nationalist to self-report their net acquisition and velocity astatine home, work, oregon wherever they connect.

The run is an integral portion of an effort funded by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) to make a determination attack to identifying gaps successful broadband infrastructure and areas of need, accelerate broadband deployment, and catalyze a section effect to integer equity issues.

Data from the survey and velocity trial run volition beryllium mapped by GEO Partners, LLC., a geospatial engineering firm, and utilized to place areas successful the region with debased oregon nary entree to high-speed internet. Within this test, individuals tin besides place areas with debased oregon nary work oregon wherever entree to the net is unaffordable.

The needs appraisal survey for Santa Barbara County was completed successful June 2022 arsenic a constituent of the Santa Barbara County Broadband Strategic Plan. Santa Barbara County residents are asked to taxable velocity tests to proceed crowdsourcing information for determination planning.

In December 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed historical legislation, Broadband for All, to beforehand the state’s committedness to bring affordable entree to high-speed net work crossed California.

The accusation collected done the tri-county survey and velocity trial volition beryllium utilized to question backing to amended affordable entree to high-performing net crossed the portion to amended integer inclusion. The postulation of velocity trial information is captious to achieving the following:

Design of broadband infrastructure that interconnects communities and households done middle-mile networks and section last-mile priorities to summation capacity, redundancy, and resiliency for catastrophe preparedness and to promote manufacture competition.

Advance integer inclusion enactment efforts that amended entree to affordable broadband and supply the indispensable tools and grooming to link residents with social, economic, and antiauthoritarian opportunities afforded by net access.

Maintenance of a Geographic Information System (GIS) that leverages nationalist input and task information to place priorities for infrastructure projects and compiles scenarios for enactment and execution to supply enactment steps for nationalist and backstage efforts.

Data volition beryllium collected passim the tri-county portion done mid-2023, with a planned hold of information postulation passim the twelvemonth and into aboriginal 2024. The information collected implicit the adjacent 2 months volition prioritize enactment for the investments successful Last Mile infrastructure for anticipated funds to beryllium received adjacent year.

The BCPC is 1 of respective strategical initiatives conducted by the Economic Development Collaborative. Formed successful 2014, the consortium is funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, serving arsenic an advocator for broadband deployment and adoption crossed Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.