News

The winners for the fifth and sixth rounds of the $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program in California have been announced.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

In August, the California Public Utilities Commission announced award winners for two rounds of funding in the state’s Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program.

The program aims to expand broadband access in underserved parts 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, the Round Valley Indian Tribe, Comcast, Marin County, Surfnet and Hankins Information Technology.

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

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

The grants recommended in the fifth round of funding, which will benefit projects in Marin, Mendocino, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Sutter counties, are expected to benefit 32,000 Californians, according to the CPUC’s Aug. 8 press release.

The draft resolutions for both funding rounds are expected to be on the CPUC agenda next September, the press releases say.

According to the CPUC, 484 grant applications totaling over $4.6 billion have been reviewed since the first application deadline in September 2023.

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