LAKE COUNTY — Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) provided conceptual approval Tuesday to enter into a lease agreement with Personal Network Computing, Inc., Valley Internet. The lease would provide access to county-owned host locations for equipment to enable high-speed broadband Internet services to reach currently unserved areas of Lake County.
Approval was provided in concept only and any future agreement will be subject to public discussion and board approval. The lease is proposed for a 10 year period.
“I”m open to this but I think there is going to be a lot of work until there is a slam dunk,” District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said, indicating that he foresees a potential public concern similar to that brought up in the recent discussion of SmartMeters, wherein citizens voiced concern for health issues associated with radio wave emissions.
Valley Internet Representative Ofer Tenebaum said that the system operates on unlicensed and semi-licensed frequencies, which means it is a low-power system. He also said it is a fixed-bandwidth system that requires a clear line of sight. He said Lake County is about the same size as Napa County and would probably require about 30 towers and some smaller relays to provide coverage for the entire county.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
