LAKEPORT — More than two dozen people, including residents, business owners, Internet service providers and government officials, attended a discussion Friday about broadband access in Lake County.
The meeting at the Lake County Courthouse focused partly on current Internet coverage levels and partly on proposed infrastructure mappings for Northern California and Lake County.
The Upstate California Connect Consortium (UCCC), of which Lake County is a member, received a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) grant for area-specific broadband planning.
Lake County is now considered “underserved,” according to Cathy Emerson, of the California State University Chico Center for Economic Development.
She referenced a digital CPUC map comparing all California counties.
“I”m stunned to see all of Lake County (as underserved),” Mediacom Communications manager Shawn Swatosh said, adding that his company offers speeds to Lake County customers that are faster than the minimum threshold established by the CPUC.
“The confusion may be that the data that the CPUC publishes comes from the providers, and either they haven”t asked you for that data or you haven”t provided that data,” Tom West, manager of the UCCC, told Swatosh.
In order to help improve data accuracy about current coverage levels, county staff members are asking residents to visit www.lakecountybroadband.org and complete an online survey.
The UCCC hopes to use the survey results to draft a map that realistically depicts Lake County”s service needs, West said. Information from Internet providers such as Mediacom would also be used, he added.
Lake County could be part of a proposed broadband network to connect almost a dozen Northern California counties, West said. The effort is in its early planning stages, he added.
Emerson, who helped lead the discussion, said afterward she thought Friday”s meeting went “extremely well. Lake County is clearly committed to improving access to better broadband.”
Another public roundtable is tentatively set for the afternoon of April 4 at the courthouse.
That conversation could focus on updated Lake County planning maps, West said.
Additional information about the UCCC can be found at www.upcalbroadband.org. Updates to the website are expected soon, according to Emerson.
Initial planning maps should be available on the County of Lake website (www.co.lake.ca.us) by the end of March, according to county representative Debra Sommerfield.
