LAKEPORT — A discussion on establishing a broadband Internet network for Lake County and all of upstate California took place Wednesday afternoon in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at the Lake County Courthouse.
Approximately 20 people were present for the discussion, organized by the Upstate California Connect Consortium (UCCC).
The discussion initially focused on utilizing fiber optic networks to create a unified broadband network to connect upstate California residents to high-speed Internet access. There are approximately one and a half million residents in the 16 upstate California counties that comprise the UCCC.
Cathy Emerson, with the Center for Economic Development (CED) at California State University Chico, and Tom West, with the Corporation for Education Network Initiative in California (CENIC), led the discussion. West is the UCCC manager and Emerson is the associate manager.
West began the discussion by bringing up a plan to utilize the main seven Internet service providers” (ISP) existing fiber optic networks into a united network to serve the entirety of upstate California. The project is known as the Regional Middle Mile infrastructure project.
Ray Anderson, a network engineer with Sebastian Corporation, a communication company that is part of the UCCC, assisted West with presenting the plan. Anderson said the plan would rely on bringing the seven ISPs on board.
“We”ve been engaged initially in trying to sort out how they might be put to use in terms of an architecture to do that,” Anderson said, adding the existing fiber optic networks would form a road-like network to provide broadband for upstate residents. Anderson said some areas would need additional fiber optic cables put in place, but those areas are in remote areas far from Lake County.
The discussion later turned to connecting Lake County. West passed out a map that showed existing fiber optics and the planned route to connect the communities, known as the “Lake County backbone.”
During this discussion, Shawn Swatosh, a senior management of operations at Mediacom, informed the group that Mediacom already has fiber optic cables in the ground, nearly mirroring the map”s backbone route.
West said the UCCC plans to work with Mediacom representatives in order to utilize their fiber optic network in Lake County. He said the group will also contact other ISPs in the county to possibly contribute to the planned county broadband network. The county map will be updated before the next meeting.
The next planned UCCC meeting is for May 4 at 1:30 p.m. A location has not yet been determined. For more information on the UCCC and its plans, visit www.upcalbroadband.org.
