Today’s Regulatory Mix: California Governor’s Budget Plan Includes $7 Billion for Broadband, Oklahoma USF Extends Temporary Emergency Bandwidth Increases
California Governor’s Budget Plan Includes $7 Billion for Broadband
California Governor Gavin Newsom presented his plan for the state’s surplus and federal recovery funds, which includes committing $7 Billion over three years to build out broadband infrastructure. According to the budget proposal, 51.3 percent of rural households lack networks offering service at 100 Mbps, while almost half of urban areas lack access at this speed. If passed by the state’s legislature, the plan will focus on building out the state’s “middle-mile” network, lowering provider’s costs and therefore incentivizing expansion into unserved and underserved areas.
Oklahoma USF Extends Temporary Emergency Bandwidth Increases
The Oklahoma Universal Service Fund (OUSF) Administrator announced the extension of a program temporarily permitting eligible entities to upgrade bandwidth at no extra cost. Through September 30, 2021, schools, libraries, healthcare facilities (including mental healthcare facilities) participating in the OUSF may request higher bandwidth speed without charge due to ongoing challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will revert to it prior funding levels beginning on October 1, 2021.
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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.