Dramatically faster internet speeds will start becoming a reality in parts of Lassen and Plumas County as state regulators fund a major infrastructure upgrade.
Nearly ten million dollars was awarded to the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Co-Op last week to whittle away at the digital divide in several Northern Sierra mountain communities.
The money will help bring fiber-optic cable into four areas: Elysian Valley-Johnstonville, Keddie, Lake Davis and Johnsville-Graeagle. The service will only be available to the 358 households that no other provider will serve.
Corby Erwin, Member Services Manager for Plumas-Sierra is among them. She uses a sometimes unreliable mobile hot spot at home and says not having broadband has hindered the region.
“It definitely has limited the economic development and the ability for new businesses or even people moving to the area residentially, to be able to get internet services.” Erwin said.
Construction could start as soon as next month, with service possibly becoming available in some areas by the middle of next year.
Erwin said without broadband, tasks like on-line banking and accessing the department of motor vehicles can be impossible.
“Day to day things that a lot of people in urban areas take for granted that up here in the rural areas we don’t have that access, we just can’t do it.” Erwin said.
The money originates from the state Public Utilities Commission, which has been tasked with assuring 98 percent of state residents have access to broadband. With few potential customers to recoup costs from, broadband providers have shied away from rural areas.
The PUC has set rates ranging from $55 to $109 a month depending on speed, with discounted low income monthly service ranging from $15 to $35.