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No matter where you live, access to reliable and affordable internet is essential to life in the 21st Century. The partnership with the Karuk Tribe and Gateway Cities Council of Governments combines grassroots planning with state resources to ensure the middle-mile broadband network enables locally planned last-mile broadband infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are entering into an era of co-management where work together with our state partners to manage these lands which requires an adaptive process,\u201d said\u00a0Karuk Tribe Chairman Russell Attebery. \u201cThe Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative is an integral part of that process. Broadband is not just public safety and education, but also a life-changing instrument and we are partnering with the state to ensure that the next generations of the Karuk people can survive and have a better quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLow-income communities are behind technologically \u2013 and business as usual has left communities in several areas of California with a digital divide,\u201d said Vilma Cuellar-Stallings, Board President Gateway Cities Council of Governments and Paramount City Councilwoman. \u201cWe are grateful that the California Department of Technology worked with the cities in Southeast Los Angeles County to narrow our digital divide and that of communities like ours, bringing high-speed fiber optic access to underserved Californians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building critical broadband infrastructure across the state to ensure a California where everyone has reliable access to the internet,\u201d said California State Chief Information Officer and CDT Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins. \u201cWe are grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and our state and local partners working with us to close the digital divide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Middle mile by the numbers<\/p>\n
2,700 miles under construction now, jumping to 3,000 in just the next three weeks
\n10 Tribal joint-build partnerships and engagements
\nAll 58 counties reached
\n7,233 miles in lease\/purchase partnership
\n4,000 miles under construction by Spring 2025\u00a0<\/p>\n
Building the backbone for broadband\u00a0<\/p>\n