{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Broadband coming to Mendocino County","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"May 20, 2022 — Mendocino County is set to receive $57 million for last-mile broadband internet infrastructure. With the passage of Senate Bill 156 last year, which provides more than six billion dollars for broadband in the State of California, the county is considering 27 projects in unserved communities, where it must spend the money before January 1, 2027.\r\nThe plan is for the county-led last mile projects to be taking place as the State installs middle mile infrastructure along the state highways that criss-cross the county. Supervisor Ted Williams said the two sets of projects are funded slightly differently, with the county not receiving the actual money to fund its portion of the work.\r\n“That $57 million won’t come in the form of a check to the county,” he said. “The model has us steering these funds to be used in the way we think best serves our county. All five of us (county supervisors) should be thinking about how to accomplish the goal of ubiquitous broadband.” He said a previous effort to map projects to serve the unserved showed approximately $550 million worth of projects, “so on one hand, $57 million is historic…it’s also 10% of what we were originally looking at.” He hopes that, with lots of cheap fiber available, small internet service providers will step in to offer service to people in outlying areas.\r\nJeff Tyrell, the Administrator of the Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County, provided more detail, cautioning that $57 million doesn’t go as far as it used to. The cost of the 27 last-mile projects came out to $69 million. But Tyrell said that estimate did not exclude the middle mile projects, which will be paid for by the state. “So I’m confident that under those cost structures, if they're accurate, the real total of those 27 projects would come in line with the $57 million,” he said, but added that the cost of fiber has risen by 15% in the last year, and labor costs may have doubled.\r\nCarrie Shattuck, a frequent critic of the Board, ...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}