SUMMARY:

The Policy & Advocacy Task Force held its third meeting on Aug. 2, 2021, and included representatives from multiple sectors interested in resolving the digital divide in the Los Angeles County region. Taskforce members reviewed the common themes that emerged during the previous meeting, discussed state legislation and the key factors to include in the process for the consortium to support/oppose the legislation. Also, Ana Dahan, from Great Public Schools Now, accepted to serve as the task force co-chair.

Resources

• https://sd33.senate.ca.gov/sites/sd33.senate.ca.gov/files/sb_378_gonzalez_fact_sheet_0.pdf

• https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB378

• https://www.digitalinclusion.org/blog/2021/08/02/text-of-the-infrastructure-bill-is-finally-here-and-its-full-of-good-things-for-digital-inclusion

• https://www.benton.org/headlines/low-cost-broadband-senate-bill-sparks-alarm-rates

• https://forms.gle/naNN2qWyW9FiGih97

• https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB28

Discussion

The task force began with the announcement of the CPUC recommending the LA DEAL Consortium to be the designee for L.A. County. The commission will vote on this item on Aug. 19. The task force also received a legislative update and engaged in a discussion related to the following bills:

SB 378: Focuses on the best practices on the deployment of broadband

Crown Castle provided an overview of the micro-trenching process, which can be efficient by lessening impacts in parking and traffic. This is a new technique, and some providers have had concerns about the reinstatement material bonding with the existing road base.

• Also of interest and relevance is the following bill language: Any new broadband services funded by the infrastructure bill will require to provide 100mbps download speeds and 20mbps upload speeds, and service will be required to be reliable, requiring “network outages that do not exceed, on average, 48 hours over any 365 days.” It keeps the definition of “served” as 25/3mbps, and anything between that and 100/20mbps as “underserved.”

• LA DEAL requested that task force members share their support letters, and LA DEAL will share as well.

• Infrastructure Bill – U.S. Senate ($40 billion in grants to states for deployment and additional resources for rural) – a historic moment

• LA DEAL will continue to process ongoing state legislation and will share the information with the task force.

The Policy & Advocacy Task Force meets virtually monthly and includes education, health, nonprofit, education, business, city municipalities, and internet service providers. To learn more, visit: ladeal.org/events.

Meeting #4 is scheduled for Aug. 30, 2021.

Updated: Nov 1, 2021