The State of California is embarking on a fiber project to provide open access mid-mile connectivity statewide by the end of 2026. The project was announced in 2021 with $3.8 billion in federal and state funding.
The state's network is designed to require a total of 10,000 miles of fiber. The largest portion will run through San Bernardino County, which will have 850 miles of fiber. Kern County (544 miles), Riverside County (535 miles) and Los Angeles County (525 miles) will also account for the majority of the system.
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is working with the state Department of Technology to complete the project.
At a project meeting in September, Janice Benton, Caltrans' acting assistant deputy director for the Middle Mile Broadband Program, said preconstruction work - including environmental, permitting and design tasks - for 93 percent of the fiber miles is already underway. Construction on 114 miles of the project is expected to begin in 2022, with another 300 miles to follow in 2023.
The project will require the construction of at least 6,000 miles of new fiber, the technical department said. Depending on the cost of building those miles, the state may need to lease a portion of the remaining 4,000 miles available from existing infrastructure.
The state has already announced a contract covering 900 miles of the project. By Oct. 14, it plans to use 60 percent of the middle mile network for construction bids. Its goal is to have 100 percent of the system under contract by May 2023.
Once the network is completed, ISPs will be able to use it to provide last-mile connectivity. These efforts will also be supported by funding. The same 2021 legislation that appropriated $3.25 billion for the middle mile project (subsequently supplemented by another $550 million in the 2022 state budget) also set aside $2 billion for the rollout of last-mile connectivity.
