Costa, Cardoza Announce Federal Funding To Improve Valley Broadband Infrastructure
Fresno, CA – Congressman Jim Costa joined with Congressman Cardoza and Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today to announce $46,619,757 in federal funding to enhance broadband internet quality and access for the Valley. The funding, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was awarded to the Central Valley Independent Network (CVIN) to better connect Valley residents, businesses, schools, and other institutions to high-speed internet.
"Investing in our broadband infrastructure is an investment in the future of our region," said Costa. "Improving internet access will create new education opportunities for our students and will make Valley businesses and industries more competitive. This is good news for the 49% of Valley households without high-speed internet access, Valley jobs, and our entire economy."
According to a June 2009 report by the Public Policy Institute of California, internet and broadband use has increased in all regions of California except for the Central Valley, where 49 percent of households cannot access high-speed service. Moreover, current broadband infrastructure in the region is largely inadequate to meet the needs of local businesses and community anchor institutions.
In response to this situation, CVIN will use the funds to deploy a 1,371-mile fiber backbone network through 18 Central Valley counties. This will benefit the over 1,500,000 households and 160,000,000 businesses in the region by allowing local internet service providers to utilize the new network. Fresno, Kings, and Kern are among the counties that will benefit from the enhanced broadband infrastructure, as well as the CSU Fresno and Bakersfield campuses.