Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: BROADBAND UPDATE
Date: May 14, 2024
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council receive a status report on the initial research regarding broadband in Cotati and provide direction to staff as needed.
Background
During Strategic Planning for the Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget, the City Council expressed concern about the state of broadband, calling out poor cellular reception as a particularly acute issue in Cotati. As part of the final project list, the City Council directed staff to look into "Countywide Broadband Improvements” and come back to City Council with background on the issue and potentially some recommendations.
Broadband is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as internet access with minimum download speeds of 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) and minimum upload speeds of 3 Mbps. This can be provided through any number of technologies, including cable, DSL, satellite, cellular wireless, and fiber optics. For Cotati in particular, the most common complaint is cellular reception, which can result in poor voice and data coverage. This is due to an inadequate number of cellular facilities in and around the City, as this technology is radio based and therefore relies on proximity for coverage. For broadband utilizing other technologies, staff is not aware of any significant coverage issues within the City.
The State of California (State) is also working on what it is calling its‘”middle mile” initiative.
In July 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 156 to create an open-access middle-mile network to bring high-speed broadband service to all Californians. SB 156 budgeted $3.25 billion (managed by the Middle Mile Advisory Committee) to build infrastructure to bridge the ”first” and ”last” miles and bring improved internet connectivity to homes, businesses and community institutions (see diagram below). Built as an open-access network, it’s intended to give any provider or entity access to broadband infrastructure and the ability to connect on equal economic and service terms.
For reference, a map of the planned middle-mile infrastructure in Sonoma County is attached, as well as broadband and cellular coverage maps for Cotati. The broadband and cellular coverage maps can be found here: https://www.broadbandmap.ca.gov/. Additional maps published by the FCC can be found here: https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home. For wireless specifically, each cellular company maintains detailed coverage maps of it’s own infrastructure, which is not public access.
In Cotati, the in-ground infrastructure is primarily owned and operated by Comcast/Xfinity as well as AT&T.
Analysis/Discussion
Following the direction from strategic planning, staff have been meeting regularly with the County of Sonoma Economic Development Board (EDB) staff to discuss the state of available information on broadband speeds in Cotati and options to improve connectivity in Cotati.
The EDB has been focused on expansion of "in-ground“ infrastructure in parts of the County that are underserved. To do this, the EDB has been working with the Golden State Connect Authority (GSCA) to expand infrastructure in ”unserved and underserved” areas of unincorporated Sonoma County, which to date has been northern and northwestern Sonoma County, based on median household income, population density, construction feasibility and other factors.
The GSCA is a joint powers authority comprised of 40 rural counties in California designed to increase access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet in those counties. SB 156 (aka the “middle mile“ initiative) included explicit authority for county entities to operate internet systems, the creation of a state-owned, open-access middle mile network and establishment of programs to fund internet deployment in unserved and underserved areas of the state.
During the fiscal year, the City was also approached by T-Mobile to expand cellular service in Cotati. Specifically, in the City’s zoning code, cellular facilities on private property were only allowed in the industrial section of Cotati. The application by T-Mobile was leveraged to add cellular facilities as an allowable use in portions of the Downtown Specific Plan area, the East Cotati Avenue corridor and city properties. This was also an opportunity to modernize our municipal code to reflect current State and Federal changes in law. These changes will significantly broaden the potential locations for future cellular facilities and should generally improve cellular broadband performance.
Additionally, direct cellular to satellite, generally using existing cellular phones, continues to move forward. The first satellites were launched in January 2024 to test this technology, with rapid scaling expected soon. Initially, the service will begin with text messaging, with voice and data coverage to follow in the coming years. In the North American market, T-Moble has partnered with Starlink for this initial demonstration and service deployment. Presumably, other wireless carriers will join in the future, but plan details/costs to access satellites for coverage are unknown.
While cell phones are ubiquitous in our society, it’s possible that some residents don’t own a cell phone but have in-ground broadband available and are unable to afford it. For these residents, there are discounted options available for broadband and computers at:
https://broadbandforall.cdt.ca.gov/affordable-connectivity-program/.
Additionally, the Sonoma County Library also checks out free Wi-Fi hot spots (https://sonomalibrary.org/browse/libraryofthings/sonomafi ) as well as computers (https://sonomalibrary.org/browse/libraryofthings/chromekits ), both at no cost for up to 21 days at a time.
Summary
Given the rapidly evolving communications landscape, including the recent ordinance changes to allow cellular facilities in many more areas of Cotati, as well as projects that are currently moving forward in and around Cotati to expand wireless facilities, it is expected that wireless coverage will improve over the next several years as these facilities come on-line. Additionally, in the next couple of years, we should also start to see the public roll out of direct access to satellite services.
While cellular coverage is currently poor in parts of Cotati, the ”in-ground” broadband infrastructure appears to generally be good based on the available mapping as well as anecdotal community feedback.
If the City Council wishes to explore broadband further, it would require adding that to the work plan and budget for FY 24-25. As an initial step, it would require contracting with a company that specializes in broadband infrastructure to identify areas of broadband service gaps. With that, the available options are to push private companies to expand wireless services, but it’s not clear that the mapping would improve the City’s ability advocate for new facilities as the companies have proprietary maps that already inform their expansion plans.
Alternatively, staff believes there could be value in pursing two avenues:
1. Elevating public knowledge about discounted and free options for broadband and computer access through the city website and social media.
2. Reach out to all of the wireless carriers that operate in this area and make them aware of the recent ordinance changes expanding potential locations for facilities as well as indicating our desire to work with them to facilitate better coverage for our residents and businesses.
Financial Considerations
Unless retaining contractors for the work is directed by the City Council, there are no financial considerations aside from the staff time to implement the recommendations above.
Environmental Issues
Not applicable