CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
April 17, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Sam Wong, Innovation and Technology Director SUBJECT: AcceptANCE OF the california public utilities commission local agency technical assistance grant Award in the amount of $315,000 RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the following resolution (Attachment No.1):
RESOLUTION NO. 2023-59 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA, ACCEPTING THE california public utilities commission local agency technical assistance grant Award in the amount of $315,000 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Action on this item will accept the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Local Agency Technicial Assistance (LATA) Grant Award in the amount of $315,000. The grant has been awarded to provide technical assistance in relation to the development planning of broadband network deployment projects to benefit unserved and underserved community members of the City of Pomona. Grant reimbursable work product must be completed within 24 months.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact is neutral due to an increase in the Local Agency Technical Assistance Grant revenues (215-1410-40873-58779) and corresponding appropriations (215-1410-5XXXX-58779) in the amount of $315,000 which will be included in the FY 2023-24 Proposed Operating Budget.
DISCUSSION:
The focus of the CPUC LATA grant is to address the digital divide namely by funding pre-construction work that includes needs assessments, environmental and engineering studies, network design, and broadband strategic plans. The Information Technology Department (ITD) will approach the digital divide in threefolds: (1) Identify unserved and underserved areas in the City of Pomona pertaining to high-speed broadband internet, (2) Identify specific challenges of these unserved and underserved areas, (3) Develop a strategic plan to address those challenges.
Identify Unserved and Underserved Areas
To address the digital divide, the City must engage the community to identify unserved and underserved areas of the City of Pomona with inadequate access to high-speed broadband internet. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently identifies broadband as 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload, typically presented as 25/3Mbps. This metric was adopted back in January of 2015 by the FCC who now is proposing to redefine broadband as 100/25Mbps; a metric that ITD will use to define broadband when performing the assessment.
ITD will initiate Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit telecommunication consulting firms specializing in the digital divide to identify unserved and underserved areas using a variety of tools including, but not limited to, broadband provider service maps, crowdsourced data, and boots-on-the-ground assessment.
ITD will also collaborate with Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) and Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) to strategize community outreach and collect information about the City of Pomona’s broadband access.
Identify Challenges of Unserved and Underserved Areas
As the City of Pomona engages the community to survey broadband connectivity information, the efforts will also identify what specific challenges are preventing access to broadband internet. Reasons may include affordability, accessibility, and/or availability. In collaboration with the awarded telecommunication consulting firm, NSD, and PUSD, each of those challenges will be captured and assessed to identify potential solutions.
Develop Strategic Plan
Once the community’s input is collected and analyzed, the telecommunication consulting firm will compile a strategic plan to address the unserved and underserved areas. The plan will include varying solution proposals that can include cooperative models to ensure affordable and reliable broadband internet is accessible to the community. For potential cooperatives, the strategic plan will include analysis on different operating models and financial feasibility models for the City of Pomona to consider.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES & GOALS:
This item supports the 2021-22 City Council Priority 1: Fiscal and Operational Responsibility - Goal B: Improve efficiency and effectiveness of City services to businesses and residents. _____________________________
Sam Wong
Innovation and Techonology Director
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment No. 1 – Resolution No. 2023-59
Attachment No. 2 – California Public Utilities Commission Grant Award Letter Acceptance of CPUC Grant Award