Grants Awarded

State and Federal broadband-related grant awards and project timelines are all distinct from each other in terms of timelines, project requirements, eligible entities and other factors.  While the common goal of these programs is to provide reliable broadband Internet service to all homes and businesses, each program has its own focus, typically aligned with the granting agency’s mission.

The following is an overview of the grant awards for broadband-related projects in Inyo and Mono counties, along with links to additional program or project information.

While the Federal grant program awards for projects in our region do not make those project areas ineligible for State grant programs, Federal awards for project areas can help us prioritize the use of the various grant programs to focus our efforts to get everyone in the region connected to the Internet.

CPUC Last-Mile Federal Funding Account (FFA) Awards

The CPUC Last-Mile Federal Funding Account (FFA) provides funding to Internet Service Providers to fund construction of last-mile infrastructure to deliver synchronous 100Mbps Internet service.  The Federal Funding Account Recommendations and Awards page lists the project awards as well as the projects recommended for approval.  The map image on that page indicates the project approval status by County.  The page also includes an ArcGIS map that shows the specific project locations for approved and recommended grant application awards.

The CPUC approved the Golden State Connect Authority (GSCA) applications for project areas in Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes (Convict Lake to McGee Creek, June Lake, Coleville, and Mammoth Lakes and the Lakes Basin), as well as the GSCA Loan-Loss Reserve application.

The FFA project applications in Inyo County (Aspendell, Starlite, South Lake, Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, and Pearsonville) submitted by Frontier do not connect to the MMBN and will be reviewed after those applications that do connect to the MMBN.  The likelihood that they will be approved is very good, since there were no competing applications and since the total amount of the projects in Inyo County was well within the amount of FFA funding allocated for the County.

The State has allocated $13,221,784.32 to fund FFA projects in Inyo County and $10,598,617.80 to fund FFA projects in Mono County.  The CPUC awarded grant funding for the projects in Mono County on August 22, 2024.  The grant applications for projects in Inyo County are still pending CPUC review.

CPUC Local Agency Technical Assistance Grant (LATA) Awards

The CPUC Local Agency Technical Assistance (LATA) grants provide reimbursement for Tribes and local agencies for pre-construction expenses that facilitate development of broadband network deployment projects to areas in need. Grants may be used to reimburse eligible costs such as environmental, feasibility, and engineering design studies or reports; needs assessments, market studies, broadband strategic plans, and business plans; forming a joint powers authority; and consultant and community-based organization services.  The resulting broadband infrastructure projects must be designed to reliably meet or exceed synchronous 100Mbps Internet service speeds.

Inyo County, Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes were awarded LATA grants in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.  LATA design work must be completed by January 2025.

Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes contracted with the Golden State Connect Authority to design last-mile broadband infrastructure for the Town of Mammoth Lakes, the Mammoth Lakes Basin, the area between Convict lake and Hilton Creek, the western portion of June Lake, and part of Coleville.

Inyo County contracted with Onward to design last-mile broadband infrastructure in 4 phases for approximately 50 different locations in in the County.

CASF Rural and Urban Broadband Consortia Grant Award

The CASF Broadband Consortia Account funding grants are available to facilitate the deployment of broadband services by assisting CASF infrastructure grant applicants in the project development or grant application process or assisting broadband deployment projects related to programs created under SB 156 and Assembly Bill (AB) 164.

The Eastern Sierra Council of Governments received a 3-year CASF Broadband Consortia Grant, which funds the activities listed in the Work Plan page of this website. 

Funding for this project (and website) has been provided in full or in part through a grant by the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account of the California Advanced Services Fund, a program administered by the California Public Utilities Commission.

USDA Rural Development Broadband Technical Assistance Program (BTA) Awards

On February 21, 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the award of USDA Rural Development Broadband Technical Assistance (BTA) grants for Mono and Inyo Counties.  These grants are intended to result in shovel-ready, last-mile, detailed network engineering designs for Hammil in Mono County and for the Furnace Creek area in Inyo County.  The awards were announced as part of an investment of more than $770 million for rural infrastructure projects during USDA’s “Investing in America Tour.” The broad goal of the USDA funding is to bring high-speed internet, clean drinking water, and modern infrastructure to more than one million people in rural communities.

Mono County was awarded $83,000 to hire a contractor for design work for the Hammil area.

Inyo County was awarded $110,500 to hire a contractor for design work for Furnace Creek and Park Village.

Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) Awards

The FCC CAF II Auction provides support to carriers to deliver service in areas where competition is needed and in extremely high-cost broadband construction areas.  After the reverse auction bidding process ended in 2018, the FCC awarded a total of $1.49 billion over 10 years to more than 100 winning bidders to provide fixed broadband and voice services to over 700,000 locations in 45 states.

CAF II Auction recipients in our region include Viasat (Satellite Internet service) and Geolinks / California Internet LP (Fixed Wireless Internet service).  Viasat was awarded funds for projects in northern Mono County, and services were reported as deployed in Bridgeport, Coleville and Topaz in 2022.  Geolinks was awarded funds for projects throughout both Mono and Inyo Counties, and services were reported as deployed in Pearsonville in 2023 — all other Geolinks projects in our region are still awaiting completion.

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Awards

The FCC RDOF program is designed to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack it.  Projects funded by the 10-year RDOF program are intended to result in reliable, future-proof networks by prioritizing higher network speeds and lower latency.

The only RDOF awards in our region were for Frontier projects in Topaz and Coleville.