Grants Awarded

There are several State and Federal broadband-related grant programs, some of which have funded projects in our regions.  Some of the project locations are listed below, along with links to program-specific funded project areas.

While the Federal grant program awards for projects in our region do not specifically prohibit the use of State grant program funds, the Federal awards 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 on that page indicates the project approval status by 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.

Federal Project Awards

The USDA Rural Development Broadband Technical Assistance program map is currently the most comprehensive interactive map that identifies all of the Federal enforceable commitment project areas.  This map includes grants awarded from the USAC Rural Development Opportunity Fund, the FCC Connect America Fund Phase II, the NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and others.

You may need to zoom in on the map a bit for those Federal enforceable commitment project areas to appear on the map, and you may want to toggle off the Socially Vulnerable Communities feature in the layers menu to make it easier to spot the program areas.

The CASF Broadband Infrastructure Account currently offers grants annually to companies and agencies that are authorized by law to provide broadband Internet services for the purpose of deploying last-mile infrastructure to eligible locations.