California Bill Would Make New Broadband Networks More Expensive

The state of California is primed to bring 21st-century fiber access at affordable rates to every Californian. Last year’s unanimous passage of S.B. 156, a historic multi-billion investment in broadband, means every California community has the resources available to chart a long-term course toward building fiber networks. The Department of Commerce’s recent National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) proposal to allocate $48 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure bill for building broadband networks also supplements California’s efforts by centering affordability and future-proof fiber in its disbursement policy. Lastly, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) criteria to access federal funding further codifies a commitment toward affordability and fiber infrastructure for all.

All of these efforts will help bring every Californian affordable fiber internet access. But a bill in the California legislature threatens to undo all of that good work. A.B. 2749, authored by Assemblymember Quirk-Silva, would prohibit the CPUC from requiring providers to offer affordable service to all Californians, and force them to wrongly treat fixed wireless offerings as equivalent to fiber infrastructure. It would also place a completely arbitrary 180-day review shot-clock on the review of applications to federal funding, which will short-circuit public provider efforts to deliver fiber.

All these provisions run contrary to both the established goals of the Biden Administration and the Newsom administration to deliver affordable, future-proof fiber to all. A.B. 2749 has passed the Assembly and is now headed to the Senate. If this bill—which is supported by industry providers like A

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