Vacaville receives large broadband grant

Vacaville received a major boost from the California Public Utilities Commission as it prepares to move through the second phase of its Broadband Master Plan. The agency bestowed the city with a $493 million grant to further establish broadband access for unserved and underserved residents and businesses within Vacaville.

In 2022, Vacaville contracted with Denver-based Magellan Advisors to develop a broadband master plan aimed at addressing internet access for residents and businesses, something more communities have been looking to do as broadband technology has grown and replaced dial-up methods in most areas.

The grant, known as the Local Agency Technical Assistance (LATA), was approved as part of Senate Bill 156, which aims to expand broadband service and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. The program offers a $50 million budget for grants to local agencies and tribes for begin working on high-speed broadband infrastructure projects.

“The LATA grant award will fund Phase II of the City's broadband program,” Mayor John Carli said in a statement. “This necessary design-engineering work will prepare us to move forward in the infrastructure roll out planned for Phase III, moving us one step closer to paving the City's digital highway and flexibly connecting the Vacaville community with their City and the world.”

According to a news release, the city will use the grant funds for a Digital Infrastructure Design and Implementation Plan as part of the second phase of the Broadband Master Plan. The city will construct a “local, publicly owned fiber backbone” to increase broadband access and connect a minimum of two points to create system resiliency. The project is expected to take six months to complete, and work will likely commence right away.

For more information, go to CityofVacaville.gov/ Broadband.