FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2011
Contact:
Fred Pilot
PresidentCamino Fiber Network Cooperative
fpilot@caminofiber.net
The Camino Fiber Network Cooperative (CFNC), a consumer-owned telecommunications cooperative formed to construct fiber to the premises (FTTP) telecommunications infrastructure in Central El Dorado County, urged the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to prioritize funding for community-based projects in drafting rules governing the distribution of grants and loans to speed deployment of advanced telecommunications infrastructure.
Such networks use the Internet to provide voice communications, video content and videoconferencing as well as Web content and email.
They are urgently needed to fill in numerous gaps in El Dorado County’s outdated telecommunications infrastructure that leave thousands of homes and small businesses disconnected from the Internet and modern commerce, relegated to slow and obsolete dialup connections.
CFNC also urged the CPUC to require the funding be used to support open access networks that would encourage competition among Internet service providers and afford more choice for consumers.
The cooperative’s comments were presented in a filing in the CPUC’s rulemaking proceeding to implement SB 1040, a bill expanding the scope and funding of the CPUC’s California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).
Supported by CFNC, SB 1040 was signed into law as urgency legislation in September 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Funded by a surcharge on intrastate long distance calls, the CASF was created in 2007 under legislation requiring the CPUC to administer the fund to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies.
CFNC’s filing can be viewed at the CPUC website at http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/EFILE/CM/129884.PDF
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