[RTC List] Support broadband initiatives in Covelo!

[Mike]

Requesting support for the WillitsOnline Covelo broadband project

   Covelo, California is a remote, rural community about an hour drive
from the nearest freeway along a winding 2 lane road. There are few local
businesses and services, unemployment is high, and in many physical and
temporal ways, the community is effectively cut off from the outside world.
The level and quality of telecommunications services here remain low, with
no significant development or investment in newer modern technologies, and
no clear indication that there ever will be anything more than the
government mandated minimum level of telecommunications service.

   WillitsOnline, a 6 year old provider of wireless broadband serving
Mendocino county, seized the opportunity to invest in this area and develop
a real alternative. The company plans to develop and deploy a high speed
broadband service based on ADSL2+ technology, which will provide end users
with very affordable basic service levels starting at 3m down / 1m up, and
will enable vastly superior telecommunication services for residents,
business and goverment users of all kinds.

   The company participated in a grant program called CASF - The
California Advanced Services Fund - which is administered by the California
Public Utilities Commission, and which is a $100 million dollar fund that
provides a %40 matching contribution to providers who develop broadband
access solutions reaching unserved and under-served communities within the
state. The specific proposal applied for grant funds to provide this ADSL2+
service to both the community of Covelo and the community of Laytonville,
which was to share some costs of construction and reduce duplication of
effort. This grant opportunity thru the CPUC was and is an important
component of the overall financing of the project, which the company would
otherwise have not been able to contemplate because of substantial costs
involved in building the access facilities in these rural areas.

   WillitsOnline has now received word that the CPUC has decided to
award only the Laytonville portion of the grant - and withhold the Covelo
portion, for the reason that the company started work too soon. We are
disappointed at this finding and believe that funding this project is a
proper and correct application of the CASF grant in the spirit of it's
mandate to promote broadband in unserved and under served areas, which 
Covelo
absolutely qualifies as. And to answer the question directly, the company
redirected resources and revised business plans that were already in motion
in order to more fully take advantage of the CASF grant and to maximize the
impact those grant funds could have on the area. The CPUC specifically
mentions that we _ordered_, (and not _paid for_), the first portion of the
microwave equipment required to reach the Covelo (and Laytonville) area,
thus 'jumping the gun' as it were. But, we again were redirecting resources
and the necessity of getting it installed when we did was that the winter
storms would cut off access to the required mountain locations and push the
project off another full year if we didn't act when we did. The full 
text of the CPUC's resolution can be found at:
http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/COMMENT_RESOLUTION/96218.htm

   We are seeking the support of interested parities to help raise the
awareness of this issue and to help us petition the CPUC to reconsider this
matter. As anyone who lives in a 'rural unserved / under served area' can
tell you, the importance of this project to an area like Covelo is
tremendous, and that a small company would take on the great financial 
risks
to do what the big providers won't, is certainly something that should be
encouraged and rewarded. We encourage everyone to share this message and 
help get the word out. Comments to the CPUC
must be submitted no later than Feburary 4, and of course we would 
appreciate your thoughts and input as well.

   For more information, contact:

    Mike Ireton
    WillitsOnline
    707-459-0824
    mike at WillitsOnline.Com