Memorandum
Date: August 18, 2026
To: The Honorable Brad Rasmussen, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Susan Parker, County Administrative Officer
Benjamin Rickleman, Deputy County Administrative Officer
Subject: Consideration of Informational Update on Broadband Infrastructure Programs
Executive Summary:
This item provides the Board with a status update on the three broadband programs now committed to Lake County. The Middle-Mile Broadband Network will provide an open access backhaul network that local internet services providers can interconnect at wholesale prices, FFA will provide the first fiber-to-the-premise service to households in select areas in Lake County, and BEAD will provide the option of internet service at least 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload for select residents.
On July 17, 2026, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved California's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Final Proposal, which had been restructured to conform to the Administration's BEAD Restructuring Policy. With that approval, all three programs that will shape broadband deployment in Lake County have cleared their federal approval milestones: BEAD, the State's Last Mile Federal Funding Account (FFA), and the State's Middle-Mile Broadband Network. The Middle-Mile Broadband Network and the FFA projects are awaiting completion of permitting and construction, and BEAD requires final approval by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), currently anticipated on September 17, 2026, before subgrantees can move into permitting and construction.
BEAD is the largest of the three programs and the one most changed by recent federal action. California's allocation was unchanged by NTIA's approval, with more than $1.5 billion directed to deployment, but the restructured program eliminated the non-statutory requirements the State had originally adopted and replaced them with a technolog...
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