California Regulators Fund Broadband Projects at $137,000 Per Location
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) hiked the state’s Universal Service Fund tax to help fund the grants.
WASHINGTON, July 6, 2026 – The California Public Utilities Commission approved $53 million in California Advanced Services Fund grants after voting to raise the Universal Service Fund’s tax on the same day.
The regulators approved the funding to bring connection to three rural California counties and two tribal nations, despite per-location costs far exceeding cheaper satellite options like Starlink.
The CPUC hiked the Universal Service Fund by 16.6%, from $0.90 to $1.05 per access line each month, generating about $675 million annually, and 21.5 percent of the income will be allocated to the California Services Fund, the state’s main broadband deployment program that is funding the grants.
“High-speed internet is essential for everyday life,” said CPUC President John Reynolds in the release on July 2. “These projects will meet the work, education, healthcare and public safety needs of these rural and Tribal communities well into the future, bringing us closer to achieving our state’s Broadband For All objectives.”
Stimulus Technologies of California was awarded up to $706,754 from the California Advanced Services Fund to fix wireless broadband services in 46 unserved locations in the rural community of Darwin, Calif., located in Inyo county.
The Siskiyou Telephone Company was awarded up to about $2.3 million in grant money to expand fiber-optic and fixed wireless broadband service to 417 unserved locations in Humboldt and Siskiyou. Several of the projects are located in or near high fire-threat areas, strengthening communications in emergencies.
The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel will receive $24.97 million to serve 182 locations, at about $137,000 per location, and the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians will receive $24.98 million to reach 383 locations at roughly $65,000 per location. Both tribes will own and operate their broadband networks through newly created tribal internet service providers.
Houck noted that the grants will make a substantial investment in California’s partnership with the two tribal governments. She explained that “they will deploy 38 miles of open-access middle-mile fiber to interconnect with the state-owned Middle Mile Broadband Network, enabling them to provide affordable service to their members and the surrounding community.”
Through BEAD, the CPUC has awarded Starlink about $63 million to connect 46,000 locations at $1,400 per location according to New Street Research. NSR also found that Amazon Leo received $101 million to connect 92,097 at $1,096 per location.
