CPUC Workshop - 2021-02-03
No chapters available yet
Legend
Transcript markers
- text Sentence being played
- text Search result
- text Intervention cited by the link you opened
Click a sentence to play the video from that moment. Select text to quote it with the speaker, timestamp and link.
More options
California Public Utilities Commission
Follow its sittingsSpeaker 1
Okay. I'm sorry. Let me just, exit out real quick, and then I'll I'll open it back up again. Sorry about that.
Speaker 1
Yeah. Let me reopen it up. It's it's open as PDF, but I think I need to open it up in a different
Speaker 5
I'll be monitoring the chat. Is that correct? And then summarizing at the end.
Speaker 5
I know. I I saw when Neil did, I was like, oh, man. This is gonna be hard. I'll do my best, but feel free to help me.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I think I think it's mainly if you see anything that you need to stop us and just interrupt us, I think that's what we'll probably rely on you for the most.
Speaker 4
We are live and being recorded. Oh, and do we wanna start at one sharp or give people a minute together? They would just ramp up slowly.
Speaker 5
I think we should start on time just because it's a short session, but I'm sure people will be joining us late. You know, people will be trickling in, but they won't probably miss too much in the beginning. I don't know, actually.
Speaker 3
Okay. We'll start at one. Okay. Hi. Good afternoon.
So we're coming at 1PM right now. I'm gonna give maybe about thirty seconds or so so more more of the participants and stakeholders can trickle in. So we're starting in about thirty seconds. Thank you. Alright.
Can can anyone hear me? If you guys can hear me. Okay. Great. Yes.
So welcome to the communications breakout session. My name is Wylan. Michael and I will be your facilitators for this session. Just a brief intro about ourselves. Michael is the policy adviser to the director of the communications division, and I'm a regulatory analyst in the California TeleConference Program.
So we are thrilled to be here with all of you. Michael and I will be doing a little bit of talking during this session, but I think more importantly, as as it's been kind of talked about this morning, we want to hear from you, and we want to brainstorm with you on, telecommunications topics. So, just a couple of quick public service announcements. This session is not on the record, but it is it is being recorded as we speak for for follow-up purposes, and we are gonna be taking notes. Also, unlike this morning, Spanish interpretation is not available for this particular breakout session, so we apologize in advance for that.
And, just couple other topics. Wanna thank those who are behind the scenes who are making everything work for us. We're happy to have support from Sean of IT in this session. So I wanna acknowledge Sean here. He will be our host today.
And I also wanna take a moment to acknowledge the support from commission commissioner Guzman and Services Office, in particular, Sarah, who will be help monitoring our chat room activities and will summarize this session, to provide recap at the end, And Pilar, who will be capturing notes for us as well. So without further ado, Sean, could you move to the next slide, please?
Speaker 4
So I'll jump in here. So Michael may get I'll briefly go over the agenda. And just before I do, we were able to, figure out a poll for Webex so we can get a sense of the participants. So, Sean, if you could load that up that now, that would be great. I'm going to talk over it about the agenda, but I will pause once it's all set and give folks a moment to respond.
So we will provide an update on some of the telecommunications items from the ESJ action plan in the past year, talk about a few items to consider. Looks like the poll was loaded too. So let me, just talk more slowly, and hopefully, you all can, respond while while I'm going over the agenda. So cover some of the telecommunications items from the last year, look forward at some possible additional topics to include, and then have a facilitated discussion on the action plan with a focus on telecommunications. And then at the end, Sarah will summarize and identify potential actions and next steps.
And so some guidance about the participation. So there's a few ways to, interject or to ask a question, and I'll go try and go over those quickly now. So to ask a verbal comment or a question, you can raise your hand. That's the little, person in the bottom right. Click on that.
It will bring up the list. And next to your name, there's a small icon for hand raised to raise a hand. You can also, submit a written comment or question and and type that into the chat box also in the bottom right. There, we'll be monitoring that, and we'll try to keep an eye on it so that we can make sure there's a response. And note there, when you select the chat option, you have options for who it to send it to, and sending it to everyone is best so we can make sure that everyone who needs to see it gets it.
Finally, you can submit a written comment or follow-up material via email, and that will be to esjactionplan@cpuc.ca.gov. And that's the same address that's on the first and last slides. So before we start, a reminder that the session's being recorded so that we can save all the feedback and comments. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Wylan.
Speaker 3
Awesome. Thank you, Michael. Really appreciate it. So, Sean, if you can move to the next slide, please. Alright.
I'll be talking about some of the ongoing ESG action items that are pertaining to telecommunications. And these items are actually already on the ESHA action plan, so I just wanna provide a little bit update to some of them. Some of the items on the action plan intend to strive to provide access to communication services for the ESHA community, and these efforts are being facilitated some of these efforts are being facilitated by the California Lifeline program. In particular, in April in April 2019, in decision 19 o four zero two one, the commission has approved two pilots. They are the CARE pilot and iFoster pilot.
Both pilots partner with Boost Mobile for phone service. The CARE pilot allows all households enrolled in the California Alternative Rates for Energy program, also known as the CARE program, which is an energy division program for low income Californian households to receive a $15 per month off wireless phone service from Boost Mobile. The iFoster pilot is the partnership with iFoster, which is a trucking based nonprofit that helps foster youth across the state to navigate the public assistance programs available to them. Through this pilot, iFoster aims to distribute free smartphones for at least two years of free calling, testing, and data services to up to 33,000 foster youths across the state. In addition to these programs, there are also other efforts on the ESJ action plan, that are aimed to implement programs for strategies for broadband adoption, public housing, and loan accounts.
These efforts are being facilitated in the California Advanced Service Fund program, CSF program. In 2018, the commission adopted several decisions towards this effort. There is the broadband adoption program where $20,000,000 are awarded in biannual application cycles. Communities with low broadband assets and or low broadband subscription rates will be given preference as well as low income communities, senior communities, and communities that are facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. Then there's also the CASF rural and urban regional broadband consortia grant account, which provides grants to eligible consortia to facilitate deployment of broadband services.
In 2,018, the consortia account reimbursed over 1,300,000.0 for 17 consortia groups representing about 54 out of fifty four fifty four out of the 58 California counties. So these are just a couple of the programs that we want to highlight. There are also other items on the ESG action plan that I didn't I didn't necessarily highlight here, but we are definitely free to discuss those later on in this session. With that, I also want to talk about a broader item on the ESG action plan. Sean, can you move to the next slide, please?
So great. Thank you, Sean. So in this slide, I wanna talk about the affordability proceedings. So one of the key objectives of the ESG action plan is to develop methods and processes to assess affordability across commission proceedings and services. For that, wanted to, talk about affordable affordability proceeding r eighteen o seven zero zero six.
And just a little bit of background on this proceeding, this is a quasi legislative proceeding that aims to develop a framework to assess the affordability of essential electric, gas, water, and communications services for residential households in California. So this proceeding does not pertain just to telecommunications, but also all the other essential industries. While this proceeding in and of itself cannot determine rates, we anticipate the commission will utilize the results and ongoing efforts from this proceeding to influence its decisions on anything related to residential utility rates, including but not limited to grant proposals and rate cases. A bit of status update on this proceeding. In the past year, 2020, we've, paid a few milestones.
On 01/27/2020, the commission staff issued a revised staff proposal, which establishes the essential service level for electric, gas, water, and communications services and introduces three metrics to of measurement to determine affordability. On January, on 07/22/2020, the commission issued decision two zero zero seven zero three two, which adopts metrics and methodologies as well as essential utility service level for a residential household. As mentioned in the morning session, commission staff is poised to issue the first annual affordability report later this quarter. The report will discuss key findings around affordability of essential services across the across specific geographies in California. More importantly, it demonstrates that we now have a way, a method using the metrics adopted in the affordability proceeding to quantify and measure affordability at an ongoing basis with a geographic focus.
Further, as it pertains to ESG priorities, it provides avenues and measurable metrics to assess impact of our GSJ efforts and, in particular, some of the action items there on our action plan right now. At a very minimum, these metrics should at least be able to address the so the social justice part of ESJ. I think earlier this morning, I think Kathleen mentioned something about, cow and viral screen being a metric that can be used to determine some of the environmental aspect of, some of the action items. I think on that note, we believe the, affordability metrics, can actually be very applicable to some of the socioeconomic component of ESHA. Oh, and and by the way, I added some little graphics on on the slideshow here.
This is one of the some of the graphics that we use for one of our metrics, the affordability ratio, AR. I just thought it was cute. I just wanna put it in there. It's a shameless plug on my part. But on a on a more serious note, one last one before we move to the next topic is that I wanna share the main takeaway from one of our from our upcoming first annual report, which is consistent, and this takeaway is pretty consistent across all industries.
Affordability challenges are widespread across the state of California. It is not an urban versus rural issue. It is also not a coastal versus inland issue. In any given geography, if combination of low income and high cost of service exists so, again, if any any combination in any given geography, if there's a combination of low income and high cost, then there will be affordability challenges. For communications in particular, until we adjust these those very communities with affordable challenges, the digital divide will only continue to widen.
So I think that's enough on this proceeding for now. I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Michael for other items that we wanna discuss.
Speaker 4
Harlan and Sean, can we get the next slide? So I this slide lists a few high level items that would be topics that are more recent actions as the commission has taken or in the state and might we might wanna consider in the action plan going forward. I have a little more detail on them, but I will cover them in a hot at a very high level so that we don't take away time from discussion. So just follow-up if you would like more detail or discussion on these items. So the first one, next slide, please, is the broadband for all proceeding.
It's this 20O9001, has multiple phases, currently is looking at a very specific topic of staff proposal about when, utilities restore service after, fire, how access to high quality infrastructure is maintained. Phase two will look more broadly at ways energy investor owned utilities can deploy broadband infrastructure and, provide infrastructure sharing. So that's between both communications providers and between or among communications providers and energy utilities. And then phase three is currently scopes to investigate whether Internet service providers are not serving certain communities or neighborhoods. Thus, practice, we generally refer to as redlining.
And if there is redlining measures to mitigate or eliminate the practice. So that's on the broadband for all or broadband infrastructure proceeding. Next was in the governor's budget announcement, which is the slide that's been on the screen. And the governor covered two particular topics of interest, so related to access or whether or not communities or individuals can access high quality infrastructure and have some facts about certain, communities. So number of households that don't have at baseline benchmark speeds, number of rural households that don't, and tribal lands or tribal households that are disproportionately affected.
But then also the related topic of affordability or adoption. So whether or not if a community has some service, whether or not they're able to afford or use the service. And that certainly relates back to what Wildland covered and the interest in the affordability proceeding. So next slide, please. Finally, the commission took a number of actions to respond to the pandemic.
So this is a screenshot of the database and lookup tool by ZIP code for low cost Internet plans. So these are the income qualified plan that Internet service providers make available. But the commission also took action to limit disconnections, to support distance learning with grant funds, and expanded lifeline to include bundled voice and broadband service. So these are all things that we could talk about in more detail if warranted. So with that, next slide, please.
So now we get to the discussion part. We'll take the approach of trying to hear from everyone before someone speaks multiple times. But with that, don't want that you know, wanna really encourage participation. So don't hesitate to speak up. We'll try and go one question at a time, and my the ideal with this with this first question would be for us to go around and everyone who's participating, respond.
So if you would prefer not to, just say pass or or or choose not to speak up from the first place. But I will read a question and then look for responses. So the first question is what has been your experience or the experience of your community with broadband or Internet access during this pandemic?
Speaker 4
Yeah. That would be ideal. We could also potentially identify, you know, sort of identify people, but I'd prefer not to surprise anyone. So, yeah, if people could raise their hand, that would be great.
Speaker 8
Hi. This is Leslie Martinez with Leadership Council. Yeah. I think for question the first question, I automatically think of the rural communities that I work alongside who were act so much of the information that was made available by Fresno County during the pandemic was only available online. To this day, you could still can only sign up to get a vaccine online.
And I and I just watched a lot of community residents have to prioritize also having broadband in their home so that their kids could have could turn in homework assignments. When in reality, like, they were sometimes having to prioritize the cost of the broadband over food and rent. And and and the other, I you know, a lot of thinking in places that have absolutely no infrastructure for broadband and, I mean, even poor, like, phone cell service connectivity issues. So many, like, college students having to stay in the city of Fresno or wherever they were going to college and parents having to, like, figure out how to pay rent so that their kid could stay there because the Internet at home wouldn't be able to really facilitate, like, at home learning. But but I think at and I think at the big the biggest issue is for so many rural unincorporated areas is the complete lack of infrastructure.
And if there is some type of infrastructure, it's outrageously expensive. It's unreliable. And it and it really caught and and also just, like so there's not a whole lot of, like, broadband literacy, how folks can protect themselves around, like, some of these bundles that aren't always, you know, made to help residents, but rather are scam. And and I think we saw a lot of that through the community. So just a lot of, you know, being, first and foremost, definitely fee feeling cut out from everything happening, specifically when you're staying at home and no way to get information.
And, you know, just having to when folks, specifically farm working families who are living and folks who are living below the poverty line and and older folks as well who, like, can't like, they may not need it for school, but, you know, they do need it for tax as basic information. We're we're you know, they're they're also cut out a lot from these types of programs. So yeah. And thank you.
Speaker 5
Great. Michael, did you wanna call? I see, we have Martha Armaskeldi. Michael, are you there?
Speaker 4
Yeah. I am. Martha. Okay. Would are you able to unmute yourself, or should we unmute you so you can speak?
Speaker 2
Hello. Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Martha Armas Kelley. I'm with Catholic Charity Charities Environmental Justice Program in Stanislaus County.
I'm in the San Joaquin Valley. I reside in Merced, California. And my experience with broadband Internet had been one of surprise. Not so much the fact that the inclusivity wasn't something that we we weighed into, but more so the ability to be able to utilize what was available to our community residents. A lot of our community residents are monolingual and rely on their children to have access to the Internet.
They may have phones. They may have government phones, and and they are not familiar how with how to navigate through the process of getting onto the Internet or using Zoom. For those that have government phones, they were not able to use their phones to have meaningful engagement such as this, a Zoom call. No hotspots available with the phones that are given through the government. Also, the cost for those that that needed extra bandwidth to create those provisions, it was very hard for them to afford it.
I live in Merced, and I'm in a rural area. And I pay over 150 a month for Internet because I live in a rural area. I can afford this because of my my employment. But for others that are in this area, it's been quite a travesty. Not being able to have connections and those meaningful relationships with the schools, with other points of authority, information that's not afforded to them during this pandemic has been quite a a detriment to many.
As you can imagine, the information is not relayed, and then they're relying on sources such as social media, which is not being, I guess, reviewed or even followed as to the integrity of what is being put out there, the language access, and another issue that has been a a big, big factor in information getting to our families. And, again, it goes straight across the board that we're talking about seniors, not only farm workers, but just people that are that are already being marginalized are being affected even at a greater proportion. The other thing that I wanted to to express that, you know, because it there are a lot of unincorporated areas, there was a lot of, I guess, the legalities as to who was going to, give the information. And when it's a public information, contact, we should have some type of, enforcement on agencies as to the the credibility and the responsibility and accountability to the the those that are in these areas that are not getting the information. So that is what I like to share.
Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you. Great. Christine, if you looks like you have your hand raised that you could speak now. And, Martha, you're still unmuted if yeah. And then just a quick request too for everyone who's speaking, or a reminder, if you could please identify yourselves and your organization.
Speaker 9
Hi, everybody. Christine Mayu with TURN. You know, I I wanna speak both personally and as a representative of TURN. And certainly as a representative of TURN, we are getting lots of feedback working with community partners about the concerns and the issues that we just heard the prior two speakers talk about. So I I won't repeat those except to say that, yes, we we also are hearing that from many of our community partners.
And to Wayland's point, it is across the board. It is urban rural, north south, you know, and and, these problems really do persist from a systemic structural basis. I will speak personally though to demonstrate I think what what's amazing to me as somebody who is sitting in suburban San Diego, still the problems that we're encountering. And we probably have all had this challenge as we rely on this technology so much more to recognize that it's really not ready for prime almost no matter where you sit. And and it has been inhibiting in the day to day work and and and productivity of the workplace.
And so I can't imagine if, if affordability is an issue, if you are in the least bit of a rural or lack an area that lacks coverage. Because I will speak from personal experience, we're even having problems, and we shouldn't be because we've got the resources to not have those problems. I will also speak as a parent and somebody who, you know, has children in the second largest school district in California in San Diego to watch the school district struggle to try to get everybody at at least a level playing field, and the teachers at a level playing field. And it is also there across the board. It's not just the technology.
You can hand out as many Chromebooks as you can. It is about the comfort level of those who are creating the curriculum and working with the students, the parents, the time. And and so, you know, this is a structural issue that I think we can all relate to almost no matter where you sit, but it is so helpful to hear, stories from folks, that really cover the gamut. So thought I would just add that on on both on both levels.
Speaker 4
And then, Stan Santos, if you could speak now and just we will try and wrap up this question after one or two more if others would like to speak. So keep that in mind so that we have a chance to talk about some of these other questions.
Speaker 6
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. This could go along. I guess speaking because I could speak as a parent as well as a community volunteer.
And I've been out to the Mendota's. I I just spoke to somebody yesterday on the Tule Reservation, huge reservation. And the problems are the same as everybody has mentioned, so I won't repeat the same issue except that I'm just amazed that there are still some communities where the Wi Fi hotspots did not work and communities that got them all the way into October, November. And it seems like it was always a patchwork, like, as if it had to come from each school district to make the request and go through some type of procedure or paperwork, and that was very disconcerting that it was the rollout was so uneven. But I'll finish with this because this is unique.
I'm an employee of AT and T, and I've been on these Zoom calls now for several months and all kinds of meetings with community groups, with agencies. And I don't see the ILECs here. I don't see the representatives of AT and T and Verizon and and T Mobile and Frontier. Where are they? Where are their external affairs and legislative directors?
And how come they're not also participating in the public view? And, you know, they're having backroom meetings, and they're doing things, but it's you know, everything that they do, it seems like it's under the guise of proprietary. That has the hand. This should not be proprietary. This whole dilemma is not a proprietary dilemma.
It's, you know, it's the community's dilemma. I wish they would address it more openly, but I'll leave it at that. Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you. And I'm not seeing any other responses to this question. So I would propose that we take two and three together to make sure that we can also we he had a chance to talk about sort of the policy level aspects, which is both in the, action plan items from last year on telecommunications. And going forward, do we need to look at ways the that the programs or impact can be analyzed on a more specific geographic or neighborhood level? And then what, if any, are some of these key ESJ issues that we want to consider highlighting or incorporating in the action plan going forward?
So let me read the questions, and then we'll open it up for comments. So how can we better understand the impact of our programs from a geographic angle? And what are some other key ESJ issues in telecommunications that we have not highlighted? I see that Leslie Martinez has a hand raised.
Speaker 8
Hi. Yeah. Leslie Martinez, leadership council. You know, there's a few things to this, to these questions. The first one is, you know, in the beginning of we've always known that this digital divide has been present.
I don't think it's a new thing. I think it definitely was elevated through the times of COVID. But one thing that was really interesting is while trying to figure out solutions, I know that the broadband for all programs, specifically for rural communities, getting there needs to be some sort of, like, technical assistance for jurisdictions or an incentive to them to apply for these programs because the it was it was nearly impossible to get any of the jurisdictions in the San Joaquin Valley and in the East Coachella Valleys to to apply for these programs to get access so that folks could get access to them. And it it just, like, prolongs the issue, and often, it's the whenever there's programs like this, specifically in the East Coachella Valley and San Joaquin Valley, it is often put on CBOs to do the heavy lifting who are not experts at, you know, create like, addressing these type of issues. They just know it's an issue and that that we you know, we're more policy based, but there needs to be some sense of responsibility also for on jurisdictions and, I think, the, you know, providers to for them to come up with an action plan to address the needs of communities.
And then the other thing that I think is really important to address is just the the the how these programs really cut mobile home, parks, specifically thinking in the East Coachella Valley, where there where the infrastructure you know, and and it goes back to energy, but how the energy is not reliable, and so therefore, the Internet is not reliable for a lot of folks. And and, again, just, like, really trying to have access where there there is no access for folks with mobile homes to, you know, also have access to the broadband. Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you. And wanna acknowledge the, comment in the chat about the need or interest in incorporating incarcerated people communication services and a rulemaking opened at the commission this year to look at that topic. So, Leslie, I see your hand is still raised if you would like to unraise it. And Christine.
Speaker 9
Yeah. I'm I'm happy to have others weigh in. I I don't mean to, dominate at all. So, hopefully, I I but I did I had a thought as Waylon was talking that kind of relates to number three. And, you know, he highlighted, rightfully so, some of the good public purpose programs that are are being worked on by the commission.
But I I wanna highlight that I think all of the public purpose programs that the commission works on really do relate to this ESJ, and social justice approach to, access and telecommunications issues. And sometimes I feel like that gets lost. And so I'm hoping particularly something like the Teleconnect Fund, really, as as we saw at the beginning of the pandemic and the use of the Teleconnect Fund to shift a little bit and focus on the school districts and schools that, but yet prior to the pandemic, I know we were having a hard time getting the teleconnect fund to be applied more broadly to services that CBOs might use or in a more flexible way. And so I'm hoping that as we work more on this action plan and we do try to incorporate a true connection to a social justice lens in almost everything the commission does, that really all of the public purpose programs, including CASF more broadly, not just the adoption account or just the consortia account, Teleconnect fund, maybe even DDTP, can be viewed more broadly, through this kind of lens and and with a little bit more, intention on that. I also wanna echo because it is something I noted based on the poll that Sam that Stan sorry, Stan.
That Stan had mentioned about, being a little surprised that there aren't more carrier participants today. I thought there would be, and I'm hoping that we could, you know, through all of our different ways, encourage, carriers to participate more meaningfully on this issue. And and finally, wanna thank you guys for having this and and including the telecom issues here because I'll admit as somebody that does all telecom in front of the commission, it wasn't a 100% clear to me when the ESJ plan came out except for maybe one line in in the document that that the commission really intended to have have this really fully be applied to the work that the commission does on telecommunications. So I think the more that we could talk about it, the more that it is brought up in a formal commission documents at these kinds of forums, the better. So thank you for having this today and and, look forward to talking about this more in in a bunch of different, arenas.
Speaker 2
Okay. Oh, I just wanted to say that I I I was kind of in agreement with having some type of a governing board of of sorts, whether it be like, for example, the air board. Our local air board has a commission or a table that actually works more at a grassroots level with CBOs, understanding what are the needs of the community so that when these things happen, there's already a direct voice to the community, you know, for for, intervention, for support. Because a lot of these families did not get a how to. We got the service, but we didn't know how to navigate.
And that was part of our our support as Catholic Charities. We support our community by giving them the resources on how to navigate through these systems, how to log on. There is a email associated to your phone. This is how you can use Zoom. This is how you can use WhatsApp, the different applications.
And I think that if these these companies are getting money from selling these products, they should be able to support the community with with these resources. And and and being a commission for for public utilities, I would think that we would be afforded an opportunity be part of these like, a table of sorts that would kind of work as a liaison with the community at understanding these needs. Also, I just wanted to mention that I did notice that your budget was stating something about 40%, only 40% prior to COVID that you had people on the lifeline program and that you were concerned about having more numbers show the use of lifeline. Well, a lot of times, people don't know about these resources because they're not given an opportunity through language. You know?
And I know that that it is in Spanish, but the way it's scripted and the way it's written, it's very cumbersome for even a person that reads Spanish to understand how to navigate through these systems. So it's important for for us to really look at how we're prototyping those applications and forms so that people could be more really apt to use these applications. And if you could also raise more of an opportunity for CBOs to engage with the community and probably get some type of stipend more, I guess, more lucrative for those that are are needing that support. And, also, in the sense that if we're having people out at public parking lot selling free phones, why can't we get people to come out and enroll people into Lifeline and give the people that are really hungry and needy of an opportunity for employment to take that as as an outlet for for some type of support financial support. Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you. And I wanna give folks a, the ten minute warning here. And, Leslie Martinez, see your comment in the, in the chat about a need or way to target, black indigenous and people of color communities on the issue. Would you like to speak now?
Speaker 8
I'm happy to let other folks who haven't, had a chance to participate go first. I'm I'm writing a few things in the comments just for the record.
Speaker 4
Okay. Great. And and encourage everyone to do that if you would like something to add. And so with that, Abigail Solis?
Speaker 10
Thank you. I'm Abigail Solis with Self Help Enterprises. We are a community based organization in the San Joaquin Valley. You know, I think it was well said at the beginning of this webinar that there is still a huge gap, in terms of access and affordability to broadband Internet in the poorer communities, specifically the rural communities in the San Joaquin Valley. And I think that where the CPUC is doing a really good job in moving forward you know, equity and access in other areas, I think this is the one area where they're struggling to catch up, you know, in all honesty.
I do recognize the recent efforts, but I think there's still a lot more work to to be done. As was said earlier, the pandemic exposed many vulnerabilities within connectivity to internet. But in a response to that, many communities had to figure it out on their own. And because of that, they figured they used really unique examples and unique projects came out of their response. And we have examples of communities that work together with schools to create you know, the school open made their signal public so that the community can tap into it.
You know, we have examples where local businesses worked with, you know, schools and and the community residents to give access. We have, you know, examples of where buses were put in different areas of the communities to make a signal available to certain areas of town that did not have connectivity. And I'm just wondering, you know, could we take these examples and make an opportunity for disadvantaged communities that just have been left out? Just could there be a pot of money for proposals or projects that include these types of partnerships where you can have a school, a local agency, a CBO, and a provider maybe all work together? And perhaps this kind of project would be there would be residents and communities that are interested in in these types of projects.
And, of course, if you're gonna do this, ensure that there's funding for technical assistance throughout the whole process so that these projects can really come to fruition. So I would really love to see some sort of opportunity for a more collaborative partnership type of project at the CPUC. Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you. Are there other folks who would like to speak now? We have about five minutes of the discussion section remaining. So not If yeah.
Speaker 5
If there isn't anybody, I do I do have a question. This is Sarah Sharp, and I I work on telecommunications issues for the commissioner. I was just wondering, a few of the comments I have written down, and I'm gonna try to summarize them later, are about engaging CBOs and former programs better, and I was wondering if anybody's aware that we do have an advice an admin committee for the lifeline program, for example, that has a lot of vacancies on it for CBOs, for example, as well as we have local who are represent each region who are supposed to be helping, communities figure out kind of what Abby just recommended. We have one for the Silicon Valley based out of Fresno State. So I was wondering if you all are aware of that and are you know, have worked with them at all.
Speaker 4
And so with that, we have some hands up, and if we could go Leslie, then Stan, then Wylan, and just be cognizant of the amount of time remaining because we have about three minutes left for the discussion portion.
Speaker 8
Yeah. I I can't speak to Sarah's question, but I haven't engaged. But I would really appreciate that information, sir Sarah, if you could share it. The and really quickly, I think one of the most one something that I would really like to make clear is that, although I understand that school you know, like and I wrote this in the comments, but I just wanna emphasize how, like, broadband is really starting to intersect with more than just solely school age children, Transportation apps, having access to even your government is going to is slowly becoming more aligned. And to and frankly, to be really honest, as I hear more about people adopting work from home, I I hear more folks talking about, you know, participation, through web instead of, you know, in person, post COVID.
That cannot that is going to create the same inequities that we've always had. The same folks who have been able to engage will continue to engage while leaving the same folks out, which are black, indigenous, and people of color, monolingual immigrants, like, all the people that we need to hear from the most. So just wanting to make sure that as we move forward with these type of programs, we keep that in mind, that it's not just focusing on children, but instead focusing on how can everyone be part of the information that is out there because the broadband is a public good. Thank you.
Speaker 6
Yeah. I wrote them in the chat, but just to touch on that, I think it's a we've got more reports of some of the service providers upselling the low income persons that apply for the low income services. And some of those rules need to be revisited, and there should be some strict provisions against that. But those surgeries are so marginal that I can't blame them for wanting to go from a four mg to a, you know, a six or eight mg, but that's really about the ceiling right there. The other one is the definition of when they advertise their services, they say you get up to six mg or up to twelve mg.
Well but you're probably gonna get, like, half that on a normal day, and you'll be fortunate if you get the max. Finally, just I use the California the CPUC broadband map, and I find that it's very helpful. It could be a little more user friendly, but it it really there's a lot of places where there's no data. Some of the data almost seems like it's more of the industry data or the industry's talking points. I don't wanna get into that too much.
I'm not criticizing it. It's a good effort. I just think it needs more testing, ubiquitous testing and proving that it's what are they offering? Are they meeting those threshold speeds and services, etcetera? I'd like to see that improve.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I I just wanted to take some time to acknowledge some of the comments that were made. In particular, I jotted down some notes. First of all first and foremost, regarding CTS, it is something that we do con continuously wanna look at to how we want to make sure our program better reach the the communities that needed it. We have, been looking at goals and metrics in our program, and we've we do believe that some of the metrics that we have in the affordability proceeding can be utilized towards that.
I will also say that, with regards to, Lifeline, I think there was a comment made by, Martha regarding languages, and just the need to have different language to us, to access the public. I did wanted to mention that the the care pilot did utilize a partner in contact center operated by CSU Fresno, and they are hiring representatives to to that are bilingual and trilingual and really trying to hit some of the communities that are that are in need of those language needs. So I think bit by bit, we are making those efforts. And last thing lastly, I want to kinda address some some of the cost issues that Martha, Leslie, and and practically everyone have brought up is that, you know, I also in doing the affordability proceeding, I also noticed that, you know, in in in some areas where you're looking at essential service broadband at 25 Mbps down can cost upwards of, you know, a $100 a month, and those are the communities that makes 3,000 per year on on an average income. So I think I think we are seeing a lot of those discrepancies, and we're hoping, some of the findings from the affordability proceeding in the upcoming annual report will help really address that and highlight that.
And on that same note, I think, a lot of the, programs within the commission, as well a lot of the action items on the CSJ plan can also use some of those, metrics to assess what people are actually paying and is it affordable. And I think I think that's something that, we definitely will look forward in in trying to shape our future action items and and actually make it a little bit more measurable and applicable and also maybe get to more results oriented, outcome out of it. Just wanna put that in. I really appreciate all the feedback so far.
Speaker 4
And apologies for my, potentially overeager time management. So we have a few minutes, remaining if anyone has closing comments. Otherwise, we can transition to Sarah and give her a little bit more time to hopefully not breathlessly summarize. So before we do, Leslie.
Speaker 8
Hi. Sorry. I think the last thing that I wanna end with and while it it came from your comment is, regarding when we think about being cost effective. Frankly, I believe that cost effective strategies through the CPU tend to reinforce the racist policies that created these problems in the beginning and in the first place. I think it also strengthens the stigmas and the idea that not everyone is deserving of the of of a type of service because they be in the based on where they're at in the geographic location.
And in in reality, I think what's I think that comes from the idea that the CPUC is giving giving something to folks or the you know, they're being forced to provide a service when in reality, like, the the policies that we're trying to correct through these type of programs are to try to correct the past of poor planning and poor build relationships with communities. So I I understand the cost effectiveness, but I also think that as a as a agency, that is that needs to be rethought about how we why we use it and what it is that we are reinforcing when we try to always push forward a cost effective strategy. Because if we continue to work in that type of framework, then we are going to consistently see the same problems, and we are going to consistently have to you know, they're just going to bring up more, I think, of the, like, inequalities that we continue to see today. Thank you.
Speaker 4
And, Sarah, we'll go to you in a moment. I do want to highlight at the request of some colleagues the, comments for community based organization openings on the Lifeline Administrative Committee. So the two contacts are Caleb Jones and Mary Rodman. Those are in the chat, and their emails would also be available on the PUC's lifeline contacts. With that, Sarah, if you would like to cover summarizing some of the comments and actions.
Speaker 5
Sure. I'll do my best. I want to acknowledge that that was a lot, and I really appreciate, especially the new voices that we haven't traditionally heard on on in our telco, conversations, but everybody, who's participated today. So, I also have more detailed notes, which and then I know Pilar is also taking notes, and there will be other opportunities to provide, feedback on the es ESJ action plan. But in summary, for what I heard today, the first thing I heard, which I overarched, is that the ESJ considerations should be a lens that is applied across all public purpose programs in telecommunications, including CTF, DDTP, CASF.
The next thing is that CPUC, real and this could be an action for sure. It should increase our outreach, and engage more CBOs and and the providers in more conversations about, the ESJ action plan goals and how they apply to the work that they are doing. For example, like Michael said, when I mentioned, we we do have some, for some, places or places where these conversations happen that have been lacking CBO participation such as the, I think it's u u ULT SAC, which I can't remember what I think it's universal lifeline something admin committee. So I can't remember all uh-oh. I'm having a I think I'm having a problem with my microphone.
Can you guys still hear me?
Speaker 4
Yeah. Coming through loud and clear. And ULPF is the universal lifeline telephone service.
Speaker 5
Okay. Admin administrative committee as well as the, CA regional consortia, which we do have, representing most regions, in California. The next thing I heard was that there's interest in stipends for CPOs to engage and more technical assistance. So engage in a lot of different things such as outreach for Lifeline, for example, and more technical assistance for local government and other jurisdictions to help them apply for various programs to increase access to broadband. I heard many mentions of affordability and digital literacy are still a huge issue.
I heard we are mapping, that we have available on our website or, finding out where services are available, is good, but it needs more ground truthing, and it is but it is helpful. And see if I skipped anything. The last thing I wrote down, which I know there's I probably missed a lot of things, but the last thing I wrote down is that the cost effectiveness framework can reinforce systemic racism. So, I think if if anybody we will also have a record of all of the of that. And, as far as next steps go, I know that we will be taking this into consideration for in the next, version of the update.
And as mentioned earlier, a new process or a new way of managing our proceedings, we are now considering ESJ impacts in the scope of all of our proceedings. So I think that that in itself will begin to have universal impacts on all of these programs and proceedings. I don't know if the commissioner is still on. She was on, and I know she's she might wanna comment. I don't know if she's still here.
Speaker 7
Hi. Yes. Sure. Thank you, everybody. So many of the things that were mentioned are things that we know.
And as I sit and listen to everything, I just really look to you as what this in particular with this sector, because our jurisdiction is so constrained by the federal rules that, you know, maybe a bit of a unique approach about how we partner with everyone to really ensure that as I mentioned this morning that the Biden administration provides us with more tools to be able to do exactly what everyone has mentioned, you know, filling in the service gaps everywhere. So but I thank you very much and we absolutely do want to keep digging in with the limited jurisdiction that we do have. So this is all good to hear where the areas of priority should be.
Speaker 4
So with that, we'll leave the chat open a little bit if anyone wants to add any closing, info to the records. I'd really appreciate the time and engagement and look forward to continuing this discussion.
Speaker 2
So my question is where do we go from here? Because so many times we have these opportunities to be able to engage, but we don't get any follow-up or any kind of, like, understanding of where what you're gonna do with this information because, you know, we're left kind of, like, sounds great, but in theory, but let's let's see how how going beyond this this workshop, going beyond this conference, what are what are some of your plans?
Speaker 5
Yes. This is Sarah. I could I could say more of a next step that I had in mind, which I cannot promise at this moment because I need to check-in with my boss, the commissioner. But hearing and I had this in my mind before, but, now that we know who we've been struggling to find, CEOs who work in disadvantaged communities who are interested in working on this issue. As you know, probably a lot of you didn't work on it before the pandemic.
And so I think that it would be good to have an a follow-up meeting, where we can convene some of you all, and maybe we can work with TERN and have a follow-up discussion. But we do a lot of work community by community trying to get people connected, so we could do a follow-up workshop on maybe a general telecommunications strategy workshop with what the commissioner was just discussing about our strategy at the state and federal level for having to do with our jurisdiction, but don't know if that makes sense.
Speaker 7
If I could just add to this, if you can if you're able to hear me with the background noise, I apologize. But the other the other opportunity is really are all the proceedings where, you know, depending on which topic you're talking about. I I know Leslie mentioned the mobile homes as a gap. That kind of redlining is something we're looking at within the broadband for all proceeding. I know you mentioned some of the the lifeline workers who are out there in front of the stores fronts.
We have a lifeline proceeding and those are venues very much where we could take some of your recommendations. So at a minimum, I think we're happy to follow-up with folks directly to kind of really assess where's the best venue for getting progress on that topic or for that particular community because it's gonna vary. So I see Sarah just put her email into the chat. And so at a minimum, that's a starting point. But really, what we hope you have the capacity to do is take the time to tell us how we should make up in our work plan and specifically deal with these issues.
And part of our work will be going through a process determining what is that best pathway to work on the issue. So there will be follow-up, but it's it's gonna be, you know, a couple steps away. But in the meantime, contact our office, we're happy to work on on issues directly. Thank you.
Speaker 3
Hey, Sarah. With that, do we, go back and join the main session afterwards?
Speaker 5
Yes. Would I would direct everybody to go back to the Webex event that we had for this morning, I believe. I actually need to look into how to join that, but we there will be another session now. But I think on the topic I just mentioned of how, ESJ considerations will be incorporated into proceedings moving forward. Thank you.
Any I don't know if Michael or Wyland has anything else. Thank you, everybody.
Ask anything about this video — I analyse its transcript to answer.