On Monday, February 3rd, the Digital Service team presented the findings of the Canal Broadband feasibility project to the City Council. The presentation focused on the results of work over the past 2 years to begin the process of addressing permanent broadband infrastructure needs for the Canal neighborhood. The project was funded by a Local Agency Technical Assistance (LATA) grant from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for $258,620. Outcomes of the project included a proposed broadband network design and map that proposes how to build out a City-owned fiber infrastructure in the Canal neighborhood connected to the state’s “middle-mile” fiber network.
Watch the presentation | Read the Staff Report
Background
In June 2019, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the development of a Digital Infrastructure Strategic Plan to address digital and broadband equity challenges in Marin County made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategic plan, known as Digital Marin, included a roadmap to advance broadband deployment and digital adoption across the County. Digital Marin was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in February 2022 and supported by the San Rafael City Council by resolution in September 2022. One of the identified projects for Digital Marin was the “Canal Neighborhood Wi-Fi Project,” a partnership between the City, County of Marin, San Rafael City Schools, Canal Alliance, and community partners to bring free public Wi‐Fi to the Canal neighborhood. In Fall 2020, the Canal Wi-Fi network was deployed and continues to provide free Wi-Fi to the neighborhood, with an average of 600 visitors per day. Despite the success of the Canal Wi-Fi program, public Wi-Fi is not deemed sufficient to meet the broadband connectivity needs of multi-family households in the neighborhood. A permanent broadband infrastructure is recommended by the Digital Marin plan to reduce costs and increase access to the Canal Neighborhood.
About the Project
In May 2023, the City contracted with EntryPoint Networks to provide project leadership, management, design, and strategic planning to deliver data collection, broadband market data and analysis related to availability, price, and performance for residents, a high-level network design for the Canal neighborhood, and a final report detailing findings and recommendations. The City partnered with Canal Alliance and Voces del Canal to support engagement and outreach efforts to community members in the Canal, build trust, and assess community needs. The team generated 609 surveys that were collected both in person at community events and distributed online in coordinated outreach with community partners and trusted messengers in the community.
Despite federal and state broadband map designations identifying the neighborhood as adequately “served” by incumbent provider Comcast, data collected via online and hard copy surveys for this report found households that were not provided with the level of service commiserate with federal standards. Comcast has announced technical upgrades intended to improve the area’s online subscriber experience, however, our study discovered:
- 50% of unserved respondents would use the Internet for education
- 91% of homes with children do not experience modern internet speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed or greater
- 44% of unserved households indicate that the monthly cost is the main reason they are unserved
- Unserved, underserved and served:
- 62% of households are categorized as ‘unserved’
- 28% of households are categorized as ‘underserved’
- 10% of households are categorized as ‘served’
- 88% of respondents with Internet service want more providers in the Canal
- 59% of unserved people listed some barrier involving cost to be the reason they are unserved
Part of the project included participating in the California Public Utilities Commission challenge process to secure funding for broadband infrastructure. The process was led by the City of San Rafael and our consultant, EntryPoint, in coordination with the County of Marin’s Digital Marin team in an attempt to overturn the FCC’s determination that the Canal is adequately “served” by existing providers. Proving inadequate service through the CPUC’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) Program would make broadband grant funding available for the area.
Resident, market, and internet measurement data from the City’s Canal Broadband feasibility project was collected and submitted to the BEAD program. .The neighborhood’s incumbent cable operator (Comcast) submitted a rebuttal to the City’s challenge, and the California Public Utilities Commission decided to overturn all submitted challenges, concluding that existing services provided by Comcast are sufficient. This decision blocks any potential funding from the BEAD program for the Canal neighborhood.
The challenge process likely benefitted area residents because the local cable operator performed a technology upgrade in the Canal neighborhood to improve reliability and upload speeds just before the challenge window opened and data collection commenced.
Next Steps
Despite the setbacks in obtaining approval to move forward for BEAD funding for a larger City-led broadband project, the Digital team has outlined the following next steps from this effort to help address digital equity concerns in the Canal neighborhood.
- Pursue Grant Funding Opportunities – San Rafael will continue to pursue grant funding opportunities to connect to the state’s “Middle Mile” network and build out infrastructure to support a fiber network in the Canal neighborhood in coordination with existing Capital Improvements in the neighborhood.
- Citywide Broadband Planning – Digital and the Department of Public Works are collaborating to inventory all City-owned fiber assets in tandem with a Citywide asset management project. We will be scoping a Citywide broadband plan to provide guidelines and roadmaps for City-owned broadband infrastructure.
- Expand and Promote Canal Wi-Fi Public Wi-Fi Network – In 2024, the City took ownership of the Canal Wi-Fi public Wi-Fi network (built in 2020 with the County of Marin) and is currently developing a plan to upgrade existing equipment, expand the network, and promote it to the community.