Our Policy Agenda

Create opportunities for communities by making broadband infrastructure widely available. A wide-spread, broadband infrastructure has many benefits: companies can work more efficiently, communities can pursue economic development, youth can access educational curriculum, and residents can seek treatment from medical specialists located sometimes hundreds of miles away. To spur the deployment of broadband to all communities, policies should be adopted and incentives should be offered, especially to build broadband into rural and low-income communities. Affordable access to broadband can be offered to underserved communities through Universal Service Programs, which must be preserved and revised to reflect the new ways of delivering advanced telecommunications services. CCTPG supports policies that would spread broadband throughout California at affordable rates.

Enable organizations to serve residents by promoting the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF)
The California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) provides discounts to schools, libraries, and qualified health clinics and community-based organizations for access to advanced telecommunications services. This program helps organizations afford high-speed connections to the Internet, so they can provide academic enrichment or workforce development, and use services like telemedicine. A number of recent changes enhance CTF's effectiveness in providing these discounts:

1. 100% discounts on the installation of high-speed broadband are now available.
   
   
2. Telecommunications carriers have begun to provide the discounts to approved organizations.
   
   
3. As a requirement for receiving CTF discounts the community colleges have developed the California Virtual Campus Community-based Online Program (http://www.cvc.edu/cbo) which will enhance the capacity of community-based organizations.
   

Support important community services by sustaining community-based organizations
The existence of community-based organizations (CBOs) that use technology to carry out their mission is enhanced by funding. To support these organizations, there are new and existing programs that can provide funding for community technology programs:

1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ARRA_public_review/) provides resources for improving broadband adoption. CCTPG is advocating that community technology programs receive these funds.
   
   
2. Community benefit funds from telecommunications mergers have historically been used to support the work of CBOs. For example, in 1996, the SBC and Pacific Bell merger resulted in a Community Partnership Agreement worth $50 million dollars and led to the establishment of the Community Technology Foundation, which has awarded millions of dollars to build the capacity of CBOs to use technology and to accomplish their social missions through technology. More recently, CCTPG advocated for the settlement in the AT&T/SBC and Verizon/MCI merger that led to the development of the California Emering Technology Fund. CCTPG will continue a dialogue with foundations on the importance of CBOs.
   
   
3. The Digital Divide Grant Program, which supports organizations that train residents in the use of technology, offer youth academic enrichment programs, and assist residents in the creation of local, online content.
   

CCTPG will continue to help leverage these funding sources so that CBOs have the resources to continue to provide services to the community.