Broadband Consultant Services

1. INTRODUCTION.

The County of Lake Administrative Office seeks sealed proposals from qualified firms to assist the County in consultant services for broadband programs being implemented in the near term, broadband programs in development at the State and Federal levels, ROW policy documents, development of new, public access to internet-capable devices, and expansion of public Wi-Fi.

The County is providing existing broadband plans that have been recently adopted, which are the 2023 Lake County Master Broadband Plan Update and the 2024 Lake County Broadband Implementation Plan. It is expected that part of these consultant services will build upon these plans.

Lake County is allocated $28.4 million in Federal Funding Account (FFA) grant funding for last-mile broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas. In January 2025 the California Public Utilities Commission awarded three FFA projects in Lake County for a total of $14.6 million. It is anticipated there will be subsequent rounds to award the remaining $13.6 million allocated to Lake County. The County plans to monitor that the terms of the FFA grant agreements are being met.