The South Bay is geographically and economically positioned to significantly contribute to the global economy. The regional broadband network initiative and study examined how and why the fifteen South Bay cities should create a region of telecommunications network infrastructure that stimulates workforce and economic development, creating a smart region built on fiber-optic transmission. The South Bay Workforce Investment Board secured a grant from the California Employment Development Department for an expert assessment of the current condition and options to improve the network if needed. The findings of the assessment were that the region is paying retail prices for an inadequate network that will not meet the needs of our cities and businesses if they want to keep up with new applications and services.

This month, the initiative received another $105,000 of which $15,000 is from the South Bay Workforce Investment Board and $90,000 from Los Angeles County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Mark Ridley-Thomas. This funding will allow us to continue with the second Phase of the regional broadband network initiative. The SBCCOG will be developing a "Request For Proposal" (RFP) to identify the cost of connecting cities to a broadband network which will provide greater capacity for each at less cost than they are currently paying.  As part of this process, the SBCCOG will be working with each city to capture what they want in the RFP. We hope to have this circulating by the first of the year.

This effort is the only multi-jurisdictional effort of its kind and its success will help the South Bay to remain competitive while providing the network capacity to allow cities and companies to adopt SMART environmental practices.