A new broadband network stretching from Ventura through Santa Barbara County is expected to be installed by June.
The network is part of the county’s goal of expanding broadband networks throughout the county and areas lacking adequate internet access.
The update on the network installation was shared on Thursday during a meeting of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.
The current work focuses on what is called the “middle mile,” which includes the cables and infrastructure that allow local internet networks to connect to the larger global system.
Fred Luna, director of project delivery and construction, explained that some middle-mile networks are in place, but many are privately owned and maintained. Luna added that installing the systems also can be expensive.
“(California) committed to establishing a middle-mile network statewide, and they’re making progress on that,” Luna said. “I think their original goal is to be ready to connect by the end of this year.”
One of the companies working on installing the statewide network is Lumen Technologies, Inc. The company is installing 101 miles of network throughout the county, beginning with Ventura and continuing into San Luis Obispo County.
The project is already 36% complete and is expected to be finished by June.
Another network is being installed by Central Valley Independent Network LLC.
The 85-mile system is being installed east to west, passing over Highway 166. The network system will travel over to Highway 101 before splitting to connect Santa Maria, Orcutt and the Santa Ynez Valley.
The Chumash Tribe received $4.7 million in federal funding in 2024 to help establish the last mile networks at the Santa Ynez Reservation and surrounding areas. The project will support 400 locations and 853 residents.
The network in that region is expected to be connected to the statewide middle network by the end of 2026.
Pre-construction work is still being done on the project, and the company is finalizing its designs.
Luna also shared that Caltrans is working on building four major hubs throughout the county to support the network. One of the hubs will begin construction in the summer.
Another area to which the county is working to bring better internet is the Cuyama Valley, which suffers from low internet speeds and poor service.
Shelby Arthur, a representative from the Broadband Consortium of the Pacific Coast, said her agency worked with staff from the Blue Sky Center to survey the community. The staff included residents and AmeriCorps members.
Out of 240 homes to which staff reached out, 70 responses were received from people in the community. Staff also tested the internet in different homes and confirmed that most residents received internet service of only about 30 megabits per second.
“This is enough to maybe conduct some email,” Arthur said. “But if you have more than one person trying to access the internet at the same time, then it can really compromise the bandwidth available and slow down the connections.”
Supervisor Roy Lee, who represents the First District on the Board of Supervisors, confirmed the need for better internet in the Cuyama Valley. He said the internet in the area gets worse after school when kids begin playing video games online, making simple tasks such as processing credit cards difficult for local businesses.
Arthur explained that this is because the current technology in the region is not equipped to handle multiple people.
“If we could get some fiber provider to go into Cuyama, there would be additional capacity available for multiple users like that,” Arthur said.