The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today the award of a broadband infrastructure investment grant to the California Broadband Cooperative, Inc. (CBC). The grant, totaling $81.1 million, will fund the construction of “Digital 395,” a middle‐mile fiber‐optic network between Barstow, California and Carson City, Nev.

The 583-mile infrastructure project will directly connect more than 237 hospitals, schools, libraries, military bases, local governments, last‐mile service providers, and other anchor institutions to a high‐speed broadband network—as well as create, it is estimated, hundreds of local jobs.

The NTIA grant contributes up to 80 percent of the total project funding. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Praxis Associates, the project’s private partner, will provide the remaining funds. In December, the CPUC, through its California Advanced Services Fund, awarded the project up to $19.3 million in state matching funds. The project also received essential in‐kind support from Inyo, Kern and Mono Counties. “CBC would like to thank President Obama’s administration and the NTIA for bringing jobs to California, and for enabling the construction of this vital regional infrastructure,” said Robert Volker, CEO of the California Broadband Cooperative. “We would also like to thank the State of California and representatives of local government in the Eastern Sierra for their tremendous support.”

Community support for the project was a region‐wide effort, spearheaded by local county officials and elected representatives of the region, including County Supervisors, State Legislators, and members of Congress.

Praxis Associates, a fiber‐optic network development firm, worked with local governments in developing and designing the proposed regional network, which, upon completion, will attain broadband speeds of up to 40 Gigabits‐per‐second. “The Digital 395 Project 's open‐access network will bring new economic opportunities to the region,” stated Michael Ort, CEO of Praxis Associates, “and we are pleased to be a partner in the project.” Project completion is estimated to take between two and three years.

According to many familiar with the project, the deployment of the Digital 395 infrastructure compares to the Los Angeles Owens River Aqueduct and Highway 395 in its scope, scale and regional significance. A summary of the project is also available at CBC’s website at www.digital395.com, and from the White House web portal at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the‐press‐office/2010/08/18/vice‐president‐biden‐announces‐recovery‐act‐investments‐broadband‐project.

About CBC

California Broadband Cooperative, Inc. is a not‐for‐profit California Consumer Cooperative Corporation formed for the purposes of owning and operating the Digital 395 network, which will provide high‐speed broadband services to its members on a wholesale, open‐access basis. As a cooperative, the organization will be under the direction of a Board of Directors representing key institutions and constituents in the Eastern Sierra.

Contacts: Robert Volker ‐‐ rvolker@digital395.com

Michael Ort ‐‐ mort@praxisfiber.com