About CENIC California Middle Mile Broadband Initiative, LLC dba GOLDENSTATENET

CENIC California Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative, LLC dba GOLDENSTATENET is a California limited liability company whose sole member is the not-for-profit Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC). CENIC California MMBI, LLC serves as the third-party administrator in cooperation with a wide range of stakeholders – municipal, state, Tribal, private sector, and other community organizations. Together, we are developing a California statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network the goal of which is to enable last-mile providers to offer their customers affordable open-access broadband connectivity to the global Internet throughout California, prioritizing areas that have no access or slow and ineffective connections. CENIC California MMBI, LLC will work with public and private sector partners to bridge the digital divide and create digital equity for all Californians.

Funded through California State Legislature’s and Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Broadband For All” legislation, CCMMBI, LLC was selected by the California Department of Technology (CDT) as its Third Party Administrator (TPA) for the project. GOLDENSTATENET will manage the development, acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network. GOLDENSTATENET is the name of the network created by the CENIC’s California Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative (CCMMBI). It will leverage CENIC’s key partnerships including broadband consortia, metropolitan and rural planning organizations, community-based organizations, state, Tribal, and private sector organizations.

MISSION & GUIDING PRINCIPLES

CENIC California Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative, LLC dba GOLDENSTATENET was formed to build affordable open-access broadband connections through middle-mile infrastructure across California. The middle mile provides vital connections between the global Internet and last-mile providers. The effort prioritizes areas that have no access to the global Internet or slow and ineffective connections. This leaves many households and community anchor institutions at a severe disadvantage as they are unable to take advantage of broadband-enabled services such as telehealth, remote work, and remote educational environments. GOLDENSTATENET intends to work with public and private sector partners to bridge this digital divide and to create digital equity for all Californians.

GOLDENSTATENET Guiding Principles:

  • Provide affordable, open-access, middle-mile broadband infrastructure to enable last-mile network connectivity throughout California.
  • Build the network expeditiously, leveraging existing infrastructure, networks, and construction projects, wherever feasible.
  • Prioritize connectivity to unserved and underserved communities, including community anchor institutions.

SOCIAL IMPACTS

When connected to last-mile providers (and to the global Internet), GOLDENSTATENET, California’s state-led middle-mile infrastructure, will ensure that all of California’s communities — urban, rural, and Tribal — have access to broadband Internet in their homes, business, schools, and clinics. Such access is a tool for economic development; for security and continuity of education, health care, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities; and for the financial stability and long-term sustainability of these communities.

Our great California historian, the late Kevin Starr, paraphrasing the philosopher Josiah Royce (another influential Californian), noted that one of the sustained qualities of California is the “hope of a great community — a place, a society, in which the best possibilities of the American experiment can be struggled for and sometimes achieved.” Broadband is now a stepping stone on this path toward a future of quality education, healthcare, and prosperity.

For more information about GOLDENSTATENET, send inquiries to info@goldenstatenet. To be added to our list for occasional updates subscribe here.