Mission and Leadership
The Mission of the NORTH BAY / NORTH COAST BROADBAND CONSORTIUM (NBNCBC) is to ensure the needs for broadband access and adoption are met in every corner of our four counties. NBNCBC’s top priority and immediate focus is on bringing broadband services to the unserved and underserved areas.
The leadership of NBNCBC involves an Oversight Committee consisting of County Supervisors Dennis Rodoni (Marin), Ted Williams (Mendocino), Anne Cottrell (Napa), and Chris Coursey (Sonoma.)
Background
In 2007, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorized the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to provide grants to bridge the “digital divide” in unserved and underserved areas of the state. In 2010, the CPUC expanded CASF into three accounts, and one of those accounts became the “Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Account,” whose intended purpose is to fund activities other than capital expenses, such as promoting broadband access and adoption. There are currently fourteen other consortia throughout the state, incorporating anywhere from a single county (Los Angeles County) to eight counties (San Joaquin Valley). The public can find more information about the CASF grant program and these regional consortia on the CPUC website.
In 2014 and 2015, The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) awarded the North Bay/North Coast Broadband Consortium (NBNCBC) a two-year grant for $250,000 to help plan for telecommunications broadband deployment and services to unserved and underserved areas in Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma counties. A significant amount of in-kind and volunteer resources in each county augmented this grant. The consortium received CPUC funding again in 2017 and 2023 to continue their planning efforts.