The Tahoe Prosperity Center (TPC), through its Connected Tahoe Project, continues to make progress in our mission to extend high speed broadband internet to a few remaining areas in the Basin. Once such area, Kingswood Estates in Tahoe Vista, has been the focus of our most recent endeavors. Success in this neighborhood could be replicated elsewhere in the Basin. TPC is currently in talks with AT&T to potentially construct a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network by leveraging the existing AT&T fiber that runs through this neighborhood. We’re also working with Charter, the closest Broadband provider to Kingswood Estates, to obtain a more detailed cost estimate for a cable build out. We’re also working to obtain cost estimates for installing shadow conduit and creating an open access network, whereby any provider can provide service, thereby creating competition and driving down costs to residents. Determining ownership of this conduit and the overall financing of it are of the utmost priority for TPC and funding mechanisms are being proposed, from property tax assessments to public & private investment.
If you feel your internet service is too slow, unreliable or underserved (under 6 megabytes per second MBps) then please conduct a speed test on our website. It only takes a minute, but gives us data to continue to advocate for higher speeds in our region. You can do that here: https://tahoeprosperity.org/connected-tahoe
TPC continues its push towards getting Dig Once Policies enacted by each Basin County and the City of South Lake Tahoe. Dig Once Policies (DOPs) attempt to lower the cost of Broadband deployment by providing internet providers access to publicly owned rights of way. This is complemented by the mandatory installation of conduit for fiber-optic cable during road construction (or similar excavation projects), or by allowing qualified broadband deployments to be installed during construction projects. Currently, Douglas County’s DOP is still being considered as part of their strategic plan; they hope to have something out to review by mid-October. El Dorado County is also moving forward with their own DOP and are hoping to have it on an upcoming agenda for approval by County Supervisors.