Inyo County California

June 27, 2024

RESIDENTS URGED TO VERIFY INFO, MAY CHALLENGE STATE DESIGNATIONS STARTING JULY 8 

Residents of Inyo County are encouraged to verify their Internet speeds to ensure their current level of broadband service has been accurately identified by the State of California.

As part of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a map on June 17 indicating the “served” status of locations across California. The category designated by the CPUC will determine whether certain areas are eligible for BEAD-funded projects.

Nationally, BEAD provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. California has been allocated approximately $1.86 billion under BEAD based on the federal government's calculation of California's share of the nationwide unserved locations.

A 30-day challenge period will start July 8, giving citizens the opportunity to contest the designation of their Internet speed service if they determine it is incorrect. The three designation categories include:

• Unserved: speeds slower than 25Mbps for downloads or 3Mbps for uploads

• Underserved: speeds of at least 25Mbps for downloads or 3Mbps for uploads and slower than

100Mbps for downloads or 20Mbps for uploads

• Served: speeds of at least 100Mbps for downloads or 20Mbps for uploads

With critical broadband funding at stake for Inyo and Mono counties, Eastern Sierra Regional Broadband Coordinator Scott Armstrong urges every Internet service customer to verify that their Internet service “served” status is correctly indicated on the process map. Ideally, residents should do this prior to July 8.

To view the map, visit  https://register.challenge.cpuc.ca.gov/register/bead/map and search by specific address using the search window in the upper-right section of the page. A pink dot on a location indicates that the State already has identified the location as unserved and eligible for a BEAD-funded project, and a challenge will not need to be submitted. A blue dot indicates that a location is underserved and a gray dot indicates that a location is served. 

If you determine that your served status is incorrect, consult the User Guide in advance for directions on how to submit a challenge during the July 8 to August 6 window. During the actual challenge period, Armstrong residents do the following:

• Start the challenge process at the California BEAD Consumer Challenge Page.
• Take at least 3 Internet speed tests, each from a different day, and save the results by clicking Download Test Results. You can use the speed test within the challenge process for all of your tests.
• Click “Remind Me” below the speed-test Thank You message and enter your email address to be reminded to take additional speed tests.
• While the speed test is running, you will have the option to upload evidence of your Internet service subscription. This evidence could be a statement, invoice, receipt or screenshot of the online account dashboard. Useful information to have in the evidence to upload would be the service speeds and the connection technology (cable, fiber, etc.).

Armstrong is available to provide assistance with the challenge process. He can be reached at sarmstrong@inyocounty.us. 

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