Mendocino County's Broadband Backbone Takes Shape Along Highway 20
Middle-mile work near Fort Bragg is finished
Editor’s Note: Information about the drop-in events in Fort Bragg to learn more about the MCN fiber-to-the-home service was added shortly after this afternoon’s publication. Also, a typo in the subhead was corrected.
Construction crews from across California are on pace to finish installing the broadband middle-mile network along Highway 20 in Mendocino County in time for the holidays. “We just finished 18 miles in 44 working days,” said John Cipollina, a construction manager for HP Communications overseeing underground construction for the middle-mile network.
The work on Highway 20 is just one segment of the largest publicly owned broadband project in the country. California’s Middle-Mile Broadband Network is a state-owned, open-access fiber backbone that, when finished, will run more than 8,200 miles through all 58 counties.
The broadband network is analogous to the highway network — it won’t connect directly to homes, neighborhoods, or business districts. Instead, local governments and internet providers must build the so-called “last mile” to the end user. That’s what Fort Bragg Fiber, Fort Bragg’s municipal broadband project is all about. Fort Bragg’s project will plug into the newly built “middle mile”, which will connect homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals to the larger pre-existing national and international networks.
The California Department of Technology is leading the middle-mile project, and Caltrans is building it along state highway rights-of-way. The state Legislature launched the effort with Senate Bill 156 in 2021 as part of a $6 billion broadband package that dedicated $3.25 billion to build, own, and operate the middle-mile backbone.
The state later added $550 million from the General Fund to address rising construction costs. CDT also secured a $73 million federal grant.
As of late July, crews statewide had roughly 4,500 miles in active installation. About 1,250 miles were finished and ready to connect.
The network is farthest along in the Eastern Sierra. On April 2, California switched on its first operational segment — a 423-mile stretch that runs along the east side of the mountains along U.S. 395 — and the Bishop Paiute Tribe became the network’s first paying customer and the first rural community in the state to plug into the new backbone. State officials described the moment as the project’s shift “from construction to commerce.”
Mendocino County remains in the construction phase. Of its 250.7-mile planned network, about 136 miles are in active installation and another 115 miles are in design and permitting. None of the segments are yet ready to connect — but the Highway 20 segment — at least — could be ready by Christmas, Cipollina said.
Just outside Fort Bragg, a crew this week finished 3,000 feet of underground construction on Highway 20 leading up to an aerial portion. “We have eight miles left on Highway 20 and a little section of Willits,” Cipollina said. “We’ve got a lot of good guys working from 8 in the morning to 7 at night.” Two dozen crew members will work on the next segment, tackling it from each end. After they are finished, cable placement can start.
For Fort Bragg residents, the last mile is nearly in hand. Fort Bragg Fiber, the city’s own community broadband network, is nearing completion after months of construction, the city announced July 24. Conduit is now installed citywide, fiber has been pulled through most neighborhoods, and crews are preparing to begin connecting homes and businesses.
The network is operated by Mendocino Community Network, or MCN, a Fort Bragg internet provider that has served the Mendocino Coast for more than 30 years. It offers fiber-to-the-home service across the city at symmetrical speeds — the same rate for uploads and downloads — from 1 gigabit to 10 gigabits per second. Pricing starts at $50 a month for 1 gigabit, with no contracts, no data caps and no equipment or installation fees, the city said.
“We’ve asked a lot of the community’s patience during construction, and now we’re excited to show what all that work has created,” said Sage Statham, the city’s director of broadband. “These events are a chance to see the equipment, ask questions, and get on the list so you’re first in line when we start connecting homes.”
The city is holding a series of drop-in events this summer where residents can see the fiber-to-the-home equipment, ask questions, and sign up for priority placement in the first installation wave:
Thursday, July 30, 4 to 6 p.m. — Town Hall, 363 N. Main St.
Monday, Aug. 3, noon to 2 p.m. — C.V. Starr Community Center
Tuesday, Aug. 4, 5 to 8 p.m. — City Hall (National Night Out)
Monday, Aug. 24, 4 to 6 p.m. — C.V. Starr Community Center
Residents who cannot attend can sign up anytime at mcn.org/signup or by calling 707-937-1444.
Thank you! Great news!
QQ: Which holidays? Labor Day, or Thansgiving?