MIDDLE MILE PROJECT

The "middle mile" is the physical infrastructure (in our case primarily fiber) needed to enable last mile (connections to the home) connectivity to the Internet. It is usually very high capacity, longer distance connectivity that allows for a number of last mile connections to operate simultaneously without constraint. (A middle mile build does not include last mile connections to the home.)

Those that are familiar with our network will know that we have a connection to Yreka that enables our entire network to connect to the Internet. That connection runs over McAdams Creek Road to Greenhorn in Yreka where it travels north on Oregon St. to Pine St where it terminates in our Pine St. Hut or Central Office where we buy Internet from three major providers. This would be a middle mile connection. We have connectivity that runs between and connects each of our central offices in our seven exchanges, this also is the middle mile.  

The state of California, along with a number of other states, believe better and MORE AFFORDABLE statewide Internet connectivity starts with a statewide middle mile network that will allow companies like ours to connect and interconnect seamlessly across the state. One of our biggest costs is our monthly connection to the Internet and that is directly related to our ability to get our traffic out of our rural area. Large providers are charging companies like ours a premium to connect to the Internet due to our rurality. A state owned middle mile network will allow us to lower those costs and pass those savings on to our customers.  

Finally, the middle mile is very expensive to build as it doesn't correlate with any one home, rather its costs are spread across multiple homes which drives up our "last mile" builds (from the curb into the home) and makes those builds sometimes too expensive to complete. With a state partnership, those costs are less, making the last mile more affordable and doable. So the state partnership will assist us in getting more homes hooked up sooner and at a more reasonable cost.  

Due to our rural serving area, Siskiyou Telephone operates as a private entity and is also a regulated utility in the State of California. As we already operate as a rate-of-return utility, we understand the state's reporting requirements, and are very familiar with the public responsibilities of our business.

We are a unique family owned business, have been operating for 127 years, and can be an economic engine for the areas we serve in rural Siskiyou County.

Rather than the state building on top of our existing network, we are leveraging our existing resources as well as the states, to be more cost effective.

This project is a true partnership – a win for the State, a win for our County, and a win for Siskiyou Telephone Company.

The State of California can take advantage of network investments we have already made, and don't build on top of already funded infrastructure.

We can complete building to areas that were delayed due to prohibitive costs, and reach residents in our County that require this future-proof technology and service. 

Without our existing infrastructure, this project would have cost the state 4-5 times the investment. 

This project will expedite our builds - what would not have been built for 10 years, now has to be completed by January 1st, 2027. All state and federal broadband funding has to be spent by 2028. 

In this next 3-5 years we will substantially close what is left of the divide in our serving area, with a technology that is future-proof, scalable, with no constraints to it’s capabilities. We are making an investment in future generations!

Western Siskiyou County is a Frontier County – which means we have less than 6 people per mile and this puts us into the highest cost category of areas to build fiber networks in the country.

The dangerous terrain, remote locations, and absence of communications infrastructure make it very difficult build. The granite base makes drilling very time consuming and expensive. When you build networks your crews need to stay on location for months at a time, so it can be challenging to secure crews to complete the work. 

This middle mile project will provide another route out to western California. We are currently dependent on only one fiber pathway to the east. 

This project will bring redundancy to the east and resiliency to the west which will help to alleviate outages.

This project turns up the dial on the timeframe we have to get things done!

Originally we were looking at 10 years, this is now compressed to 3-7 years. 

Residents in the most rural areas of our network will see connectivity in a much more timely fashion. There are areas this project is going through that would not have ever seen fiber! 

Our commitment is to bring communications technology to all areas as we build – including Forest Mountain, Etna Summit, Oak Knoll, Hwy 96, Sawyers Bar, and Somes Bar. 

All of this is happening as we continue to build out at our current capacity of 200-300 homes per year to fulfill our current federal agreement.

We have already built out the city centers, we now need to build these network extensions to get to the remaining locations. This middle mile project will ensure we get the backbone in place that will allow us to get to houses which have not yet been a priority due to absence of funding.

This project will allow for Tribal Broadband Networks to achieve more inter-connectivity – government to government, state to state – and provide more network resiliency.

This funding originates from the multiple federal infrastructure funding programs that have arisen since the pandemic. California State allocated over $3B to middle mile infrastructure. Our teams have worked hard to submit applications and ensure Siskiyou County received a portion of this funding.

Our number one priority at Siskiyou Telephone is to get our communities connected to fiber – faster and more efficiently – to provide the infrastructure our residents need to be competitive on a worldwide basis.

We are not only regulated by the State of California, we are regulated by our residents. We know the priority, and the demand, and we can’t answer it fast enough!

The biggest constraint to accomplishing this goal has been access to funding and not having a closed fiber loop, which leaves some of our communities as 'islands.' We have been desperate to close this fiber ring, and that is what this project will help us to achieve – to 'ring' the network. 

We are keenly aware that everybody needs access to this future-proof technology we are deploying. We are one of the few companies that has built out to as much of our territory as we have. We have passed 70% of the locations we need to serve. This speaks volumes to our past funding reinvestment.

We look at every 'dot' on our serving area on a daily basis and want to turn every dot green, which indicates 'connected' to a future-proof, scalable fiber network. 

We have already applied for four grants, this is the first win we can use to get a head of steam, knuckle down, and action a definitive plan toward completion. 

It will be a heavy lift over this next 3-5 years, and this is the project that kicks it all off!