Telecom Providers, Officials to Discuss Grid at CPUC Meeting

The future of the state’s communications grid — the challenges and potential of network resiliency, reliability, affordability and consumer protection — will be the topic of an open meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission this month.

The CPUC, which oversees and regulates utilities in the state, is providing this platform for telecom providers and other stakeholders to give their perspectives on what lies ahead for the state’s communications grid. It’s billed as “A Provider Perspective on the Future of California’s Communications Grid.”

The commission will meet from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 in the CPUC Auditorium at 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. The event will also be webcast at adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc.

The CPUC has designated this meeting as “en banc,” meaning the full commission is invited (but may or may not have a quorum present). No official action will be taken at this meeting, where the public will have a chance to comment. A webcast of the last en banc meeting, in May 2019, is available online. 

Representatives from business, education, government and nonprofits will address questions such as:

• How will the increasing frequency and size of natural disasters strain the state’s communications grid in the future?
• What challenges will the state’s schools and libraries face for their network connectivity needs?
• What will the state need in the future in terms of network resiliency, reliability, affordability and consumer protection?

The commission is deliberately keeping the scope of this meeting broad in order to hear from a wide range of stakeholders about the state’s communications needs and challenges in the coming five to 10 years. The CPUC plans to have more targeted, follow-up workshops around each area with stakeholders.