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4 <br /> Jim Northrup said the gray area on the map above shows where residents are only <br /> served by a single landline Internet provider. He said two providers received awards from the <br /> Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to expand Internet access, and 1,776 homes in Orange <br /> County could receive high speed Internet thanks to RDOF. He said Spectrum has six years to <br /> complete building the infrastructure. He said work has not yet started, but these 1,776 homes <br /> are part of the 5,200 homes within the County that lack access to broadband service. <br /> Catharine Rice continued the PowerPoint presentation: <br /> Slide #4 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BROADBAND TASK FORCE <br /> AIT WCan ReSCue Plan h t <br /> • 100f 144 Future proof neVfork <br /> •Vendor Meeting <br /> RFP <br /> Commissioner McKee joined the meeting at 7:12 p.m. <br /> Catharine Rice said Orange County has been working on expanding Internet access for <br /> a long time, and she began working with the county in 2004. She said Orange County is ahead <br /> of the game in planning. <br /> Catharine Rice said the US Treasury department has expanded the list of projects for <br /> which the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds can be used. She said broadband is one of <br /> those eligible items. She said eligible broadband infrastructure projects are expected to be <br /> designed to a minimum of 100 megabit per second downstream and upstream, respectively. <br /> She said the guidelines encourage prioritization investments in fiber optic infrastructure. She <br /> said if entities find that they cannot build at 100 megabit upstream and downstream, they can <br /> build at 100 megabit downstream and 20 megabit upstream, but the infrastructure must be <br /> scalable up to 100 megabit upstream and downstream. She said eligible projects should focus <br /> on unserved and under-served areas, and in doing so, will be allowed to serve the already <br /> served with that same network. <br /> Catharine Rice said the US Treasury encouraged projects that are owned by or affiliated <br /> with local governments and non-profits, because these providers will not be motivated by profit <br /> and have a commitment to serve the community. <br /> Catharine Rice said the task force used the guidelines and information from the US <br /> Treasury to focus on the types of projects it wanted to prioritize. She said the task force will <br /> have a vendor meeting in mid-July 2021 to gather applicant feedback, and will issue an RFP <br /> with the same technical requirements. <br />