Construction bids begin for North County Broadband project in Paso Robles 

As Paso Robles moves forward with a newly complete City Council and new mayor, its residents will soon take a step into the future of connectivity.

"The city was awarded a $2.4 million grant to install fiber optic and conduit cable for broadband internet in several miles of the city right of way," city officials said in a statement. "The project was advertised for construction bids last week, and construction will likely begin in early 2024."

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• Photo Via City Of Paso Robles Facebook Page
• INTERNET FOR ALL The $2.4 million grant the city received to bring better internet access to residents has begun to receive construction bids for the installation of fiber optic cables as part of SLO County's broader efforts to improve internet infrastructure.

The construction bids are a next step the city's efforts to enact the North County Strategic Broadband Plan that Paso Robles and Atascadero adopted in early May and late April, respectively.

In previous New Times reporting, Maria Kelly—who served as the project coordinator for the plan at the time—described the efforts as a means to bring equitable internet access to everyone across North County.

"Just because you have some form of internet access doesn't mean you can use it," Kelly said in May. "Our biggest goal with this project is making sure that people that have devices—whether that's a computer, phone, iPad, whatever—can use those to their full potential."

Now through the grants that Paso Robles Economic Development Manager Paul Sloan applied for in collaboration with the county and Atascadero, the city can begin its efforts to apply those funds.

New Times reached out to Sloan as well as the Paso Robles City Manager's Office but did not receive a response by press time.

With fiber broadband installation on its way, city officials expressed their hope of bringing Paso Robles the connectivity it needs.

"Council wants to help make sure residents of all income levels have access to the internet," the city's statement said. "It's such an integral part of life, school, and business." Δ