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The city of Carson in the South Bay will be taking its place on the world stage in 2026 as one of the practice session sites for the FIFA World Cup.
Top teams from across the globe will be training at Dignity Health Sports Park, the home of the L.A. Galaxy soccer team, which is expected to draw huge crowds.
But there’s one thing the city is lacking — reliable broadband.
While there are some areas with good coverage, other areas are spotty. At just 19 square miles, one might assume that 100% coverage shouldn’t be a problem. But Gary Carter, the city’s director of IT and security, says the community has “historically been redlined as far as broadband goes.”
“There’s just a few pockets of the city where our current duopoly providers [like AT&T and Spectrum] have provided service that would be standard in other areas of L.A. County,” Carter said. “But a large swath of the city is either unserved or underserved.”
He says existing providers are “not really targeting cities like Carson” for service the way they do wealthier areas because it’s not considered as profitable. The median household income for the area is $65,000. But he says residents are “hardworking folks” from “extremely diverse, low and middle-income neighborhoods” that deserve an opportunity to get connected.
To correct this, Carter is helping the city apply for $8 million in grant money, part of California’s Broadband for All project, to create its own new broadband fiber optic network. The pilot project would serve about 1,000 unserved households and 372 businesses, with City Hall, the Civic Center and Cal State Dominguez Hills serving as anchor institutions. Winners could be announced as early as June.
The city plans to complete its pilot project in about 18 months. Carter says the money would help ensure public safety during large-scale events, as well as offer an opportunity to have “something to provide to our residents who will weather hundreds of thousands of tourists coming through,” he said. “I think it’s only fair.”
Carter previously helped the city of Santa Monica launch a publicly owned and operated fiber network. The success of the project “serves as a model” for how U.S. cities can help foster competitive broadband speeds and rates.
Carson City Manager David C. Roberts Jr. said internet access became a priority for the city during the pandemic. He said it all began when Jawane Hilton, a then-City Council member who is now mayor pro-tem, saw a young girl studying in a fast-food parking lot.
“[She was] utilizing her computer trying to connect to the Wi-Fi so she could get her schoolwork done,” he said. “And so that became a clarion for our city.”
The new pilot program hopes to offer Carson residents reliable, affordable broadband, perhaps as low as $40 per month.
For Misael Contreras, that would be a huge benefit, because she’s bracing for her internet bill to double in May.
She currently pays $40 a month thanks to a federal discount program. But that’s about to shut down, increasing her bill to nearly $80. That would be a stretch for Contreras, who lives with her family in a mobile home park near City Hall. But she says her grandson needs Wi-Fi for schoolwork and to stream entertainment. They may soon need to explore new service options.
“What I pay now seems very fair to me,” she said.
The grant fund is part of California’s Broadband for All plan, a multi-billion dollar state and federal investment to expand internet access in communities with little to no access.
In a stroke of luck, the city of Carson landed right on the path of what’s known as the “middle mile” — 10,000 miles of high-capacity fiber lines currently being built across the state.
The “last-mile,” as it’s known, is what will connect that infrastructure to homes and businesses, and it’s money for that that Carson is applying for.
The state is building a new open-access broadband network called the “middle-mile,” which refers to the physical infrastructure that’s needed to connect people to the internet.
Larger companies like AT&T and Spectrum operate their own private middle-mile networks and charge whatever rates they want. But with the state’s help, cities like Carson and other community-based providers could save on construction costs and gain internet access at wholesale prices.
But advocates say that ultimately depends on who wins the grant money, which is up to the California Public Utilities Commission to decide.
$105 million has been set aside for projects in Los Angeles County. Telecom giant AT&T applied for $35 million in taxpayer dollars — and LAist recently found it plans to use part of that money to serve wealthy areas like Bel Air and the Pacific Palisades. Spectrum applied for $2.5 million to serve people in the Antelope valley.
But Carter is staying optimistic. “I believe we’ll have a shot,” he said, adding that he hopes the majority of funds would be directed at projects that approach the issue in “novel ways.”
The CPUC is expected to announce the first of “one or more” additional funding rounds this summer, but the process could take years. The agency says it will award additional points to projects that commit to using the state’s new middle-mile network, as well as applicants that offer low-cost plans and other criteria.
LAist will spotlight additional project applications, including an effort to connect more residents in the rural areas of Catalina Island, in the coming weeks.
LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.
