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Grover Beach Conduit: California's New "Silicon Dunes"

The city of Grover Beach, California, recently finalized a 10-year agreement with Digital West, Inc., to bring gigabit speed fiber to local businesses. The coastal town in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County wants to attract tech companies like those making waves in Silicon Valley and the "Silicon Beach" in Los Angeles. 

Terms of Agreement

The agreement specifies that Grover Beach will maintain ownership of the conduit system and lease Digital West conduit access at an annual rate of 5.1 percent of total fiber revenue. Digital West will build, own, and maintain the fiber-optic network, several lines of which will be leased to the city for public administrative use. Upon approval from both parties, the 10-year agreement can be renewed in 5-year increments.

A May 2016 Grover City staff report provided an optimistic forecast from Digital West:

The forecasted revenue amount speculated by Digital West Network, Inc. for the City is estimated to grow from a first year projection of $4,437 to $112,302 in year 10, for a total over the 10 years of $602,285. This amount is much higher than the originally predicted 10 year projection of $32,038 per year represented by Digital West Network, Inc. in 2014. The increase projections are due to the fact that they plan to add the residential market to our options which is projected to fall under the lease agreement. This brings greater benefit to the community, as well as more revenue commission to the City. 

We outlined the network’s projected costs in a story last year.

Fiber Surfin’ USA

The Central Californian coastal city hopes its unique location near a trans-Pacific cable landing station will attract scores of investment and cause the moniker “Silicon Dunes” to stick. Pacific Crossing’s undersea cable is part of a four point fiber ring connecting the Japanese cities of Shima and Ajigaura with Harbour Pointe, Washington, and Grover Beach.

Grover Beach Chooses Local Partner to Improve Local Connectivity for Businesses

After several years of considering options for a municipal network, the community of Grover Beach, California, is improving local connectivity options through a collaboration with private partner Digital West

According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, the City struck a deal last fall with the local firm that will provide gigabit connectivity to local business customers. A city staff report states that Grover Beach will install and own a series of conduit that will house fiber owned by Digital West. 

The company, a data storage and web hosting firm located in nearby San Luis Obispo, will manage the fiber network. Digital West will lease conduit space from the city for 5.1% of its gross revenue from its operation of the private portion of the system. The initial lease is for a 10-year term. The company will also transfer ownership of some of the fiber to the city for public purposes. San Luis Obispo (SLO) County also wants to connect its facilities in the area and will contribute to the cost of the project. It appears as though SLO County will use the fiber provided to Grover Beach.

Grover Beach will contribute $500,000; SLO County will contribute $268,000; Digital West will contribute $159,000 to the total cost of $927,000 of the project. The parties agree that the city's contribution will be capped at $500,000. The staff report recommends an interdepartmental loan to finance the city's portion of the conduit installation.

Digital West has been an instrumental player in the city's quest for improved connectivity for several years. The company provides Internet service in SLO County and manages a private network offering connectivity, colocation, and cloud services to commercial clients. 

Grover Beach is also the location of the Pacific Crossing trans-Pacific fiber cable, connecting to Shima, Japan. In 2009, Digital West began working with Grover Beach to find ways to take advantage of the pipe. The city and Digital West have sence developed a Technology Master Plan and an Implementation Plan.