The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the city was awarded $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the expansion of its municipal network. Voters recently approved $20 million in bonds for the work.
Palo Alto is still at least five years away from a citywide fiber network, but 738 residents had already contributed $50 each to to the cause, helping the city crowdsource $35,000 for a nonexistent project.
As Palo Alto embarks on its journey to build a citywide fiber-optic network that delivers high-speed internet, a new analysis of the proposed system is giving city leaders both hope and anxiety.