Fresno County residents living in the rural areas of Riverdale will now have access to reliable high-speed internet.
Comcast joined Fresno County officials on Tuesday to announce that the Xfinity network will be available to 162 people who were previously underserved.
Driving the news: The broadband expansion was made possible by a $1 million Federal Funding Account Grant from the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as private funding by Comcast.
What they’re saying: “This is big because really the only high speed internet is actually physically in school,” said Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes. “So if you’re out of school, you don’t have the ability to interconnect with it, so you can’t even do extra projects or anything at home.”
- Comcast Director of Government Affairs Nathan Ahle said the partnership with the state is a last mile project to help connect Riverdale.
- “It means everything with access to online learning and banking services and college applications and telehealth and job opportunities – a stable broadband is everything,” Ahle said. “And I live in the Central Valley. This is my home and it’s always great to see communities in Fresno County help bridge that digital divide and get these communities really the access that they deserve.”
