We’ve got some great news for you — Surfnet just won a $10 million grant from the California Public Utilities Commission to establish more high-speed, fiber broadband connections!

Here’s what Surfnet’s CEO, Mark Morgenthaler, said about the news:

“Everyone who lives in rural and mountainous communities deserves access to reliable, high-speed internet service, from families and seniors to remote workers and small businesses. We view Surfnet as a local community asset and we’re so thankful for the support we’ve received from our customers over time. This is a very big day because we now have a clear path to providing more resilient internet infrastructure that meets the unique needs and challenges of the rural communities we serve.”

Here’s what we will soon be offering to customers in select areas of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo counties: Access to increased download speed of up to 1,000%, and increased upload speed of as much as 3,330%. For more information on where we will be able to offer these speeds, please visit our website.

For customers who are located outside of the selected areas, we are pursuing speed increases that will utilize current equipment and wireless technologies. More to come on that effort! In the meantime, we currently have additional options for faster speeds and better service for many of our customers. To learn more, please call (831) 439-7873 if you live in Santa Cruz County or Santa Clara County, or (805) 461-4050 if you live in San Luis Obispo County.

These speed increases support Surfnet’s goal to provide our customers with reliable connectivity, while also increasing access to the internet for rural residents and businesses alike. Even better, we’re helping to future-proof local infrastructure – our fiber will be ready to scale up for the inevitable future speed increases.

We’re wasting no time with this project, with plans to start installation work this summer and delivering increased speeds to the first customers this fall. Full implementation of this new infrastructure is expected to take approximately 18 months.

As your locally-owned and operated internet provider, we’re here for you – no matter what, through snow and ice to mudslides and wildfires. We understand rural life and we’re ready to help our community step up to high-speed broadband.

We’ll be in touch with updates on when we can take your internet service from great to amazing. In the meantime, visit our website for the latest from Surfnet.