Through a collaborative effort between local ministries and RACE Communications, Williams Community Church is now the first site with gigabit internet speed in all of Colusa County – taking the first step in bringing much needed internet access to the rural community.
“Williams Community Church is honored to be part of the beginning of such a big change for our county,” said Jason McMullan, pastor of Williams Community Church.
To commemorate this achievement, the church held a dedication ceremony and event at City Hall last week, where representatives from RACE Communication were on hand to answer questions about the service, address concerns about the technology and discuss current and future plans for rolling out this service across the county. Currently, there are plans to roll out the service to Arbuckle and Colusa in the near future.
Lunch was also provided by Arbuckle-based food truck Sauced.
“Today was awesome,” McMullan said after the June 15 town hall. .”
RACE is a fully licensed telecommunications company dedicated to providing reliable, fiber-based broadband internet and advanced communications at an affordable price, officials said.
“RACE understands that high-speed Internet access consists of two very different worlds between rural and urban areas and strives to bridge that gap,” officials said.
To date, officials said RACE has received more than a dozen separate grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) through the California Public Utilities Commission to advance broadband adoption and deployment. infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas.
“Residents of the company’s fiber footprint can take advantage of the gigabit download and upload speeds available with fiber optic technology as well as fiber-based telephony and television services,” the officials said.
The services provided by RACE cost between $10 and $95 per month.
According to RACE officials, the initial CASF grant was approved for the development at Williams in November 2020 and construction began in the summer of 2021. Construction was completed in May 2022 and the first official installations began on the 8 June.
The total cost of the project was $8,448,507, according to RACE officials.
“The RACE Communications team partners with local leaders and municipalities to meet the needs of each community and works diligently to bring robust network solutions to these cities,” officials said.
