A $50 million initiative to expand broadband Internet access to the Big Sur coast, Salinas Valley corridor and link to hubs in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties is getting a strong Wi-Fi signal. The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved a nearly $5 million grant to develop a 428-mile fiber optic cable connecting the Central Coast. The Governor’s Office and Rep. Sam Farr are backing the project, led by the Central Coast Broadband Consortium.

The group of government, education, business, and healthcare leaders has been working for several years to close the digital divide in the region’s rural and underserved areas along Highway 1 south of Carmel Highlands, south of Salinas along Highway 101 and North County, says Arlene Krebs, director of CSUMB’s Wireless Education and Technology Center. Not enough customers live in these areas to warrant infrastructure investment by Internet service providers.

Enter stimulus money. “The government is helping to provide the funding to lay infrastructure where it is geographically challenging and too expensive for traditional carriers to go in,” Krebs says.

CCBC has applied for a $40 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant.

No California projects were tapped for cash on Dec. 17 when the feds unveiled the first round of broadband awards. Local leaders are still optimistic: The government will announce grants through February, and if the consortium comes up short, there’s a second round of funding wrapping up in September.

Steve Blum, president of Tellus Venture Associates and a member of CCBC’s Governing Council, says the “middle mile” network is like a high-speed Internet highway. “It makes it very easy to build a road from that highway to your house,” Blum says, adding that it will allow more independent ISPs to come in, and compete, thus lowering Internet bills.

Countywide, the network is expected to enhance public safety, spur economic development and increase government tax revenues. The broadband group plans to form a nonprofit cooperative to manage the network, Blum says, adding that customers and institutions, similar to REI shoppers, could receive an annual dividend.