There has never been a greater need to close the digital divide for unserved and underserved communities. EQAC is dedicated to going where no for-profit corporation will go – to those that need broadband access the most.

EQAC began as a project of the Russian River Alliance to bring free public Wi-Fi to downtown Guerneville in Sonoma County, a disadvantaged rural community. Because rural and disadvantaged areas do not have enough income or population to attract large corporate broadband providers, these areas are left with minimal, if any connectivity. During the past 5 years, the town of Guerneville has suffered through floods, fires, and a pandemic where the ability to operate online for education and disaster preparedness has been more critical than ever.

During the Walbridge and LNU fires of 2020 and 2021 all communications were down, meaning that fire fighters couldn’t reach each other, evacuation information could not get out, and pockets of residents were left without any way to know what danger was coming or how to respond. During the pandemic education took place online, yet whole communities are unable to get cell, wifi or broadband connectivity.

The challenges that Guerneville faces are very similar to pretty much every rural community in California. From our success with Guerneville, we have created a model that can be duplicated across all of rural California.

EQAC was formed as a charitable and public purpose to fund deployment and access to broadband facilities; fund technology, equipment, content, and training necessary to provide broadband service to unserved and underserved communities, and to disseminate information in order to advance these goals.

This is the sole purpose of EQAC public benefit corporation and receives 100% of the 501(c)3 time and funding. The project is funded by grants from County, State, and Federal funding. We anticipate applying for funding from private foundations, although government grants will be the primary funding source. The Board is founded with volunteer directors; purchase and installation of the equipment and technical support is provided through contractors working for the corporation.