Infrastructure Insights

Why the Network Uses Both Fiber and Wireless

Understanding the unique infrastructure design for Pauma Valley.

Core Infrastructure

The Fiber Backbone

If fiber-optic cable is the gold standard for internet, why isn't every home getting fiber? The answer comes down to the unique terrain of Pauma Valley. Fiber is the backbone of the network, carrying internet as pulses of light through buried glass cables. It is designed to get faster over time by changing equipment at each end, without needing more construction.

Luminous fiber optic cables glowing with blue and orange light pulses

Reaching Every Home

However, trenching costs the same per mile whether it serves forty homes or just one. For a house at the end of a long grade or across rocky terrain, fixed wireless from a tower is what makes the connection possible. By using both technologies, the Tribe ensures coverage for the most remote homes that a fiber-only design might leave behind.

High-altitude wireless telecommunications tower on a rocky mountain ridge

A Network Built for Pauma

Questions about whether your home will be connected, what service will cost, or when construction reaches your area are answered by the Tribe's broadband program.