Skyler Ditchfield, chief executive of internet service provider GeoLinks, has been appointed to the Federal Communication Commission’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. Ditchfield is the only Southern California representative on the 39-member committee that is charged with bridging the digital divide and providing recommendations on bringing broadband throughout the U.S. The committee was re-chartered for two years by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and will meet on June 13. The agenda of the committee’s first meeting will be to introduce the members, describe the working groups, assign members to working groups, and begin discussing how to accelerate the deployment of broadband by reducing and/or removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment. Ditchfield previously served on a subgroup of the committee that did work on permitting and siting broadband connections on federal lands as well as the Broadband Disaster and Recovery working group where he contributed to recommending measures to improve the broadband infrastructure before disasters happen and to restore them afterwards. When asked to join the full committee, Ditchfield said his initial response was to decline because he was busy running GeoLinks, in Camarillo. But then he reconsidered when he thought about the influence and visibility the company would have inside the FCC. “Unfortunately, it was eight weeks past the deadline,” Ditchfield said. “But Chairman Pai was kind enough to waive the deadline and allow me in and appoint me to the committee.” Congress is currently debating the LIFT America Act, which allocates $40 billion to bring broadband connections to underserved and unserved areas and anchor institutions, such as schools, hospitals and libraries. Having grown up in an area himself that lacked internet access, Ditchfield said that bringing broadband to rural America was a passion of his that is reflected at GeoLinks. Broadband access is an equalizer whether you come from a poor rural area, a poor urban area or a wealthy urban area, Ditchfield said. It gives the ability to learn what anybody else can learn and to accomplish tasks such as starting a business, engage in e-commerce or telemedicine. “It is a great leveler of the playing field,” he added. Last year, GeoLinks was awarded $87 million from the FCC through the Connect America Fund for a project to bring internet connections to rural parts of California and Nevada. The buildout will take about six years and serve 11,800 homes. The company recently cleared all the paperwork and hurdles it needed to get funds flowing. “We are just waiting for our first check to arrive which should be in the next 30 days,” Ditchfield said.