Marin County has won an $11 million state grant to bring high-speed, fiber-optic internet to Tomales, Dillon Beach and Muir Beach, beating out AT&T. The project, which must be completed by 2026, is expected to provide access to some 650 homes across the three villages. “We are thrilled to see years of hard work to bridge the digital divide come to fruition with this grant,” said Liza Massey, the county’s chief information officer. The county intends to keep its system open to various internet service providers, giving customers the chance to choose whichever is most to their liking. “The open-access model, which is new to Marin and seldom used across the country, will serve as an innovative proof of concept,” Ms. Massey said. “We are excited about its potential to be replicated and create more equitable access in the future.” Once connected, consumers can subscribe or unsubscribe from various internet packages without changing equipment or paying additional fees. Internet service will range from $40 to $60 a month, and installation will be free. Wired broadband networks deliver faster and more dependable service than other internet options, and they have not been available across all West Marin. The new infrastructure will allow for speeds up to eight times faster than those currently offered by local providers, said Bruce Vogen, a broadband systems engineer for the county’s information services department. “The wired connections that will be available to the villages will be more reliable, more resilient and less costly than the alternatives currently available to them,” he said. Bringing wired internet to the three villages will cost an average of $17,000 per home. Smaller clusters across West Marin, including about 300 residences on Tomales Bay’s east shore and in Chileno Valley, were considered for the project but proved economically infeasible, Mr. Vogen said. Homes on the east shore would have cost an additional $28,000 per household because of coastal and environmental permits, and Chileno Valley is too far from the broadband cable’s location on Highway 1. The broadband project is part of Digital Marin, a cross-sector initiative bringing together corporations, educational institutions and government agencies in an effort to address digital equity gaps.