Month: July 2014

The history of electricity does explain muni broadband, if you read the whole book

31 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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There are parallels to be drawn between municipally operated electric utilities and broadband systems. Brian Fung, a blogger writing in the Washington Post, (h/t to Fred Pilot at the Eldo Telcom blog for the pointer) uses the example of the growth of depression-era federal projects, initiated by Franklin Roosevelt, that generated electricity and used city-run electric systems to distribute it…

Roosevelt launched the Tennessee Valley Authority…and the Rural Electrification Administration, among a number of other offices meant to provide power to those who’d been passed over by the privately owned utilities because those areas weren’t as profitable.

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FCC offers first class and coach options for commenting on muni broadband petitions

30 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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The FCC now has two petitions in front of it, asking that state restrictions on municipal broadband be swept aside. In both cases – Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina – the cities are already operating fiber-to-the-home systems in conjunction with muni electric utilities and want to expand their service areas. The Tennessee and North Carolina laws are different, but each in its own way effectively prevents FTTH expansion outside of the city or its immediate surroundings.… More

Broadband subsidies for public housing might be wrapped in less red tape

29 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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Assuming there aren’t back channel conversations going on, there seems to be something like a consensus forming around draft rules proposed for subsidising broadband facilities and marketing programs in public housing in California.

Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission released recommendations for spending $20 million on upgrading broadband infrastructure in public housing and $5 million on programs to encourage residents to subscribe to and use Internet services. The money was part of a grand deal made last year to top up the California Advanced Services Fund and expand eligibility – at least in theory – to independent Internet service providers and, to an even more limited extent, local governments.… More

Three reasons to ignore the muni broadband debate at the FCC

28 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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Over the past few days, I’ve written several posts about what I characterise as FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s muni broadband posturing. I don’t think anything good or useful will come of it. In a comment on yesterday’s post though, Christopher Mitchell, a muni broadband advocate, asked a very relevant question, which I will boil down to: so what?.

It’s a fair question. I take Robert Heinlein’s maxim as axiomatic: Certainly the game is rigged.… More

Muni advocates need to be careful what they wish for at the FCC

27 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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If you like the idea of cities and other local agencies encouraging broadband development and deciding to go into the business themselves – as I do – then FCC chair Tom Wheeler’s talk about sweeping away state-level restrictions is sweet music to the ears.

The City of Chattanooga certainly enjoys the tune. It filed a petition with the FCC on Thursday, asking it to override a Tennessee law that prevents it from expanding its fiber-to-the-home network.… More

Comcast to California: we want it all

26 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full version.

One of the (apparent) revelations in the arguments Comcast submitted to the FCC in support of its proposed take over of Time-Warner Cable and a market consolidation swap with Charter Communications is that it is not going to give up even a tiny piece of California. I guess we should feel flattered.

When the market swap was announced in April, the plan was for Comcast to add all of Time-Warner’s and all of Charter’s cable systems to its extensive California holdings, except for the Lake Tahoe area.… More

Chattanooga forces Wheeler's hand: tear down muni broadband barriers

25 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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The City of Chattanooga formally asked the FCC yesterday to throw out a Tennessee state law that prevents it from extending its fiber-to-the-home network to surrounding areas. In doing so, the city is asking FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to make good on his high-sounding rhetoric about pre-empting state restrictions on municipal broadband.

The filing is a goldmine of information. The petition itself was written by muni broadband legal expert Jim Baller, and the attachments provide a wealth of case study material on the Chattanooga project specifically, and the history of muni broadband regulation and legislation in general.… More

State legislators draw the battle line for fight over muni broadband

24 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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A more serious – and serious-minded – challenge has emerged to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s supposed plan to pre-empt state laws restricting municipal broadband projects. The National Conference of State Legislatures sent Wheeler a letter threatening to take the FCC to court if he moves ahead…

As you consider your course of action on this matter, we encourage you to heed the principles of federalism and caution you of the numerous decisions by the United States Supreme Court with regard to the relationship between the state and its political subdivisions.

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Comcast apologises for beating up customers, all the way to the bank

23 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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You want to cancel? Squirt a few first.

Comcast’s senior management had a mommy/daddy moment this week. On Monday, COO Dave Watson sent a memo to employees saying basically that the viral recording of a Comcast customer service rep browbeating a subscriber who wanted to cancel was a wee bit over the top, but hey, we understand…

The agent on this call did a lot of what we trained him and paid him — and thousands of other Retention agents — to do.

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Comcast's broken promises detailed in letter to FCC

22 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”

The California Emerging Technology Fund and a long list of affiliated groups want the FCC to force Comcast to live up its own commitments, if the proposed merger with Time-Warner Cable and the market swaps with Charter Communications are approved. In a letter to the commissioners and supporting documents, CETF blasts the way Comcast has handled a program – called Internet Essentials – it claimed would give $10 per month Internet service to low income families with children…

In 3 years, Comcast has signed up only 11% of the eligible households in California and the nation.

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