Layers of regulation: CPUC maintains grip on telecoms infrastructure

29 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Kicking down barriers to competition, progressively.

There’s always a danger of reading too much into a single, seemingly routine decision by the California Public Utilities Commission, but I’ll risk it. Earlier this month, the CPUC granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Schat Communications LLC, which is a sister company of Schat.net, an Internet service provider in eastern California. In doing so, the commission determined that Schat is a “telephone corporation” under Californian law and can be regulated as such.… More

CPUC finds a legal way to treat ISPs as regulated phone companies


CPUC sends a Schat across incumbents’ bow.

Buried in last week’s California Public Utilities Commission consent agenda was a resolution granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to Schat Communications, an independent Internet servicer provider based in Bishop, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Schat applied for the CPCN in order to qualify for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants for two proposed last mile projects in Mono and Inyo Counties.… More