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Three ways to bridge California's digital divide

29 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not the best way to solve transportation problems either.

I was at the state assembly’s select committee on the digital divide in California on Tuesday, and offered my comments…
Good morning. My name is Stephen Blum, my company is Tellus Venture Associates, in Marina, in Assemblyman Stone’s district. I’m a broadband development consultant and a member of the Central Coast Broadband Consortium. I work for several cities and other regional broadband consortia in California, in both urban and rural areas.… More

Do your own thing is a poor way to plan broadband in California

28 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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“The funding seems to be in silos, how do we break these silos down?”, asked assemblyman Jim Wood (D – Healdsburg) at the first meeting of the assembly’s select committee on the digital divide in California this morning. He was responding to presentations from representatives of organisations that specialise in developing broadband infrastructure for education, health care and public safety agencies. Those networks meet important needs, but for the most part have been, or are being, built with little or no consideration for overall broadband infrastructure development priorities in the state.… More

New York attorney general says ISP speed matters more than disclaimers

27 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s gotta at least be in the ballpark.

The New York attorney general wants Time Warner, Cablevision and Verizon to explain how they manage they manage the Internet connections that they sell to consumers, and how they do business among themselves and with other telecommunications companies. Letters sent to the three companies point to the disconnect between what’s advertised, what’s sold and what’s actually delivered.

The letter sent to Time Warner Cable is typical (links to the others are below)…

This Office is concerned that, for reasons substantially within TWC’s control, consumers may not be experiencing the speeds advertised.

… More

Should broadband lifeline subsidies minimise cost or maximise service?

26 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Cost matters.

Frontier Communications told the Federal Communications Commission that setting minimum broadband speed requirements for lifeline programs aimed at low income people would be a barrier to greater broadband adoption. In a presentation published (per standard procedure) on the FCC’s website, the company’s in-house lobbyists told commission staff…

Minimum service standards may be a good idea in some respects but must not prevent or limit consumer choice.
– The Commission asks about setting a minimum speed for fixed Internet services, such as 10 Mbps [download speed]/1 Mbps [upload speed].

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Gigabit for San Jose could cost Google a gigabuck

23 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the network diagrams (also included in the full report below)

The environmental review of Google’s possible fiber optic network in San Jose includes a surprisingly detailed description of the network, including diagrams of the local distribution system with breakouts by aerial and conduit routes. It’s a good primer for anyone interested in learning how a fiber to the home network is designed and built. According to the report…

Google Fiber’s FTTP infrastructure consists of four primary elements.

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Google Fiber gets initial enviro okay in San Jose, could be model for California

22 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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I hope they survey me, Robin. The Batcave still has dial up.

Google Fiber is taking a harder look at San Jose. The city has prepared the initial environmental assessment, more than 400 pages long, which declares there will be no significant environmental impact if Google builds out a fiber to the home system there…

The proposed Project includes the following components: The installation of approximately 2,300 miles of fiber optic cables (consisting of about 1,340 miles of below ground installation and 960 miles of aerial installation using existing utility poles); the installation of approximately ten Local Aggregation Sites either inside pre-fabricated communications shelters (fiber huts) or enclosed within existing commercial buildings; underground utility vaults and utility cabinets; and connections directly to customers.

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Verizon's California copper will rot if it isn't sold

21 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not much incentive to spend on copper.

Verizon’s wireline future is fiber, not copper. That’s the takeaway from yesterday’s quarterly earnings call, where Fran Shammo, Verizon’s chief financial officer, talked up the company’s wireless plans, and said that selling its mostly copper systems in California (and Florida and Texas) was a good move strategically, because the company’s wireline investments are focused on fiber…

Most of that property was copper, not fiber. So when we look at the East Coast, it’s a much different footprint.

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Charter charges Salinas Valley high price for 1980s TV

20 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Gonzales gets the facts of life.

If you live in Watsonville, California, you can go to Charter Communications’ website and find a triple play package that gives you 60 Mbps download speeds, more than 200 channels of television, HD included, a digital video recorder and unlimited long distance calling for as little as $70 a month. There are strings attached at that price point, but it’s still a pretty good deal.
If you live in the Salinas Valley, 40 miles to the south in Gonzales, it’s a different story.… More

Surfnet takes another try in the Santa Cruz mountains

19 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for a bigger picture.

Los Cumbres is a private community in the Santa Cruz mountains with old-style DSL service. Surfnet Communications, a wireless Internet service provider in the area, is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for a $730,000 grant and a $243,000 loan from the California Advanced Services Fund to build a fiber to the home system there.

The project would reach something like 180 homes, at a total cost of $1.2 million, with the balance paid by the Las Cumbres homeowners association and Surfnet.… More

Cutting the cord doesn't really mean cutting the cord

18 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s still a battle.

Nearly a quarter of the U.S. population doesn’t have a pay TV subscription, via cable or satellite. A report published by Forrester Research and reported on by the FierceOnlineVideo and the Wall Street Journal says that 24% of U.S. television viewers don’t buy linear cable or satellite packages. What’s interesting, though, is that the number of people who have never been subscribers is three times as high as people who have bought it at one point and then cut the cord, as they say in the cable business.… More