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Business as usual so far for Frontier's proposed takeover of Verizon's Californian landlines


Round up the usual suspects.

The proposed takeover of Verizon’s wireline broadband, telephone and video systems in California by Frontier Communications hasn’t attracted an unusual amount of opposition yet. That’s not to say there’s no opposition, just that it’s mostly coming from the usual groups making the usual objections.

Three consumer advocacy groups – TURN, the Center for Accessible Technology and the Greenlining Institute – generally said the companies hadn’t provided enough information to the California Public Utilities Commission, which has to approve the deal.… More

AT&T says its future is fiber, but that doesn't mean yours is too

30 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Hanging out, but not hanging fiber.

With the Comcast mega-merger officially dead, the next big deal in line for federal review is AT&T’s proposed purchase of DirecTv. The buzz is that regulators don’t have the same concerns and the expectation is that AT&T will get a green light. The odd thing, though, is that the idea that the deal will improve rural broadband seems to have caught on in Washington.

AT&T sent a letter (h/t to the Eldo Telecom blog for the pointer) to the FCC claiming that consumers would see faster broadband speeds if the deal is approved because off-loading video delivery onto satellite will free up wireline bandwidth and that, somehow, the deal will make fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) service economically feasible for two million more homes.… More

Comcast deal started, but didn't finish, the job of defining the CPUC's broadband regulatory role

29 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Reintroduce, reuse, recycle.

A lot of energy and angst was expended over the defunct Comcast – Time Warner – Charter mega-merger and market swap, much of it involving the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of the deal. With the abrupt end to the transaction, there’s nothing much left to do about it until the next dealmaker comes along to pick up the pieces. But it wasn’t all wasted work.

The process set the CPUC on the path to overseeing broadband infrastructure, services and markets in California.… More

More trouble for Sierra Nevada broadband grant proposals

28 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click and see for yourself.

Another challenge has been filed against the applications submitted by Cal.net for broadband infrastructure grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Conifer Communications – another wireless Internet service provider in the Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley – served notice yesterday that it objected, at least in part, to Cal.net’s plans to serve Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. It’s the second formal objection to the projects made public; a group of rural telcos filed the first last week.… More

Death of the Comcast deal isn't the end of broadband consolidation in California

27 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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It keeps pulling itself back together.

The end of the Comcast – Time Warner – Charter mega-merger and market swap means the cable television market in California will still be split mostly between the four largest U.S. cable companies, which are those three plus Cox. At least for now.

Conventional wisdom says that Time Warner is still in play, and Charter is likely to be the next company to make a move. Unless Time Warner decides to try to buy Charter first.… More

Rural telcos challenge Sierra wireless broadband proposals

26 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the complete challenge letter.

Three rural telephone companies are challenging wireless broadband projects in the Sierra Nevada proposed by Cal.net for construction grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).

Volcano Telephone Company, Calaveras Telephone Company and Sierra Telephone Company jointly sent a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday saying they provide adequate broadband service – at least 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds – to some of the areas targeted by Cal.net… More

No tears at the Comcast-Time Warner-Charter mega-deal funeral

25 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Whoops. Missed the ruby slippers again.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler and U.S. attorney general Eric Holder both took a victory lap yesterday, proclaiming that the death of the Comcast-Time Warner-Charter deal was, respectively, “in the best interests” and the “best outcome” for U.S. consumers.

And so it is. And doubly so for California, where Comcast would have been left with control – monopoly or duopoly – of at least 86% of the broadband market.… More

Comcast deal shuddering to a halt in Washington

24 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Hard to guarantee good predatory behavior.

UPDATE 24 April 2015: Comcast and Time Warner have officially called it off.

The mega-merger and market swap involving Comcast, Time Warner and Charter is either dead or dying, according to news reports. Bloomberg reported that Comcast isn’t happy with FCC and federal department of justice plans to send the deal into a hearing process, which is usually a prelude to killing proposed mergers, although it’s possible to mount a defence.… More

Harder push for faster broadband speeds in California

23 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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California should raise its minimum standard for broadband, CPUC commissioner Catherine Sandoval said during yesterday’s meeting of the California Broadband Council in Sacramento. The goal “is to the increase the minimum speed that counts as served in California to mirror the FCC’s speed of 25 mbps down and 3 up”, she said. “I think it’s imperative that the state amend its definition”. Sandoval said she’ll be working to do that via existing California Public Utilities Commission processes, and also pointed to a bill sponsored by Santa Cruz legislator Mark Stone – assembly bill 238 – that would do the same thing.… More

Public sector broadband customers are slow to change, even when it means fast broadband

22 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for a bigger version.

Schools and other big broadband users have been slow to sign up for service on Digital 395, a 500-plus mile fiber network that reaches from Reno, down the eastern Calfiornia side of the Sierra Nevada, along U.S. Highway 395, to Barstow. The slower than expected take up rate for anchor institutions is causing financial headaches for the system, according to Michael Ort, president of Praxis Associates, the lead company on the Digital 395 project.… More