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Faster speeds can offset higher costs in FCC broadband subsidy auction

1 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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What do I hear bid?

The Federal Communications Commission is defining 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds as “baseline performance” for the next round of Connect America Fund 2 (CAF-2) broadband subsidies. It’s not a hard requirement, but speeds at or above that level will give applicants extra credit when the FCC runs a reverse auction – probably later this year – to award $215 million in annual subsidies for ten years in eligible areas that weren’t included in the last round of CAF-2 awards.… More

Unanimous vote to bring California utility regulation back to Sacramento

31 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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The California assembly has backed off from giving AT&T a free pass to yank out wireline service in less lucrative rural and inner city communities, but it’s moving ahead with a plan to completely re-write the way telecommunications and other utilities are regulated.

On the same day it put AT&T’s copper killer bill on what appears to be terminal hold, the assembly appropriations committee unanimously approved a constitutional amendment that would, in effect, turn utility regulation into just another state function, carried out by departments answerable to the legislature and the governor.… More

AT&T's attempt to rewrite California law shredded by a higher power

28 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Wrong day to be a shark.

By the formal rules of the California assembly, AT&T’s attempt to reboot its monopoly without regulatory constraints is dead. Yesterday, the assembly’s appropriations committee took assembly bill 2395 out of legislative limbo and sat on it. That means the bill didn’t clear the committee by the official deadline – also yesterday – and can’t move forward without extraordinary maneuvers by legislative leadership.

That’s not likely to happen. The decision to stop AB 2395 instead of keeping it alive would have been made by legislative leaders in the first place.… More

California legislators put overconfident AT&T's wireline exit bill on ice for now

26 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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At least one side came prepared.

AT&T’s campaign to rewrite California law and yank wireline service out of less lucrative rural and inner city communities is in legislative limbo, at least temporarily. The assembly appropriations committee met yesterday to consider assembly bill 2395, which was written by AT&T and carried on its behalf by assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley).

I wasn’t in Sacramento for it, but I watched the webcast and it appeared that AT&T and assembly members friendly to its cause were not prepared for the opposition that arose during the meeting, nor the increasingly skeptical responses from committee members that it appeared to generate.… More

California dig once bill beefed up

24 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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At least it’s moving again.

Caltrans would have to let broadband companies and other organisations know about opportunities to include conduit in road construction and maintenance projects. If no one bites, then Caltrans would install it. That’s what new dig once amendments to assembly bill 1549 would require, if it becomes law…

  • During the design phase of a department-led highway construction project, the department shall notify verified companies and organizations of the project to encourage collaborative broadband installations.
… More

Bad Verizon data led to Frontier's customer call tsunami, legislators told

19 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Oops.

The problems Frontier Communications had as it took over ownership and operating control of wireline phone systems belonging to Verizon were chewed over in a California assembly committee hearing yesterday. Melinda White, president of Frontier’s west region, told committee members that the service outages experienced by some customers were primarily due to three causes:

  • Corrupt data in the customer records imported from Verizon’s system.
  • Records that said some customers’ equipment had one serial number when in fact it had another.
… More

No compromise as AT&T snakes more perks into California copper killer bill

18 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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No mistaking when a copper head responds.

AT&T isn’t interested in third party improvements to the copper retirement bill it wrote and assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley) is guiding through the California legislature. In fact, AT&T and Low want to make sure there’s no misunderstanding about assembly bill 2395’s real intentions.

An amended version was posted Monday night. It includes meaningless cosmetic changes – requiring 60 days notice to consumers before turning off service instead of 30, for example – to give the impression that AT&T is responding to growing protests about the bill.… More

California lawmakers need sharper thinking, reality check on telecoms policy

16 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Not everyone is 99 and 44/100% pure.

No one expected zero problems when Frontier took over Verizon’s telephone systems in California last month. At least no one who understands that big telecommunications companies are complicated and not particularly predictable. It’s a lesson that California lawmakers should take to heart, as they consider allowing AT&T to replace wireline service with cell phones at will.

Frontier added about two million customers to its existing 200,000 subscriber base in California, scattered across 150 telephone exchanges that range from the best infrastructure in the state – FiOS-brand fiber to the home – to the worst.… More

Charter gets CPUC okay to buy Time Warner, Bright House

13 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s all Charter territory now.

Charter Communications will own Time Warner cable systems in southern California and Bright House systems in the San Joaquin Valley and become the state’s largest cable company, following yesterday’s unanimous approval of the deal by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Commission president Michael Picker – technically, the commissioner responsible for the decision text – made one change to the revised draft prepared by an administrative law judge. He added a three year limit on Charter’s obligation to “comply with all the terms and conditions of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order, regardless of the outcome of any legal challenge”.… More

AT&T plan to scrap copper networks will widen digital divide, say rural reps

10 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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AT&T’s attempt to force a bill through the California legislature that would allow it to, among other things, replace low priced, low margin wireline systems with more lucrative wireless service continues to draw fire from rural interests. The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) – a group comprised of supervisors from 35 rural counties – is urging its members to oppose assembly bill 2395, a proposed law written by AT&T and carried by assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley).… More