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Microsoft discovers Google's business model in spectral gaps

22 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Me too.

Microsoft’s TV white space broadband initiative is many things – a worthy effort to expand Internet access, a way of squeezing more useable bandwidth out of finite radio spectrum, a call to action for rural economic development and, as willingly acknowledged, a business opportunity.

It is also a foray into the market economics of free software. White space is the gaps between active television channels, which vary according to where you are in relation to whatever TV stations might be around.… More

Cable industry snags a side deal in California legislature's wireless giveaway

21 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Another present was placed under the senate bill 649 Christmas tree this week. Language was added that would make it crystal clear that local governments in California can’t require cable companies to pay any fees or obtain any permits, beyond what’s allowed by state law, including particularly the digital infrastructure and video competition act (DIVCA) and SB 649.

It will probably have a relatively minor impact, assuming it’s not interpreted to ban routine construction approvals – building and encroachment permits, for example – which seems unlikely.… More

CPUC support for broadband common carrier rules stops short of the best reason

20 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission made the Monday deadline for commenting on the Trump administration’s move to scrap common carrier rules for broadband service. The filing more or less followed along with a rough draft approved by commissioners last week, and argues that reversing course would strengthen incumbent monopolies…

[Broadband service] providers must receive nondiscriminatory access to utility support structures, including poles and conduits, at just and reasonable rates, terms and conditions. Last year, the CPUC conducted a comprehensive review of the California telecommunications market, and analyzed the state of competition in various state sub-markets.

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California lawmakers revive Internet privacy rules dumped by Trump administration

19 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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California is stepping into the privacy vacuum created by federal policy makers when they scrapped consumer protection rules adopted last year. Assembly bill 375 was approved by the senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee yesterday. It would put sharp restrictions on what Internet service providers can do with their customers’ information…

An Internet service provider may use, disclose, sell, or permit access to customer personal information if the customer gives the Internet service provider prior opt-in consent, which may be revoked by the customer at any time.

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Hostile takeover of California broadband subsidies on ice, for now

18 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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The attempt by telephone and cable companies to hijack the California Advanced Services Fund – the state’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program – is derailed, for at least a few weeks and probably forever. Keeping in mind that forever in Sacramento’s dictionary means until the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Assembly bill 1665 was pulled off of this morning’s agenda in the senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee, which means that it can’t be considered again (in the normal course of business) until lawmakers return from their summer break on 21 August 2017.… More

Cracks in Frontier's business model widen

17 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Competition and a botched takeover of Verizon wireline systems in California, Texas and Florida are pushing Frontier Communications deeper into the red, as its customers cancel service. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, via Morningstar.com, company executives have backed away from predictions that falling subscriber revenue would soon be on the way up…

Revenue has instead declined companywide for the past year. Frontier’s 2016 loss widened to $373 million from $196 million a year earlier.

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AT&T, Frontier want right of the first night in rural California

16 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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One of the perks that telco and cable lobbyists slipped into a broadband infrastructure subsidy bill pending in the California senate is the right to take the first look at proposed projects in unserved rural areas, so they can decide whether or not they want to be the ones to consummate the deal. In medieval times (or at least in the movie Braveheart) something very similar was called jus primae noctis, the right of the first night, where a feudal lord claimed the privilege of taking a newly wedded bride to bed.… More

PG&E's bid to be a fiber company gets a long review

15 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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PG&E will have to explain how it manages requests from telecoms companies to hang cable and other equipment on its utility poles, as the California Public Utilities Commission reviews its application to become a fully certified, commercial fiber network operator. After a meeting with PG&E and the companies and organisations that have raised objections to PG&E’s move, the administrative law judge, Jessica Hecht, and the commissioner, Liane Randolph, handling the review laid out a year-long review schedule that identifies the issues that will be addressed.… More

CPUC debunks Frontier's service claims, approves FTTH grant in Phelan

The high desert community of Phelan, in San Bernardino County, will get gigabit class fiber to the home service. The California Public Utilities Commission voted four to one yesterday to approve a $28 million grant to Race Telecommunications, which will cover 60% of the cost of building the project. The single no came from commission president Michael Picker.

The decision had been delayed two weeks, while Race and Frontier Communications explored ways they might work together.… More

California bill magically improves broadband service to 280,000 homes

13 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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If too many Californians have substandard broadband, the best way to fix it is to lower the standards. That’s the perverse logic that’s captured the thinking, such as it is, of a senate committee that’s considering a rewrite of California’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program. It would let AT&T and Frontier Communications fence off poorly served rural communities from competition, and get taxpayer money as a reward.

As the senate energy, utilities and communications (EU&C) committee’s analysis of assembly bill 1665 explains…

This bill would alter the current CASF goal by reducing the eligibility speed to 6 Mbps/1 Mbps from the current 6 Mbps/1.5Mbps and exclude CAF II areas, as well as, areas where incumbent providers claim they plan to deploy service.

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