Uncategorized

5G for fixed service is so ordinary says T-Mobile

28 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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It’s like I said, their view never changes.

There’s a war of words between T-Mobile and its larger competitors, AT&T and Verizon, over using advanced mobile technologies – 5G is the undefined buzz word – as a DSL replacement to provide fixed Internet service to homes and businesses. Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s chief technology officer, says 2017 isn’t the year to get excited about 5G, particularly AT&T’s and Verizon’s version of it…

No one’s more excited about this brilliant technology than I am.

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CPUC considers filling Silicon Valley broadband gap

27 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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A $1.1 million subsidy for a trimmed back fiber to the home project in Paradise Valley, a community in the hilly outskirts of Silicon Valley, is up for approval at the California Public Utilities Commission. Proposed in 2015 as a $2.8 million venture reaching 515 homes, the Light Saber project in southern Santa Clara County was challenged by a local wireless Internet service provider, who claimed to already cover the area.

Not completely so, apparently: more than 350 homes in less affluent San Martin were cut from the project area, but a draft resolution approving a grant for the rest from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is slated for a vote by commissioners at their first meeting in February.… More

Cable's political privileges have practical limits, says CPUC draft

26 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Some lobbyists don’t let go of old stereotypes.

Cable companies can’t have wireless privileges because they’re cable and not wireless companies. That’s the gist of a proposed decision that’s in front of the California Public Utilities Commission, and the cable industry’s hired gun lobbyists don’t like it.

Last year, the CPUC changed the rules for attaching telecoms equipment to utility poles and allowed mobile carriers and similarly licensed companies to install wireless gear on utility poles, subject to new cost sharing rules and safety regulations.… More

Fast track for telecoms projects ordered by Trump

25 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Telecommunications finally got a shout out from the new administration as president Trump included it in a list of the sort of infrastructure projects he considers to be a high priority and, consequently, deserving of quick federal environmental reviews. A low profile executive order issued yesterday put it plainly…

It is the policy of the executive branch to streamline and expedite, in a manner consistent with law, environmental reviews and approvals for all infrastructure projects, especially projects that are a high priority for the Nation, such as improving the U.S.

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Pai gets the call as weed-whacker-in-chief

24 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Mainstream, of a sort.

Ajit Pai is the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as predicted. An explicit announcement hasn’t been released – at least not as of earlier this morning – but Pai posted a thank you note and his colleagues have offered official congratulations, so take it as a given.

The appointment appears to be permanent. The FCC’s website has an historical listing of commissioners and chairs, and Pai is designated as “chairman”, while Mignon Clyburn, who held down the job while Tom Wheeler was awaiting confirmation in 2013, is listed as “acting chairwoman”.… More

Exclusive deals nixed as ISPs get access to San Francisco MDUs

23 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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It’s open season on apartment buildings and condominiums in San Francisco, at least where communications services are concerned. The San Francisco board of supervisors unanimously approved, and mayor Ed Lee signed, an ordinance that permits residents of multiple dwelling units (MDUs) to buy broadband (and telephone and video) service from any qualified provider. Landlords or homeowners associations have to allow competitive providers access to the property and to any wiring they own. ISPs have to pay “just and reasonable compensation” and give proper notice, as defined in the ordinance.… More

CPUC takes on "last remaining natural monopoly" of pole, conduit ownership

20 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Energy.

The California Public Utilities Commission will focus on a particular kind of utility in the coming year. President Michael Picker delivered what amounts to a state-of-the-CPUC address at yesterday’s meeting, the first of the year and the first with the two newest commissioners – Martha Guzman Aceves and Clifford Rechtschaffen – on board and voting.

Picker spoke at length about new energy and environmental initiatives and, particularly, about “an emerging role in building the infrastructure to drive greenhouse gas emissions down in the California economy”.… More

Yuge telecoms companies expect to get yuger

19 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Big money is leaning in the direction of a permissive, rather than populist, Trump presidency, at least when it comes to big telecoms mergers. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson met with Trump last week. Although both AT&T and Trump’s team insist that the pending acquisition of Time Warner wasn’t discussed, Stephenson continues to project optimism that federal regulators – the justice department’s anti-trust unit and, possibly, the Federal Communications Commission – will allow it to go forward.… More

Brown, Newsom clash over merits of obstruction

18 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Zorro drew his sword. Paladin went for his gun. TJ Hooker whipped out his stick. When in peril, Californian heroes find salvation in a sure and deadly weapon. In our finest tradition, lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom faced the looming threat of Donald Trump’s wall, shouted not in my backyard and brandished the ultimate equaliser: the California Environmental Quality Act. According to the Los Angeles Times…

“There’s something called CEQA in California — NEPA at the federal level,” Newsom said.

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Local agencies get more time to ponder FCC's wireless weed whacker

17 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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There’s more time to chime in on whether the Federal Communications Commission should consider further preemption of local authority over cell sites and other wireless facilities. Last month, the FCC moved forward on a request to do so made by Mobilitie, a wireless infrastructure company that has pushed the boundaries of ethics, if not legality, and the English language in its aggressive pursuit of permission to, among other things, plant towers in public right of ways.… More