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Republican FCC commissioners decree the rules are what we say they are

21 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s good to be the king.

Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly, the two republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, have sent a letter to lobbyists for telecoms and Internet service providers promising them that their clients don’t have to follow rules that went into effect last week, saying the times they are a changing…

We want to assure you and your members that we would not support any adverse actions against small business providers for supposed non-compliance with the “enhanced transparency” rules after [17 January 2017], and we will seek to revisit those particular requirements, and the Title II Net Neutrality proceeding more broadly, as soon as possible.

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Comcast accused of not doing an inside job

20 December 2016 by Steve Blum

Getting ready for the service call.

What, exactly, is inside wiring? That is the $3.6 billion question facing Comcast in Seattle. The Washington attorney general is accusing Comcast of offering a bogus $5 a month service plan and wants a King County judge to impose the maximum fine – $2,000 each for the 1.8 million violations of the state’s consumer protection law.

According to a story in Geekwire by Nat Levy…

The lawsuit alleges that Comcast marketed the service plan to customers as a “comprehensive” option that promised to cover service calls without additional fees.

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AT&T waves a weed whacker at FCC staff

19 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Which side of the dirt do you want to be on?

Mommy might have said no, but daddy is going to whack your weeds. That’s the message AT&T delivered to Federal Communications Commission staff who had challenged the legality of allowing customers who buy a package of DirecTv programming to watch it without incurring data charges or burning through data caps. The practice is called zero rating and it was left in a regulatory grey area by the FCC’s 2015 decision to classify Internet access as a common carrier service.… More

Uber's DMV showdown is a make or break for self-driving cars in California

18 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Uber and the California department of motor vehicles appear headed to court in a dispute that could add some needed clarity to the state’s position regarding regulation of self-driving cars. On Friday, the head of Uber self-driving car team, Anthony Levandowski, said that they didn’t need the DMV’s permission to run their vehicle on San Francisco streets because it wasn’t really autonomous…

From a technology perspective, self-driving Ubers operate in the same way as vehicles equipped with advanced driver assist technologies, for example Tesla auto-pilot and other OEM’s traffic jam assist.

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Trump's FCC takes shape, and it looks like a power tool

17 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The new majority

The Federal Communications Commission will begin the Trump administration with a 2-to-1 majority. Chairman Tom Wheeler finally made his plans public on Thursday, saying he would hand in his resignation as Donald Trump becomes the U.S. president on 20 January 2017. That would leave two republicans – Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly – and one democrat, Mignon Clyburn on the commission.

Wheeler’s departure was inevitable. He would have lost his chairman’s gig the minute Trump took office, and his strutting style and big man on campus persona could never be sufficiently deflated to fit within the humble job description of a working commissioner on the minority side.… More

CPUC loses activist edge as Sandoval, Florio depart

16 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission lost its most consistently activist members yesterday. Commissioners Catherine Sandoval and Mike Florio announced that they would be leaving when their terms expire at the end of the month. Both were appointed six years ago as governor Jerry Brown took office. Brown did not reappoint them to a second term, though.

Sandoval is the acknowledged telecoms expert among commissioners. She teaches telecoms law at Santa Clara University and was a staffer at the Federal Commission.… More

AT&T in no hurry to fix problems ahead of CPUC vote on tougher outage rules

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Carrier of last resort.

Later this morning, the California Public Utilities Commission, in its last regular meeting of the year, is scheduled to considered tightening the rules on what and when telephone companies have to report information about service outages. The proposed decision by commissioner Catherine Sandoval would also clamp down on the occasional practice by telephone and cable companies of attaching lines to trees in rural areas, rather than installing utility poles.

I’ve already written a couple of posts about the proposed decision, the result of an investigation into problems that rural residents have with completing calls and otherwise receiving phone service.… More

California needs fast, investor friendly projects to win federal infrastructure money

14 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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A new business model?

Money could start flowing into California infrastructure, if president-elect Donald Trump’s plan to spend a trillion dollars on construction projects continues on the course that it seems to be on. That was the cautious optimism expressed at the California Economic Summit yesterday during a briefing on infrastructure programs and progress.

The optimism was about the way Trump’s infrastructure priorities – at least as far as those have been articulated – broadly matches California’s make-up: big projects in major metropolitan areas that have a national impact and rural areas that are close to major economic drivers – like Silicon Valley – and to logistics hubs like major seaports, rail lines and highways.… More

Broadband, conduit bills left stranded in Washington, D.C.

13 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The 114th congress ended with a stack of unfinished broadband business. The most consequential might be the failure to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel for a new term on the Federal Communications Commission, but buried in the wreckage of more than a dozen broadband-related bills are hints of what to expect from the new congress and the new administration next year.

The one major bill with a chance to pass muster with lawmakers as well as the white house was the Mobile Now act.… More

Telecoms left out of new CPUC reform bill

12 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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California Public Utilities Commission reforms are back on the table in Sacramento, but the latest proposal doesn’t include anything specific about review or reorganisation of how telecommunications companies are regulated. Senate bill 19 was introduced by senator Jerry Hill (D – San Bruno) as new lawmakers were sworn in and the new legislative session began last week. He is the sole survivor of the trio that negotiated with governor Brown to come to agreement on a package of bills aimed at overhauling the CPUC last year.… More