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Three broadband subsidy projects proposed in eastern California

9 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Two companies – Race Telecommunications and Ultimate Internet Access – submitted a combined total of 3 broadband project proposals yesterday for consideration in the new round of California Advanced Services Fund grants and loans. All are in or near the desert areas northeast of Los Angeles.

Race’s application is for the Five Mining Communities project, which takes in Randsburg, Johannesburg, Red Mountain, Searles Valley and Trona, in the high desert where Inyo, Kern and San Bernardino counties meet.… More

FCC's chosen rural broadband experiments likely skew heavily towards wireless

9 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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The FCC has provisionally blessed 86 project bids submitted by 40 different companies for the rural broadband experiments program. The total tab is $99.5 million, just inside the $100 million limit for the program’s kitty. The companies selected have 10 days to submit the rest of the required financial, technical and other information.

It’s hard to tell much from the information released by the FCC – just total dollars and census blocks for each company.… More

Anti-trust hammer beats common carrier control of telecoms monopolies

8 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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There are three ways to deal with a monopoly, natural or otherwise: hope new technology will eventually render it obsolete, accept it but control it with regulation, or use anti-trust rules to break it up.

In a rapidly evolving environment, waiting out a monopoly can be a viable, if uncomfortably lengthy, strategy. Microsoft’s de facto user-side control of computer technology is long gone thanks to iOS, Android and Linux, and not because of the nibbling of regulatory snapping turtles.… More

Decision time nears for Google Fiber expansion

7 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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With Austin done and dusted, the next big decision point on Google’s fiber-to-the-home odyssey is: which cities will make the short list for the next round of builds? Back in May, after the deadline had passed for 34 cities to submit their responses to Google’s fiber ready checklist, the company said “We still plan to announce which cities will get Google Fiber by the end of the year“.

Well, it’s the end of the year.… More

Google Fiber sticks to $70 for a gig in Austin, TV costs more

6 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Google Fiber is taking sign-ups in limited areas in the Austin, Texas area. Following the same path it took in the Kansas City area, Google says it’ll pick which neighborhoods – fiberhoods as it calls them – to build first based on the number of committed subscribers…

Whether you’re in a home, apartment, or a small business, you’ll notice that getting Google Fiber is a little different. We don’t choose which areas get Fiber — you and your neighbors do.

… More

ViaSat becomes a regulated telephone company, sorta

5 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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One of the big questions surrounding ViaSat’s request for an $11.1 million grant from the California Advanced Services Fund is whether it’s even eligible for the program. The California Public Utilities Commission said yes, it is eligible at yesterday’s meeting in San Francisco, approving ViaSat’s application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN).

In other words, the satellite Internet service provider is now considered to be a regulated telephone company, to the extent that it’s engaging in the sort of business that the CPUC regulates.… More

Public housing broadband should be cheaper and faster, CETF says

4 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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How much should Internet access in public housing projects cost, and how fast should it be? Those are the central two questions that the California Emerging Technology Fund is raising in regards to a proposed public housing broadband subsidy program, currently under consideration at the California Public Utilities Commission.

In comments filed on Tuesday, CETF is taking the position that public housing residents should be able to buy a minimum level of service for $10 per month, rather than the $20 as currently proposed, and that the minimum service speed residents can get during peak hours – 7 to 11 p.m.… More

Drilling down on the digital divide in California's oil towns

3 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Western Kern County is oil country. Once you hit the foothills of the central California coast range, agriculture stops and oil production begins. Several small towns along State Route 33 support the industry and its workers. The largest is Taft, with a city limits population of around 9,000 people in about 2,300 households, plus adjacent unincorporated neighborhoods.

By California Public Utilities Commission standards, nearly all of Taft (and Maricopa to the south) has adequate broadband service: the local cable company, Bright House, offers up to 90 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds.… More

No opening day CASF gold rush

2 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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There was no stampede for the newest round of broadband infrastructure grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund. No project applications were filed yesterday, the first day of the new season. Or at least, there were no notifications sent out – applicants are supposed to send a project summary to a service list maintained by the CPUC. And yes, I checked my spam folder.

Even so, there are still project proposals totalling $26.2 million in the hopper, left over from the last round, which closed nearly 2 years ago, on 1 February 2013.… More

New round of broadband construction subsidies begins in California

1 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Prospectors still look for gold in Sacramento.

The application window is open for grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund The new round of funding – there’s something like $160 million available for grants – began today.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which administers CASF, has posted answers to frequently asked questions. The parameters of the program were redefined this year, but in most regards it’s the process as before. One change is that the funding window will stay open until the money runs out, which the CPUC hopes will be sometime in 2015.… More