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Ready for the CPUC vote on regional broadband consortia this morning

1 December 2011 by Steve Blum
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The meeting starts at 9:00 a.m. The two consortia resolutions come up later in the agenda, item 47. As of last night, the item was still on the table, however once the meeting starts, it’s possible that a commissioner could ask that it be held over to a later meeting. There’s no particular reason to think that might happen, though.
I’ll post here as soon as I can after the vote. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter: SteveBlum.
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CPUC decides regional consortia grants on Thursday

30 November 2011 by Steve Blum
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The final resolution and an alternate approving the first round of regional broadband consortia grants have been released by the California Public Utilities Commission. No major changes were made and it is now ready for a vote at the commission meeting on Thursday, 1 December 2011.

The commissioners will look at two proposed resolutions. The lead version gives Los Angeles County $1,346,927 in total funding over three years, the alternate proposes $2,310,000. Absent any surprises, the main point of discussion for commissioners will be picking a final number.… More

January funding for California regional broadband consortia

23 November 2011 by Steve Blum
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California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff are working through the first batch of regional broadband consortia grant applications. Those seven consortia are on track to be approved at the 1 December 2011 commission meeting and to receive start-up checks in January.
The 20-day public comment window has closed, and so far there’s no indication of any determined opposition. CPUC hasn’t release all of the filed comments, but the ones that are available generally support either the proposed resolution or the alternate version that provides increased funding to Los Angeles County.
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Broadband consortia funding moves ahead in California

3 November 2011 by Steve Blum
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California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff have finished their initial review of the 15 regional consortia grant applications that were filed in August. Seven consortia have been conditionally approved and the full commission will vote on a formal funding resolution on 1 December.

Legislation approved last year and implemented by the CPUC this year sets aside $10 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to support regional groups that promote broadband deployment and adoption in rural and urban areas.… More

Embedded impulses

12 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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The machine-to-machine sector is getting a lot of attention this week at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference in San Diego. The growth of M2M figured into CEO keynote speeches and panel discussions. AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega called connected devices “the next big thing for mobility.”

The growth is driven in part by the decisions taken by service providers to back out of the hardware and hosting ends of the M2M business, and just provide connectivity.… More

Public perception of broadband rights and dangers challenges regulators, industry

11 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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“Broadband has become to the 21st Century what electricity was the to last century,” said Amy Levine, a special counsel at the FCC and the legal advisor to the chairman, Jules Genachowski. That expectation of universal access was one of the major telecommunications policy drivers identified at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show today in San Diego.

Levine joined with other regulators and industry representatives for a wide ranging discussion of what each expects from the other.… More

Winners and losers in wireless CEO industry leadership pageant

11 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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CEOs from the big three U.S. mobile phone companies gave keynote speeches at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference in San Diego this morning.

It’s a chance for CEOs to step out as industry leaders. Or it’s a chance for them to deliver their sales pitch of the day.

Dan Hesse, the CEO of Sprint Nextel, took the high road. As CTIA chairman this year, he had some extra incentive to play the industry statesman role, but others have had that opportunity and taken a pass on it.… More

4G is not 4G without the backhaul to support it

10 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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“4G is not 4G without the backhaul to support it,” said Sara Kaufman, an analyst who follows mobile operator strategy for Ovum, speaking today at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications conference in San Diego. Mobile carriers have to start by connecting cell sites to fiber networks when they upgrade their networks to 4G speeds using LTE technology.

She predicted robust growth for LTE-based 4G mobile data service in the U.S., but had trouble explaining exactly why.… More

M2M: sell the service, not the machine

10 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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Verizon’s approach to the machine-to-machine business is to stop selling hardware and just sell the service. Duncan Sensenich, from their M2M unit, was one of several mobile executives who spoke at Ovum’s M2M seminar at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference in San Diego today.

In this case, low expectations might have been the breeding ground for a lower cost, potentially higher profit way of doing business. The M2M segment was traditionally buried in Verizon’s financial reporting and its management structure.… More

Update on California regional broadband grants

9 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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It’s looking like late October or early November for a preliminary decision by the California Public Utilities Commission on the first round of regional broadband consortia grant applications. On that timetable, formal approval by the Commission could come in early or mid-December.

Applications for the initial funding round closed on 22 August 2011, with 15 consortia submitting proposals. Most were for non-overlapping geographic regions. Given that the regional consortia funding kitty can theoretically pay for them all, it’s a good bet that most, perhaps all, will move ahead in the process.… More