Uncategorized – Page 99 – Steve Blum's Blog

FCC chair Pai sounds smarter when he's not the smartest guy in the room

19 September 2017 by Steve Blum
fcc, lincoln network, mwca17, pai, public policy

Once he left the big stage at the Mobile World Congress Americas in San Francisco last week, Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai walked a couple of blocks to an event put on by the Lincoln Network, a Silicon Valley political club with a libertarian outlook. It was a much smaller stage, but he seemed completely at home in a room full of smart people – some even smarter than him – who would rather let the market sort things out than to try to fine tune the Digital Age using the blunt, mindless tools of government.… More

War for California's broadband future isn't (quite) over

18 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ab1665, broadband, casf, monopoly, public policy

The politics of broadband in California are largely driven by the campaign cash that incumbent telephone and cable companies – and sometimes the unions representing their employees – stuff into the pockets of senators and assembly members. That influence is moderated by the energetic, but often futile efforts of broadband activists across the state. So it was with assembly bill 1665, which is on its way to governor Brown’s desk.

If he signs it, AB 1665 will transform the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) from a useful source of capital for broadband companies that aim to inject at least a little competition into California’s highly concentrated, sclerotic broadband market into a $300 million slush fund, mostly for telcos with rural monopolies, like AT&T and Frontier, but also allowing a taste for cable companies, like Comcast and Charter.… More

CETF audit, more CPUC reforms approved by California legislature

17 September 2017 by Steve Blum
broadband, cetf, cpuc, public policy, sb19

A second round of California Public Utilities Committee reorganisation was approved in the final hours of the legislative session on Friday night. Senate bills 19 and 385 are heading to the governor’s desk. The main one is SB 19, carried by senator Jerry Hill (D – San Mateo), who has been deeply involved in CPUC reform efforts ever since a massive, fatal explosion of a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno in 2010.

There are general changes that affect the way the commission does business overall.… More

Big telecom cash and influence buys three big wins in California legislature

16 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ab1665, ab375, broadband, public policy, sb649

The California legislature slipped past its midnight deadline last night, and kept working, or not, for a couple hours into the morning. From a broadband perspective, it didn’t make much difference. Assembly bill 375 never made it to a floor vote in the senate, let alone to the necessary final vote in the assembly.

As a result, California will not enact Internet privacy rules that were axed earlier this year by congressional republicans and the Trump administration.… More

Big telecom money sets up clean sweep of broadband bills in Sacramento

15 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ab1665, ab375, broadband, public policy, sb649

One key broadband bill is on its way to governor Brown’s desk, another is likely to follow and a third is heading for oblivion. That result will be a trifecta for telephone and cable companies who came to the table with deep pockets full of campaign cash and even longer arms to hand it out.

Senate bill 649 won narrow, bipartisan approval in the senate yesterday. The tally was 22 yes votes – 21 were needed – with 10 noes and 8 abstentions.… More

Californian ISP privacy rules wounded, but still twitching

14 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ab375, broadband, privacy, public policy

One last try at baking Internet privacy rules into California law is underway. Assembly bill 375 was amended on Tuesday, just ahead of a new 72-hour deadline for posting the final version of proposed legislation – the California legislature’s current session clocks out tomorrow night.

Arguably, the changes are an improvement. Specific security and disclosure requirements were cut out, along with references to telephone service, with the result that the bill focuses on the core issue: what can Internet service providers do with information about and provided by their customers?… More

U.S. mobile show reboots with international scope and brains. Mostly

13 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ctia, fcc, mwca17, pai, public policy

Rebranding and a return to San Francisco has reversed CTIA’s slide into trade show oblivion. Now known as the Mobile World Congress Americas and run by GSMA, the outfit that puts on the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, the show is drawing a more international crowd and a better class of speakers. Or at least speakers that are living up to MWC’s standards.

The first keynote yesterday featured Carlos Slim Domit, the chairman of America Movil, which is the largest mobile telecoms company in Latin America, and the fourth largest in the world.… More

Apple will take augmented reality to the next level today

12 September 2017 by Steve Blum
Apple, AR, mwcamericas, showstoppers, vuzix

Reality augmented by instant info.

Augmented reality – AR – will take a big step forward later today when Apple launches iOS version 11. It includes ARkit, which is Apple’s new platform for running augmented reality apps, instantly putting the technology onto more than 300 million devices, as soon as the iOS update is downloaded.

At least, that was the hot gossip yesterday at the Mobile World Congress Americas trade show in San Francisco. It’s always risky to take Apple rumors at face value, but AR companies at the show are taking this one seriously.… More

More telco perks added to $300 million broadband subsidy bill as California senate vote nears

11 September 2017 by Steve Blum
ab1665, broadband, casf, monopoly, public policy

Incumbent telephone and cable companies convinced their friends in the California legislature to add another slab of pork to a broadband subsidy bill, as the senate prepares to vote on it. Assembly bill 1665 started out as a telco-centric bill, and subsequent amendments, including the the ones added on Friday, have made it even more one-sided – in most areas of the state, it will be impossible for independent broadband projects to qualify for support from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

San Francisco broadband law gains independent ISP access to hundreds of buildings

10 September 2017 by Steve Blum
broadband, fcc, mdu, public policy, san francisco

A San Francisco municipal ordinance that gives tenants of multi-unit buildings the right to get broadband service from any qualified provider of their choosing has had a dramatic impact on the market, at least according to CALTEL, a lobbying group for independent telecoms companies in California. In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, CALTEL says San Francisco’s ordinance has opened doors for Sonic.net, California’s largest independent ISP…

Sonic now reports that the ordinance has been instrumental in assisting it to gain access to approximately 300 multi-tenant buildings in San Francisco.

… More