updates

California broadband decisions down to the final day

15 October 2017 by Steve Blum
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Governor Jerry Brown signed 40 bills into law yesterday, and vetoed 14 more, but didn’t act on the two major pieces of broadband legislation sitting on his desk: assembly bill 1665, which would lower California’s minimum service standard to 6 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds, and senate bill 649, which preempts local ownership of street light poles and other vertical infrastructure.
He did approve AB 1145 which gives cable companies public money reserved for public utilities, without public utility obligations.… More

California broadband subsidy giveaway heads to governor's desk

15 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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By a vote of 62 to 6, the California assembly approved assembly bill 1665 this evening. The bill lowers California minimum broadband standard to 6 Mbps down/1 Mbps up, reinstates a tax on phone bills and sends the money into the California Advanced Services Fund, under rules that lock out independent projects and create a fast lane for funding slow speed service from incumbent telcos.

California senate votes to pay $300 million for slower broadband

13 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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Assembly bill 1665 was approved by the California senate this afternoon on a lopsided vote. The initial count was 32 in favor and 2 against, but the roll was left open for a while, so the final numbers could be different. The no votes came from Mike McGuire (D – Healdsburg) and Janet Nguyen (R – Garden Grove).

The bill will drop California’s minimum speed standard to 6 Mbps down/1 Mbps up, and allocate $300 million in construction subsidies under rules that all but guarantee the money will go to AT&T and Frontier Communications.… More

Net neutrality, San Bernardino FTTH endorsed by CPUC

13 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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A $28 million grant for the Gigafy Phelan fiber to the home project in San Bernardino County and a statement opposing plans to roll back net neutrality rules were approved this morning by the California Public Utilities Commission. The exact comments to the FCC as it considers scrapping common carrier status for broadband service are still to be determined. After first trying to delay the filing, commission president Michael Picker opted for another round of editing before Monday’s deadline.

California broadband subsidy vote postponed, perhaps until 2018

10 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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A California senate committee delayed consideration of a bill to rewrite broadband subsidy rules until next week. Assembly bill 1665 was on the agenda for the energy, utilities and communications committee this morning. As the hearing began, the chair, Ben Hueso (D – San Diego) announced that it had been postponed until next Tuesday, 18 July 2017. No reason was given, but it appears that the flurry of opposition that followed last week’s amendments were a factor.… More

One CASF grant approved, one released and one on hold

15 May 2017 by Steve Blum
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A $511,000 broadband upgrade grant for a cable system owned by CalNeva in Fresno County was unanimously approved by the California Public Utilities Commission at its 11 May 2017 meeting. The commission also signed off on environmental clearances and released $17 million in grant and loan subsidies for the Bright Fiber FTTH project in Nevada County. The $29 million proposal by Race Telecommunications for an FTTH system in the Phelan area, in San Bernardino County was bumped to the commission’s 25 May 2017 meeting.

CPUC approves Digital 299 fiber project, Webpass transfer, pole access enquiry

23 March 2017 by Steve Blum
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In a 4 to 1 vote, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to spend $47 million on the Digital 299 middle mile fiber project this morning. It’s a 300 mile network connecting Trinity and Humboldt counties to long haul routes in Shasta County. The no vote came from president Michael Picker.

The CPUC also unanimously approved Google’s purchase of Webpass, a mostly wireless broadband provider that is also licensed as a wireline telephone company – hence the need for commission review – and granted a request to begin consideration of new access rules that would allow licensed telephone companies to hang wireless equipment on utility poles.

Haven't seen the facts about AT&T, Time Warner merger, Trump says

19 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Translation: never mind.

Donald Trump is backing off from his stated opposition to the AT&T – Time Warner transaction. According to the Axios blog, Trump said in an interview…

“I have been on the record in the past of saying it’s too big and we have to keep competition. So, but other than that, I haven’t, you know, I haven’t seen any of the facts, yet. I’m sure that will be presented to me and to the people within government.”

… More

Key congressman says Pai will be next FCC chair

7 January 2017 by Steve Blum
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Speaking at CES today, representative Bob Latta (R – Ohio) – a major player in congressional telecoms policy – said he’s looking forward to working proactively with the new administration and, particularly, the new Federal Communications Commission, which will be led by Ajit Pai.

“You look at the FCC and the change there, commissioner Pai will be the new chairman of the FCC”, he said.

Update: afterwards, Latta confirmed that he thinks it’s likely that Pai will be the next FCC chair, probably on a permanent basis, and with all due regard for the principal that “he who looks into a crystal ball will eat ground glass for lunch”.… More

Commissioner Catherine Sandoval off CPUC

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Commissioner Catherine Sandoval will not be on the California Public Utilities Commission next year. Her term expires at the end of the month, and she announced during today’s CPUC meeting that she would be returning to full time work as a law professor at Santa Clara University in January. In her farewell, she spoke about the work she and other commissioners have done to extend telecoms service to some of the remotest areas of California.