updates

CPUC approves Charter purchase of Time Warner, Bright House

12 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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In a unanimous vote a few minutes ago, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Charter Communications’ purchase of Time Warner and Bright House cable systems in California. It’s the final regulatory hurdle for the transaction. CPUC president Michael Picker made one change to the text of the decision that was on the table, adding a time limit of three years to Charter’s obligation to abide by the FCC’s common carrier rules. As written, the text left that commitment open ended, which was apparently a drafting oversight.… More

CPUC votes 3 to 2 to oppose AT&T bid to end wireline service

7 April 2016 by Steve Blum
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By a split vote, the California Public Utilities Commission has gone on record opposing a bill going through the state legislature – assembly bill 2395 – that would allow AT&T to effectively yank out its wireline network at will, and replace it with wireless service. Three commissioners – Catherine Sandoval, Mike Florio and Carla Peterman – supported a staff recommendation to oppose the bill. President Michael Picker, backed by commissioner Liane Randolph, wanted to take a neutral position on the AT&T sponsored bill, which comes up for a hearing next week.

Omnibus federal spending bill extends tax ban, Internet surveillance

21 December 2015 by Steve Blum

The U.S. congress ended the year by passing a mammoth federal funding bill, which included a Christmas stocking full of miscellaneous measures (h/t to Morning Consult for the pointer). The bill expanded federal surveillance authority on the one hand, but restricted the ability of financial law enforcement agencies to dig into old email on the other. The ban on Internet taxes was extended for a year and congress resisted the impulse to tinker with the FCC’s net neutrality ruling.

Update: FCC okays Altice takeover of Suddenlink

18 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission agreed with the California Public Utilities Commission today and approved Altice’s purchase of a controlling interest in Suddenlink. Altice is a major European telecoms company and Suddenlink is its first acquisition of a U.S. cable company. Except for provisions regarding law enforcement and spy agency access to Suddenlink’s network, the FCC imposed no conditions on the deal.

Santa Cruz city council unanimously approves muni FTTH

8 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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The vote was seven to nothing, as the Santa Cruz city council moved ahead this afternoon with a plan to build a city-owned dark fiber network that will reach every home and business in town. Under the current plan, the system will be leased to Cruzio, a local independent Internet service provider. Cruzio will light the fiber – buy and maintain the electronics, and provision the Internet bandwidth – and run the business. The cost to the city is in the $30 million range.… More

Frontier gets permission to buy Verizon's California wireline systems

3 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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On a unanimous vote, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the sale of Verizon’s wireline telephone systems to Frontier Communications this morning. I’ll post the final version of the resolution when it’s available, but it’ll pretty much be this:

Proposed decision approving Frontier/Verizon deal, 2 December 2015 version
With the addition of these appendices

There might be other attachments to the final version. The deal is expected to close at the end of March.

Delay for open access to utility poles by mobile carriers in California

3 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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New rules that would allow mobile broadband companies to install cells and other equipment on utility poles under more or less the same terms and with the same access rights as telephone and cable companies have been delayed until at least next month. The change in policy – essentially giving mobile companies open access to utility poles – was on the California Public Utilities Commission’s agenda this morning, but it was pulled and rescheduled for the 15 January 2016 meeting at the request of commissioner Catherine Sandoval.… More

CPUC approves Nevada County FTTH project

3 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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A $16 million fiber to the home grant from the California Advanced Services Fund was approved this morning by the California Public Utilities Commission. It was a 4 to 1 vote with CPUC president Michael Picker voting no. The Bright Fiber Nevada County Connected project still needs to pass environmental reviews. About $11 million in private financing also needs to be secured. Full disclosure: I worked on the Bright Fiber grant application.

Proposed federal broadband infrastructure package includes dig once

1 December 2015 by Steve Blum
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“Dig once” requirements for federal highway projects might not have made it into a recent transportation bill, but the U.S. house of representative’s communications subcommittee will vote tomorrow on a bigger package of broadband development measures that includes it. According to a story in Broadband and Cable, the package also includes common deal terms, greater access to poles, a federal broadband asset inventory, and streamlined permits and environmental clearances. The details of the bill aren’t available right now, but you can find links to the proposed bills that led to it here.

Governor Brown approves shot clock for wireless facilities permits, vetoes CPUC reform bills

9 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Assembly bill 57 will become law. Governor Brown announced today that he signed the measure, which would give local governments five months to make a decision on permit applications for new wireless facilities, and three months to decide on additions to existing facilities. If the application is still pending when the clock runs out, it’ll be deemed approved.

Brown vetoed four bills that would have made various changes to the way the California Public Utilities Commission conducts its business, including senate bill 660, which would have put tighter limits on closed door conversations between commissioners (and key staffers) and people with business that’s in front of the commission.