california broadband council – Steve Blum's Blog

California broadband plan is slow and soothing, particularly for monopoly model incumbents

22 December 2020 by Steve Blum
broadband, california broadband council, gavin newsom, public policy, sb4

In August, governor Gavin Newsom said all Californians should have, at the minimum, 100 Mbps broadband service. He didn’t say how that would happen, though. The job was delegated to the California Broadband Council, a talking shop dominated by state government information technology managers. The final draft (not the final-final version) was published last week. It’s long on high sounding words about the universal need for broadband service and the wonderfulness of the benefits it brings, but endorses a much slower standard than the governor called for and has little to say about how to achieve even that much.… More

Telcos, cable use bad data to hogtie California broadband plan

4 November 2020 by Steve Blum
broadband, california broadband council, gavin newsom, public policy, sb1130

It’s just an outline with more questions than answers now, but the broadband plan commissioned by California governor Gavin Newsom is beginning to take shape. A draft outline is posted on the California Broadband Council’s (CBC) website. It identifies the central problem that has challenged many Californians during the covid–19 emergency – lack of reliable, fast broadband service they can afford or, indeed, sometimes at any price – but doesn’t yet focus on specific solutions.… More

Harder push for faster broadband speeds in California

23 April 2015 by Steve Blum
ab238, california broadband council, casf, cpuc

California should raise its minimum standard for broadband, CPUC commissioner Catherine Sandoval said during yesterday’s meeting of the California Broadband Council in Sacramento. The goal “is to the increase the minimum speed that counts as served in California to mirror the FCC’s speed of 25 mbps down and 3 up”, she said. “I think it’s imperative that the state amend its definition”. Sandoval said she’ll be working to do that via existing California Public Utilities Commission processes, and also pointed to a bill sponsored by Santa Cruz legislator Mark Stone – assembly bill 238 – that would do the same thing.… More

Mobile broadband divide detailed at California Broadband Council

19 November 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, california broadband council, cpuc, mobile, public policy

Ken Biba, from Novarum Inc., briefed California Broadband Council members yesterday on the results of mobile broadband testing conducted by the California Public Utilities Commission. He reiterated conclusions previously published regarding the mobile broadband divide between rural and urban areas in California.

“It’s a one carrier state and it’s Verizon”, Biba said. Although AT&T has built out into rural areas, too, its service isn’t as available or well performing. As for the rest, “I can’t advise anyone to get a Sprint phone or a T-Mobile phone because you’re not going to get service”, he said.… More

California Broadband Council leadership leaving the room

22 August 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, california broadband council, public policy

As the final days of the current legislature term winds down in Sacramento, two departing lawmakers who play a key role in broadband development reflected on the the past few years. Assemblyman Steven Bradford and senator Alex Padilla (both D – Los Angeles) were participating as members of the California Broadband Council for the last time on Monday.

Bradford spoke particularly about two critical bills that he pushed and prodded through the legislature last year, despite occasionally nasty opposition from incumbents, particularly lobbyists for Comcast and the California cable industry.… More