cpuc

CenturyLink asks CPUC to bypass transparency and ethical practice

5 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Insiders only.

CenturyLink wants the California Public Utilities Commission to hand wave its purchase of Level 3 through the normal approval process and, in effect, accept a settlement reached with three (of four) protesters as a substitute for a full, public review of the transaction. The pressure is due to a self-imposed deadline of 30 September 2017 for Level 3 and CenturyLink to close the sale. If the review follows standard CPUC procedures instead, a decision might not come for another six months or more.… More

California consumer groups allow CenturyLink to end dark fiber leasing

3 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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If CenturyLink is allowed to buy Level 3, then California will lose a major source of dark fiber. That’s my reading of a settlement agreement between CenturyLink, Level 3 and three of the organisations that challenged the deal at the California Public Utilities Commission. The fourth challenger, the California Emerging Technology Fund, isn’t part of the agreement.

The CPUC’s office of ratepayer advocates and two consumer advocacy groups – TURN and the Greenlining Institute – agreed to drop their protest in exchange for several concessions from CenturyLink, including a pledge to “aspire” to spend some of its planned capital investment in California on network expansions and upgrades, particularly in under and unserved communities.… More

San Bernardino FTTH decision delayed again

30 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission couldn’t come to a decision yesterday on a $28 million grant from the for a fiber to the home project in the San Bernardino County community of Phelan. Despite false starts and nearly two years of review, commissioners put off a vote on Race Telecommunications’ Gigafy Phelan proposal until at least their next meeting.

They were responding to a stream of late protests from Frontier Communications, which is getting federal subsidies to upgrade service to some of the same homes.… More

Frontier's broadband claims can't be trusted, says Race's reply to grant protest

28 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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“Frontier is attempting to subvert the [California Public Utilities] Commission’s [California Advanced Services Fund] rules and processes to block a sorely needed project for a disadvantaged community”. That’s the bottom line of Race Telecommunications’ reply to Frontier Communications’ last minute trashing of a $28 million grant for an FTTH system in Phelan and other, nearby high desert communities in San Bernardino County.

The key issue is whether Frontier provides service in the area at the CPUC’s minimum 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speed level.… More

Case against San Bernardino FTTH embraces low federal expectations

A proposed $28 million grant for a fiber to the home project in the Phelan area of San Bernardino County has drawn two formal challenges. One, from Frontier Communications, was completely predictable, but the other, from the California Public Utilities Commission’s office of ratepayer advocates (ORA), was somewhat unexpected.

Only somewhat, because ORA has a track record of sporadically opposing grants for FTTH systems from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). However, its objections usually second guess design or budget decisions.… More

CPUC tells FCC not to confuse copper networks with telecoms service

25 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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Don’t confuse copper wireline infrastructure with the services it supports. That’s the message from the California Public Utilities Commission to the Federal Communications Commission. In comments regarding possible changes to federal wireless and wireline telecoms regulations, the CPUC said that the "FCC’s assumption that copper has outlived its usefulness is overstated"…

Copper technology is not inherently obsolete. Copper was originally used for telecommunications because it could serve as the backbone of a universal voice network: it was cheap to install, easy to use, and readily available.

… More

Charter moves fast where fiber competition looms

22 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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But is it fast enough?

If you want to steer telco and cable company capital investment toward your community, apply competitive pressure, preferably with a full scale fiber to the home project. Once again, that lesson has been learned as the simple and reliable mechanics of microeconomic theory have pushed a major cable company to accelerate spending in an area it has long ignored.

Charter Communications is required to upgrade the antique analog cable systems it has long maintained in redlined communities.… More

FTTH expansion proposed for Riverside County desert communities

20 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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Click for the big picture.

Anza Electric Cooperative wants to expand its fiber-to-the-home system in southwestern Riverside County. After being awarded a $2.7 million FTTH infrastructure grant from the California Advanced Services Fund in 2015, Anza used its existing electric plant as the backbone for a fiber network aimed at reaching 3,800 homes in its service territory.

Now, it’s asking the California Public Utilities Commission for another $2.2 million, to reach 1,200 more homes and "several businesses", and provide free service to fire stations and the Ronald McDonald camp for kids with cancer According to the public version of its grant application summary…

Connect Anza will deploy a fiber optic cable on existing poles and rights of way and establish a network of sufficient capacity to establish high speed, quality internet service for Anza Electric Cooperatives (AEC’s) existing service territory covering over 500 square miles, located wholly within western Riverside County.

… More

California FTTH grant approved under current subsidy program rules

19 June 2017 by Steve Blum
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California’s primary broadband subsidy program will stay on its present course, at least until the legislature changes it or the California Public Utilities Commission resets priorities and rules going forward. That’s the takeaway from a CPUC vote to approve a $1.1 million grant from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) for a fiber to the home project in southern Santa Clara County.

It’s an important message to independent Internet service providers who might be considering CASF-funded projects in the future: it’s expensive to prepare and submit applications – more than $100,000 in some cases – and the prospect of having one rejected a year or two later because the rules changed increases the risk beyond the point most are willing to go.… More

$900K chopped from San Bernardino FTTH subsidy plan, but it's moving again

A fiber to the home project in San Bernardino County is back on track, sorta. California Public Utilities Commission staff cut $900,000 from a proposed $29 million grant to Race Telecommunications for the Gigafy Phelan project, and sent it all back into a 30 day comment, reply and commission consideration cycle.

Gigafy Phelan is an ambitious attempt to extend FTTH service to 8,400 homes in California’s high desert region, in and around the town of Phelan.… More