fcc

Dissenting judge calls FCC net neutrality decision watery thin

17 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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And hanging by the barest of threads

Tuesday’s decision by a federal appeals court to uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to regulate broadband as a common carrier service was not unanimous. The dissenting judge made three points in his counter-opinion. Two are spot on and the third is a judgement call, one that the other two judges who heard the appeal fairly didn’t buy.

Stephen Williams agreed with his two colleagues – Sri Srinivasan and David Tatel – that the FCC can reclassify Internet access and make it a telecommunications service which is potentially subject to detailed regulatory oversight.… More

Broadband is a common carrier service, says federal appeals court

15 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s all about customer perception.

Call it two and a half out of three. That was the vote by a panel of federal appeals court judges as they tossed out challenges by a wide range of Internet service providers, and ruled that the Federal Communications Commission acted legally when it said broadband is a telecommunications service, rather than an information service, and imposed common carrier regulations on broadband service last year.

Two judges were completely in favor of the new rules, and the third agreed with some of their reasoning but dissented on other points.… More

Posted: appeals court decision affirming FCC net neutrality, common carrier rules

14 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Update:

The appeals court is putting its decision on hold for seven days, to allow time for further appeals. As a practical matter, it doesn’t mean much: the FCC’s broadband common carrier rules have been in effect all along and will remain in effect.

You can download the decision here:

United States Telecom Association, Et Al., Petitioners
V.
Federal Communications Commission And United States Of America,
Respondents
Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, Et Al.,
Intervenors

184 pages – good reading!… More

Federal appeals court rejects challenges to FCC net neutrality, broadband common carrier rules

14 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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A federal appeals court has let stand the FCC decision that imposes common carrier regulations on broadband service

This is what the initial notice says:

JUDGMENT

These causes came on to be heard on the petitions for review of an order of the Federal Communications Commission and were argued by counsel. On consideration thereof, it is
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the petitions for review are denied, in accordance with the opinion of the court filed herein this date.

… More

Mobile broadband doesn't perform as advertised, CPUC tells FCC

13 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Click for the big, ugly picture.

Don’t believe the broadband speed levels that mobile carriers – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – claim to deliver. That’s what the California Public Utilities Commission is telling its counterpart in Washington, the Federal Communications Commission. Unlike the FCC, the CPUC has a rigorous, longstanding mobile data testing program that includes analysis based on what an actual customer would experience.

If you take Verizon at its word, for example, 99.6% of Californian homes would be getting mobile broadband service at the CPUC’s minimum 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds.… More

New federal broadband subsidies will favor states spurned by incumbents

7 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Nevada gets a second chance.

Californian communities are not likely to figure prominently in the Federal Communication Commission’s list of areas that’ll be eligible for its next round of Connect America Fund 2 broadband subsidies. That’s because the big incumbent carriers – AT&T and Frontier – exercised their right of first refusal in the last round and picked up a total of $590 million over six years in exchange for promising to upgrade most of their substandard California service territories to 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds.… More

U.S. lawmakers want to trim FCC's broadband oversight role

6 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Two versions of a ban on rate regulation for broadband service are moving through the U.S. congress, but there’s more to it than preventing the Federal Communications Commission from overseeing monthly subscription prices.

House resolution 2666 was passed by the house of representatives and is now awaiting action by the U.S. senate. As currently written, it says the FCC “may not regulate the rates charged for broadband Internet access service”. That simple and very broad statement covers more than just monthly fees.… More

Auction underway to free up 100 MHz for mobile broadband

3 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Worth billions now.

The long delayed double auction aimed at transferring 100 MHz of UHF spectrum from television broadcasting to mobile Internet service is finally underway. The first step is a reverse auction where television station owners bid down the price they’re willing accept to give up their channel assignments. It started this week with one daily round of bids on Tuesday and Wednesday, and stepped up to two rounds a day yesterday.

All totalled, the FCC wants to set a price for 126 MHz of UHF spectrum in the 600 MHz band.… More

Faster speeds can offset higher costs in FCC broadband subsidy auction

1 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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What do I hear bid?

The Federal Communications Commission is defining 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds as “baseline performance” for the next round of Connect America Fund 2 (CAF-2) broadband subsidies. It’s not a hard requirement, but speeds at or above that level will give applicants extra credit when the FCC runs a reverse auction – probably later this year – to award $215 million in annual subsidies for ten years in eligible areas that weren’t included in the last round of CAF-2 awards.… More

The obligatory net neutrality decision coming soon post

30 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Perhaps as soon as tomorrow, a federal appeals court in Washington will decide whether or not the Federal Communications Commission 1. has the legal authority to impose common carrier rules on broadband service and 2. whether it followed all the necessary procedures when it did so.

The challenge was filed by a nearly universal coalition of big (and a few small) Internet service providers, who, naturally enough, do not want the FCC telling them how to run their businesses, whether or not it’s with the promised (but not guaranteed) light touch.… More