public policy – Page 26 – Steve Blum's Blog

Zorro in, Yoda out as a new political era begins in California

5 January 2019 by Steve Blum
broadband, california, cpuc, gavin newsom, public policy

Zorro 625 tall

California has had three democratic governors in the past 75 years: Pat Brown, Jerry Brown and Jerry Brown’s chief of staff. And the chief of staff – Gray Davis – didn’t end well. That changes on Monday, when Gavin Newsom is sworn in.

Jerry Brown earned his reputation as the wise old man at the California capitol. But he’s also a skilled operator, with the finest political mind in California. He would jump into a fight when it was both necessary and winnable, and he rarely, if ever lost.… More

New year but old questions for technology and telecoms policymakers

1 January 2019 by Steve Blum
monopoly, muni broadband, netneutrality, privacy, public policy

Five major broadband issues will top the public policy charts in California and at the federal level in 2019. In no particular order…

Net neutrality – The ball is in a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., where arguments will be heard in February over whether the Federal Communications Commission acted properly in 2017 when it declared broadband is not a telecommunications service. California’s net neutrality law is on hold until that case plays out, which could take years.

… More

Review of 2G, 3G cell phone RF study draws closer link to tumors in rats

31 December 2018 by Steve Blum
mobile, public policy, wireless

Following a review by outside experts, the National Institutes of Health has revised its conclusions about two studies of the effects of mobile phone transmissions on rats and mice. The initial versions were published in February . The changes to the findings draws a stronger link between high levels of 2G and 3G radio frequency (RF) radiation from cell phones, and cancerous tumors in male rats, and less certainty about whether there’s evidence or not of more limited tumour development in female rats and mice, and male mice.… More

New congress, old issues return to Washington, D.C. in 2019

30 December 2018 by Steve Blum
broadband, fcc, netneutrality, public policy, rural broadband

There were two wins for broadband development policy in Washington D.C. this year, and both were backed by agriculture interests. In March, a big federal spending bill passed, with $600 million going to the new ReConnect broadband infrastructure grant and loan program, and the once-every-five-years farm bill was approved earlier this month, with at least $1.7 billion more for similar purposes.

Congress didn’t do much else, though.

Unless there’s a surprise on Monday, the year will end with one empty seat on the Federal Communications Commission.… More

FCC’s economic illiteracy on display in muni property preemption fight

29 December 2018 by Steve Blum
fcc, monopoly, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

Sometimes the real story is in the footnotes. That’s the case with a Federal Communications Commission denial of a request to delay enforcement of its September order that would, if upheld by federal courts, take away property rights from local governments. In the denial, the FCC tries to make its case with economic nonsense: that the market value of an asset is only determined only by its “actual and direct costs”.

The market value of anything is determined by the balance between its perceived worth to the buyer and the seller.… More

Overturning FCC local pole ownership preemption seems easier in San Francisco

27 December 2018 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

The Federal Communications Commission “seeks to redefine the relationship between state and local governments and telecommunications providers” with a new and expansive interpretation of federal law, according to a group of local agencies challenging an order that preempts local ownership of light poles and other municipal property located in the public right of way. The group, led by the City of San Jose, wants the case moved from the federal appeals court in Denver, to the ninth circuit appeals court in San Francisco.… More

Charter’s credibility and rural upgrade claims challenged by California regulators

24 December 2018 by Steve Blum
charter, cpuc, new york, public policy

Charter Communications is facing another inquiry into whether or not it’s telling the truth about obligations it accepted when it bought cable systems owned by Time Warner and Bright House Communications in 2016. The California Public Utilities Commission was asked on Friday by its in-house watch dog – the public advocates office (PAO) – to re-open the case.

The PAO says that there’s reason to think that Charter is fiddling the books when it claims to be meeting broadband system upgrade requirements that were attached to the CPUC’s approval of the purchase.… More

Eligibility, application details for $600 million rural broadband subsidy program released

21 December 2018 by Steve Blum
farm bill, public policy, rural broadband, RUS, usda

Salinas valley field

Rural broadband grant money will go to areas where 100% of homes do not have access to sufficiently fast service, which is defined as 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds from a wireline or fixed wireless provider. Mobile and satellite service don’t count. If a mix of grant and loan is applied for, then only 90% of the homes have to be unserved at that level.

The federal agriculture department rolled out its new ReConnect program in a webinar yesterday, and filled in a lot of the details about what sort of areas are eligible, which will score higher than others, and who can apply for the $300 million in grants and $300 million in loan money approved by congress earlier this year.… More

Muni property rights are written into federal law and FCC decisions, North Little Rock tells appeals court

20 December 2018 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

Burlingame poles

The case against the FCC’s preemption of local property ownership is taking shape. The first city to ask federal appellate court judges to put the FCC’s September wireless order on hold while legal wheels grind is North Little Rock, Arkansas, in partnership with a Missouri muni utility association.

Most of North Little Rock’s arguments are specific to municipal electric utilities. Federal law exempts municipal utilities from FCC pole attachment oversight. Muni electric utilities also have to follow more rigid safety requirements – working on high voltage lines is a dangerous job – and they have long-established procedures for working with telecommunications companies, wired and wireless alike.… More

FCC and friends want to keep muni pole ownership preemption challenges in Denver

19 December 2018 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

Neither the Federal Communications Commission or mobile telecoms companies want to go to San Francisco to defend the agency’s preemption of local ownership of municipal property in the public right of way. They want to keep the growing list of appeals court challenges to the FCC’s September wireless deployment order in Denver.

In separate, but very similar, rebuttals the FCC and the beneficiaries of its generosity argued that the cases shouldn’t be transferred to the ninth circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco, as requested by the City of San Jose and its partners.… More