public policy

FCC officially publishes decision reversing net neutrality

23 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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The game clock is now running on the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to reverse broadband’s status as a common carrier service and end network neutrality rules. Sorta. The decision approved by commissioners in December was published in the Federal Register yesterday. That means court challenges can begin – an earlier appeal by state attorneys general was largely symbolic and presumably will be refiled. There’s a ten day procedural window for everyone to pile on in the federal appeals court of their choosing, after that the challenges will probably, but not certainly, be consolidated into a single case that’ll be heard in Washington, D.C.… More

California line extension subsidy program sends money to cable companies via low income homes

20 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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When lobbyists for big telcos and cable companies rewrote California’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program – the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) – last year, they carefully maximised the money they’d get while minimising, even eliminating, independent competition and inconvenient rules.

One of the perks approved by lawmakers is particularly pleasing to the cable lobbyists who asked for it: a money laundering scheme that allows them to get broadband construction subsidies without the need for any annoying oversight or other regulatory entanglement with the California Public Utilities Commission, which gives out the grants.… More

Internet, telecoms legislation introduced in Sacramento, but not all cards are on the table

19 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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A handful of substantive telecoms and Internet services bills and a stack of placeholders were introduced in the California legislature by last Friday. That was deadline for new bills, although it’s largely a formality – any of the placeholders (or the substantive bills) can get gutted, amended and turned into anything at all, right up to the end of the session in August.

Assemblyman Ed Chau (D – Monterey Park) is taking another run at Internet privacy, although in a more limited way than last year.… More

Federal broadband earmarks sound good, but be careful what you wish for

17 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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Broadband should get specific, allocated funding in the federal infrastructure plan floated by the Trump administration earlier this week, according to congress members on both sides of the aisle. The white house wants to spend $200 billion on infrastructure, conditioned on leveraging it up to $1.5 trillion with state, local and private money. Aside from an undefined amount for the Rural Utilities Services (RUS), there’s nothing set aside specifically for broadband, although it’s eligible to compete with other types of infrastructure projects for a slice of the whole ham.… More

CPUC considers giving broadband subsidy priority to low income areas

16 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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One-third or more of broadband infrastructure subsidies would go to low income areas, if the California Public Utilities Commission adopts new rules proposed by staff for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Although the draft rewrite published on Wednesday by commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves is just the starting point for a debate that won’t be resolved until the end of the year, it is consistent with comments that she and other commissioners have made on many occasions.… More

CPUC begins rewrite of California broadband infrastructure subsidy rules

15 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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California’s broadband primary infrastructure program, the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), is in for an overhaul by the California Public Utilities Commission. Last year, the California legislature passed and governor Jerry Brown signed assembly bill 1665, which pumped more money into the fund but also placed severe, incumbent-centric restrictions on how it can be spent.

It’s up to the CPUC, though, to decide the detailed objectives, rules and procedures for the program. Yesterday, commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves posted a scoping memo and ruling, which outlines extensive changes proposed by CPUC staff, and a schedule for reaching a decision.… More

AT&T CEO explains why net neutrality is necessary

14 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive officer, offered a hell of good example of why he can’t be trusted to do the right thing and refrain from using his position as a dominant, monopoly-centric broadband service provider to benefit his equally hefty video content business.

In an interview with CNBC, Stephenson complained that his online competition is beating him up…

“Reality is, the biggest distributor of content out there is totally vertically integrated. This happens to be something called Netflix.

… More

Trump's infrastructure plan offers something for broadband, but little hope for California

13 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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There are three good reasons not to like yesterday’s announcement of, as president Donald Trump put it, “the biggest and boldest infrastructure investment in American history”:

  1. It’s not so big and bold. Trump proposes to spend $200 billion, not $1.5 trillion. The balance will be, as businessmen say, other people’s money.
  2. Very little of the $200 million is aimed at broadband.
  3. Donald Trump likes it.

On the other hand, I can think of three good reasons to be happy about it:

  1. $200 billion isn’t chump change.
… More

Caltrans opens the road for broadband projects

12 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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California highway projects are now broadband projects too. Or can be. Caltrans wrapped up development of standard rules and procedures for adding third party conduit to highway construction projects, and published a guide for “Wired Broadband Stakeholders”. It covers “partnering”, which is adding a separate, third party trench to a road project, and “co-location”, which involves Caltrans and a third party both installing conduit in a Caltrans trench.

There are limits on who can participate.… More

Reporters ripped for muni broadband stories. Is Comcast behind it?

11 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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A “visiting scholar” at the American Enterprise Institute (and a member of Donald Trump’s “landing team” at the Federal Communications Commission) has taken to trash talking writers and publications that reported on a recent municipal broadband study (I haven’t yet – it’s on my to do list). The resemblance to a Comcast-sponsored astroturfing campaign is noteworthy.

Roslyn Layton joined Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison as volunteers assigned to help cobble together telecoms policy and overhaul the Obama-era FCC.… More