public policy

Opposition wave stuns California broadband subsidy grab

11 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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An effort to turn California’s broadband infrastructure subsidy fund into a monopoly preservation program is stalled, at least for a week. The chair of the California senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee, Ben Hueso (D – San Diego), opened yesterday’s meeting with the announcement that consideration of assembly bill 1665 was postponed until next Tuesday, 18 July 2017. He gave no reason for the delay, but it’s worth noting that dozens of organisations – counties, broadband consortia, independent Internet service providers and others – withdrew their support last week after AT&T and Frontier Communications turned it into a blatant pork barrel bill, instead of the thinly disguised one that was approved by the California assembly.… More

California broadband subsidy vote postponed, perhaps until 2018

10 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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A California senate committee delayed consideration of a bill to rewrite broadband subsidy rules until next week. Assembly bill 1665 was on the agenda for the energy, utilities and communications committee this morning. As the hearing began, the chair, Ben Hueso (D – San Diego) announced that it had been postponed until next Tuesday, 18 July 2017. No reason was given, but it appears that the flurry of opposition that followed last week’s amendments were a factor.… More

Support crumbles for California broadband subsidy grab

10 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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UPDATE: the hearing on AB 1665 was delayed until next week. More info here.

Last week’s amendments to assembly bill 1665 went too far for many of the organisations that were supporting it, particularly those with an interest in developing broadband infrastructure and countering incumbent monopolies. The changes allowed AT&T and Frontier to fence off most of their rural California systems from potential competitors, while getting privileged access to the $300 million in construction subsidies contained in the bill.… More

CPUC considers common carrier, net neutrality advice for FCC

9 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Once again, the California Public Utilities Commission is being asked to weigh in on whether or not broadband should be regulated as a common service. The current Federal Communications Commission is asking for comments on its presumed plans to reverse the decision made during the Obama administration to classify broadband as a telecommunications service under “Title II” of federal communications law and regulate the way Internet service can be provided.

The recommendation in front of the CPUC is to come down on the side of keeping common carrier rules in effect…

Staff recommends the Commission comment that in order for the existing Open Internet Rules to remain viable, the FCC would need to retain the “telecommunications services” classification for BIAS, providing Title II as a legal foundation for the rules.

… More

Another green light for preemption of local light poles in California assembly

7 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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The language has been tidied up a bit, but a bill snaking its way through the California legislature would still give wireless companies the right to install equipment on light poles, buildings and other vertical infrastructure owned by cities pretty much at will, for a nominal, below market rate fee. Senate bill 649 was blessed by the assembly’s local government committee on a 6 to 2 vote, with one abstention, and sent on to the communications and conveyances committee, where the assumption is that it will find an even warmer welcome.… More

California broadband subsidy amendments protect telcos' bad rural service

6 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Get used to it.

AT&T, Frontier Communications and cable companies would be able to freeze broadband development in unserved areas of California and get priority access to broadband subsidy money, under the terms of a newly amended bill to reinstate a tax on phone bills and use the money to top up the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). The latest version of assembly bill 1665 tracks with a draft circulated last week and is designed to freeze out independent broadband infrastructure projects.… More

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

Industrial, commercial Star Ratings produce broadband development roadmap

Broadband infrastructure analysis has two primary goals: 1. figure out what’s available now and whether it meets needs, and 2. identify and evaluate options for further development. Last year, Tellus Venture Associates created the Star Rating tool to assess broadband infrastructure in industrial and commercial areas.

It takes into account available service and existing infrastructure, and compares it to a range of benchmarks, including commodity business-level broadband, enhanced “megabit” and “gigabit” class service, and dark fiber.… 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

Consider who pays for broadband studies, but don't stop there

2 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Gamblers or exiled royalty?

I’ve commented on a couple of university studies recently, one critical of municipal broadband’s business model and the other ripping AT&T’s infrastructure upgrade redlining in California. In neither case did I write about who picked up the tab for the work. That’s because I thought that both analyses stood on their own. But it’s a fair question to ask and, for the muni broadband study at least, it’s a significant one because the source of the money was the primary basis for challenging the work.… More