public policy

CPUC loses activist edge as Sandoval, Florio depart

16 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission lost its most consistently activist members yesterday. Commissioners Catherine Sandoval and Mike Florio announced that they would be leaving when their terms expire at the end of the month. Both were appointed six years ago as governor Jerry Brown took office. Brown did not reappoint them to a second term, though.

Sandoval is the acknowledged telecoms expert among commissioners. She teaches telecoms law at Santa Clara University and was a staffer at the Federal Commission.… More

Commissioner Catherine Sandoval off CPUC

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Commissioner Catherine Sandoval will not be on the California Public Utilities Commission next year. Her term expires at the end of the month, and she announced during today’s CPUC meeting that she would be returning to full time work as a law professor at Santa Clara University in January. In her farewell, she spoke about the work she and other commissioners have done to extend telecoms service to some of the remotest areas of California.

Commissioner Mike Florio leaves CPUC

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Mike Florio won’t be on the California Public Utilities Commission next year. His term expires at the end of the month, and he was not reappointed by governor Jerry Brown. As he opened this morning’s meeting, CPUC president Michael Picker casually confirmed what pretty much everyone has expected: this will be Florio’s last meeting. Testimonials and farewells are expected at the end of the meeting later this morning. No word yet on whether commissioner Catherine Sandoval will be reappointed.

AT&T in no hurry to fix problems ahead of CPUC vote on tougher outage rules

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Carrier of last resort.

Later this morning, the California Public Utilities Commission, in its last regular meeting of the year, is scheduled to considered tightening the rules on what and when telephone companies have to report information about service outages. The proposed decision by commissioner Catherine Sandoval would also clamp down on the occasional practice by telephone and cable companies of attaching lines to trees in rural areas, rather than installing utility poles.

I’ve already written a couple of posts about the proposed decision, the result of an investigation into problems that rural residents have with completing calls and otherwise receiving phone service.… More

Broadband, conduit bills left stranded in Washington, D.C.

13 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The 114th congress ended with a stack of unfinished broadband business. The most consequential might be the failure to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel for a new term on the Federal Communications Commission, but buried in the wreckage of more than a dozen broadband-related bills are hints of what to expect from the new congress and the new administration next year.

The one major bill with a chance to pass muster with lawmakers as well as the white house was the Mobile Now act.… More

Telecoms left out of new CPUC reform bill

12 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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California Public Utilities Commission reforms are back on the table in Sacramento, but the latest proposal doesn’t include anything specific about review or reorganisation of how telecommunications companies are regulated. Senate bill 19 was introduced by senator Jerry Hill (D – San Bruno) as new lawmakers were sworn in and the new legislative session began last week. He is the sole survivor of the trio that negotiated with governor Brown to come to agreement on a package of bills aimed at overhauling the CPUC last year.… More

End of the line for an intelligent, independent FCC commissioner

10 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Happier days.

Jessica Rosenworcel won’t be coming back to the Federal Communications Commission next year. Not unless she’s renominated by either president Obama or Trump and the U.S. senate concurs. Or the senate takes the highly unusual step of returning to work during the holiday break. Senators wrapped up business for the year in the wee hours this morning, leaving a stack of unfinished business, including confirmation of a new term on the FCC for Rosenworcel.… More

Comcast uses monopoly muscle to claw back profits from cord cutters

9 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Odd. He always seems to win.

Comcast’s operating profit drops by $5.50 every time a customer cancels bundled television service and goes with Internet service alone. That’s according to a story by Daniel Frankel in Fierce Wireless about some back of the envelope modelling done by Wall Street analyst Craig Moffett. His conclusion is that bundling prevents cord cutting, and I think he’s right. But another way of looking at it is that Comcast – and its mega-cable brethren – are using their monopoly control of high speed Internet service to extract significant rents – profits beyond what a competitive market would allow – from consumers.… More

California's telecoms playing field takes a tiny tilt towards level

5 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s all the same.

The California Public Utilities Commission took a small, but significant, step towards treating all telecoms companies the same on Thursday. Cable and telephone companies, mobile carriers and any other communication service provider will now be subject to the same kind of safety enforcement procedures as other public utilities.

The commission [voted to allow enforcement staff to issue citations to any communications company]() that violates the safety rules that govern how utility poles, wires and cables, antennas, cabinets and other infrastructure in the public right of way is installed and maintained.… More

Another net neutrality skeptic lands at the FCC

3 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Telecoms policy solidifies.

A third, like minded crew member beamed down to the Trump transition’s landing team at the Federal Communications Commission this week. Roslyn Layton was named to the volunteer position and, together with previous appointees Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison, will help manage the transition from an Obama-appointed democratic majority to a Trump-appointed republican one.

Like Jamison and Eisenach, Layton has links to the American Enterprise Institute, a right-of-center consulting shop, and works as a consultant and in academia, albeit with a thin scholarly resume.… More