public policy

CPUC votes to challenge incumbents' pole, conduit blockades

2 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Utility poles and underground conduit could shift from the tight control of a handful of monopoly electric and telecoms companies to a more broadly managed public resource in California. Yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously decided to require incumbent telecoms companies to disclose where their middle fiber networks go and how to connect to them, and to begin the process of writing rules to make it easier for competitors to gain access to poles, conduit and other infrastructure that’s installed in the public right of way.… More

CPUC focuses on California's monopoly broadband market

30 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Only one, where it counts.

A sharper take on California’s uncompetitive market for telecoms services goes before the California Public Utilities Commission tomorrow. A revised draft of a decision authored by CPUC administrative law judge Karl Bemesderfer was posted yesterday. It addresses the tall stack of comments on the first draft filed by telecoms companies and advocacy groups alike.

The major change is a promise to address tactics that monopoly telephone and cable companies use to block competitors, particularly regarding “access to poles, conduit, and rights of way”.… More

Google Fiber says no settlement, CPUC to decide protest of Webpass deal

28 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Big or small?

Google Fiber won’t agree to a settlement with the only group to lodge a protest in California to its acquisition of Webpass, an independent Internet service provider. The deal requires approval from the California Public Utilities Commission because Webpass is certified as a competitive telecoms company, which makes it a regulated public utility.

This sort of review is usually routine. Exceptions are generally the result of past problems with CPUC rules – not an issue in this case – or occur when the companies involved are major players in California’s telecoms ecosystem.… More

FCC considers such unfinished business as can be finished

26 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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There’s one more open meeting on the Federal Communications Commission’s 2016 schedule, and the agenda will be limited to relatively minor and generally innocuous policy decisions. That’s in keeping with FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s sudden pullback ahead of the November meeting and his stated hope that decisions on controversial items would be “addressed after the transfer of leadership from this agency“.

Wheeler released a preliminary agenda for the 15 December 2016 meeting just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.… More

Broadband monopoly battles may shift to states when FCC retreats

25 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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A key telecoms advisor to Donald Trump seems to be floating the idea of pushing more broadband regulatory responsibility down to states. Mark Jamison, currently a lecturer at the University of Florida and formerly a staff lobbyist for Sprint, is one half of the Trump transition landing team assigned to the Federal Communications Commission. In a blog post published before the election, he argues that there’s no longer a need for the FCC, as it currently exists…

Telecommunications network providers and ISPs are rarely, if ever, monopolies.

… More

Telecoms policy transition is a turnover, not a new game

23 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Pick up the ball and move it in the opposite direction.

A two-man Trump transition “landing team” is descending on the Federal Communications Commission. Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison have made their career at the dark junction of industry, academia and government. Both are affiliated with the D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute, an industry-friendly consulting group that serves clients on the right wing of the political ecosystem, and both have strong ties to the telecoms industry, Eisenach as a consultant to Verizon and Jamison as a lobbyist for Sprint.… More

Trump telecom policy may be hiding in plain sight on Capitol Hill

22 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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The only major telecommunications bill with more than a slim chance of making it out of the U.S. congress and onto president Obama’s desk before everything re-sets in January is the Mobile Now act, aka senate bill 2555. But it’s not the only one worth watching.

Authored by the chairman of the senate’s commerce, science and transportation committee, John Thune (R – South Dakota), the bill would free up more spectrum for mobile broadband purposes, for both licensed and unlicensed users, and streamline procedures for installing broadband infrastructure – towers and fiber – on federal property.… More

AT&T blows off rural Californians, because it can

21 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Attitude is everything.

Telecoms service and infrastructure in rural California is deteriorating, according to a draft of findings and remedies resulting from a California Public Utilities Commission investigation led by commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Wireline service outages and other problems aren’t being repaired and customers are told that the fix will come from future “technological transitions” – a euphemism for we’ll get back to you after we’ve ripped out the copper and replaced it with wireless.… More

CPUC report highlights telecoms companies' disdain for rural customers

20 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Self service.

There’s little interest among major telecommunications companies in maintaining infrastructure or service in rural California. That’s my overall conclusion after reading a draft decision by commissioner Catherine Sandoval summarising the California Public Utilities Commission’s investigation into telephone service problems in rural areas of the state.

The study focused on call completion issues: problems with 911 calls getting through, phone numbers falsely reported as out of service and a simple lack of dial tone, for example.… More

Attorney general nominee might look kindly on monopolies

19 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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But if you’re a dope smoking lowrider, bring some ID when you go to vote.

Next to the FCC, the federal justice department swings the biggest axe inside the Beltway when it comes to oversight of the telecommunications industry. It’s not wielded often, but the department’s antitrust powers have helped to shape the market for broadband, video and telephone services in the U.S.

Most recently, it sided with the Federal Communications Commission in killing Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable and its mega-market swap with Charter.… More