public policy

No lame duck FCC decisions, says Wheeler

18 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Or better yet, dead stop.

Tom Wheeler is leaving any significant decisions on telecommunications policy to the incoming Trump administration and the new republican majority that will follow on the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC chairman spoke after a very brief open meeting yesterday, saying he has not spoken with anyone from the incoming Trump administration, but he is bowing to pressure from republicans in congress, who want him to walk away from the table now.… More

Wheeler surrenders to republicans, cancels today's FCC agenda

17 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Unconditional.

The Federal Communications Commission won’t be voting today on price controls and other regulations for wholesale broadband service and facilities. Nor will it address mobile roaming standards, or adopt rules for mobile infrastructure subsidies or set requirements for audio narration of video content for the people with vision impairments. A planned (but not revealed) enforcement action has also been scrapped. All that’s left for commissioners to do today is vote on a Freedom of Information Act request.… More

To drain the telecoms swamp, first stop filling it

16 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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The buzz around the incoming Trump administration’s telecoms policy is centering on Jeffrey Eisenach, a consultant to Verizon and apparently the man in charge of picking key staffers and, ultimately, commissioners at the FCC. He’s also been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute – a conservative Washington, DC think tank – and in that capacity co-authored a white paper with a number of colleagues there that calls for drastically shrinking the Federal Communications Commission.

The paper is animated by a fear of regulatory overreach resulting from a federal court decision involving – surprise!… More

Spectrum is weak link in AT&T's copper retirement plan

15 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Download while you can, that line of sight won’t go so far in spring.

Slowly, we’re learning more about AT&T’s plans to abandon wireline broadband service in rural areas of California, and replace it with what it calls wireless local loop. AT&T has been presenting its WLL roadshow to boards of supervisors around northern California, but the content is misleading – skipping the part about ending copper service, for example – and at times, completely false – federal Connect America Fund subsidies are not limited to wireless service, and may just as easily be spent on fiber.… More

Action must follow CPUC broadband investigation

14 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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That’s a powerful force. Research should be done.
Oh, it will be, Dr. Jones, I assure you.

A proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision slams the lack of telecommunications competition in the state and goes a long way toward demolishing the artificial distinction between telephone and broadband service, infrastructure and, crucially, regulation. If it’s approved more or less as written, it will create a factual and legal foundation for modernising telecoms policy and regulation in California.… More

California broadband subsidy approved for Mother Lode WISP

13 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Calaveras County won’t be limited to traditional forms of entertainment.

Nearly 5,000 households in Calaveras and Amador counties, along with a few in Alpine County, will be offered faster wireless broadband service, at a minimum of 6 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speeds, and ranging up to 25 Mbps download and 4 Mbps upload speeds. At least that’s the plan as presented to the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, as it approved a $2.9 million construction grant from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to a local wireless Internet service provider, Cal.net.… More

Update: Pai can keep FCC seat through 2017

11 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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I made a mistake about FCC terms in this story (click here). FCC commissioners can stay in office for up to two years after their terms expire (until “the expiration of the next session of Congress subsequent to the expiration of said fixed term of office”). That changes Ajit Pai’s position – he’s good through 2017 unless a replacement is appointed – and extends Mignon Clyburn’s and Tom Wheeler’s potential terms through 2019. That changes the chess board a bit, but not the main point of the story: Wheeler is out as chairman in January and must resign before the end of the year if Rosenworcel is to continue as a commissioner.

Status quo for broadband policy in Sacramento

11 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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Bradford is back.

There’s no predicting what impact the political upheaval in Washington, D.C. will have on broadband policy and development, but there’s likely to be little change here in California as a result of Tuesday’s election.

The one significant change that was at stake in Sacramento was a possible democratic supermajority in the California legislature. Votes will continue to be counted until Monday, but at this point it appears that democrats will have a supermajority in the assembly, but not in the senate.… More

Wheeler's FCC agenda hits the wall in December

10 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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If he doesn’t pull the trigger, someone will do it for him.

The Federal Communications Commission will look a lot different come January, as chairman Tom Wheeler either resigns or is shoved aside. With a republican president set to take office, the priority will be to clear enough seats on the five member commission to give the new administration a three-vote majority.

Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel will be out of a job at the end of year, unless the republican-led senate votes to confirm her.… More

Incumbents' coalition of the unwilling fights fiber disclosure rule

9 November 2016 by Steve Blum
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But if you really don’t know, click here and we’ll tell you.

Broadband is outside the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission, and it has no business investigating competition – or the lack thereof – among Internet service providers. That’s the basic reaction from a “Respondent Coalition” of incumbent telephone and cable companies to a proposed CPUC decision that slams the lack of broadband competition in California and would take a few, small steps toward opening the market.… More