public policy

CPUC votes to let telcos fine themselves, keep the money

23 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Miss me yet?

In the most cynical decision I’ve ever seen the California Public Utilities Commission make, telephone companies will be allowed to pay fines to themselves, if they fail to meet service quality standards.

Fines, it seems, are just another cost of doing business for telecoms companies and don’t matter anyway. So why not let them keep the money?

Boiled down, that’s CPUC president Michael Picker’s rationale for establishing new telephone voice service level requirements backed up by a swingeing schedule of penalties and then saying but we’ll let you keep the money if you invest it in infrastructure or pay staff.… More

Cable, telco lobby hack more meat out of California telcoms reform

22 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Lobbyists from telephone companies largely prevailed in their fight to block meaningful release of information about what they do at the California Public Utilities Commission. And the cable lobby has, for the moment, maintained an Internet access chokehold on people who live in public housing.

Senate bill 1017 was pushed by San Bruno senator Jerry Hill, after a PG&E gas pipeline exploded with fatal results for his constituency. As originally conceived, it would have reformed archaic laws that allow utilities – including telephone companies – to stamp pretty much anything confidential and keep it hidden from local governments as well as the public.… More

When does a duopoly collapse into a monopoly?

21 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Event horizon.

Comcast and Charter Communications own nearly half of the U.S. broadband market. That’s the result I get from crunching the second quarter 2016 high speed subscriber counts compiled by Leichtman Research Group. Comcast has a quarter of the market – 25% – and Charter has almost as much – 23%. After accounting for rounding, the combination of the two totals out at 47% of U.S. Internet service subscriptions.

AT&T is the only other Internet service provider with double digit market share, but still lags far behind at 16%.… More

Detailed review of Californian telecoms policy slashed from bill

19 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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I’ll show you gut and amend.

An examination of telecommunications responsibilities at the California Public Utilities Commission has gone from being a specific study of agency duties, technological issues and, critically, broadband’s place in the regulatory mix, to being the sort of high level gloss that will gather dust on a shelf. The threat of a useful result no longer looms over cable and telephone incumbents.

As it was proposed last week, assembly bill 2903 had a long check list of broadband and other telecoms issues that the California research bureau was supposed to investigate by the end of next year, including…

  • What gaps, if any, exist in the state’s regulatory authority that are not otherwise addressed by federal law or regulation over telecommunications services, including, but not limited to, consumer protection and safety.
… More

FCC preemption loss is muni broadband win

17 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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One more vote, and you’re mine.

Waving the magic federal wand and erasing state restrictions on muni broadband seems like a wonderful idea, until the wand waves the other way and muni broadband disappears. That’s why last week’s federal appeals court decision overturning the FCC’s preemption of Tennessee and North Carolina laws limiting muni broadband systems was welcome news.

The current Federal Communications Commission majority tried to preempt the state restrictions during a burst of presidential community broadband populism a year and a half ago.… More

California needs aggressive bids to win federal broadband subsidies

16 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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California has 88,000 eligible homes and businessesin the next round of federal Connect America Fund broadband subsidies. That round will be a reverse auction, where Internet service providers – including incumbent telcos – will compete for $1.3 billion that’s been earmarked for broadband upgrades in, mostly, rural areas.

Nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission has a total of 1.5 million homes and businesses on its preliminary eligibility list. About two-thirds of the Californian locations are in what are called extremely high cost areas, which means that the estimated per location subsidy necessary to convince a telco to build out broadband infrastructure is more than $1,200, according to the FCC’s funding model.… More

Speed doesn't matter so give us the money, Verizon tells FCC

15 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Will the cherries blossom in Washington?

Verizon wants the Federal Communications Commission to give it an open and privileged path to do an end run around the statewide service obligations attached to the current round of Connect America Fund (CAF-2) rural broadband subsidies.

In comments it filed regarding the FCC’s proposed bidding rules for the next round of CAF-2 subsidies, Verizon wants extra credit given if it makes minimum service – 10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up – bids for unserved areas it turned down last year, but doesn’t want competing bids to be given greater weight if higher, even gigabit, speeds are offered, because, well, who needs all that bandwidth…

For every location in the gigabit tier that is awarded support because of a large weight, several other eligible locations would be left without any broadband service whatsoever.

… More

FCC's muni preemption attempt looks gone for good

14 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Wednesday’s appeals court decision that tossed out the Federal Communications Commission’s preemption of state limits on municipal broadband is looking more and more like the final word.

The reaction of those on the losing side of the judge’s decision – the FCC and the cities of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina – can be summed up as disappointed resignation. Lots of sorrow but no fighting words, as in they got it wrong and we’re gonna take it all the way to the supreme court.… More

Green light for telecoms policy bills in Sacramento

12 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Telecoms legislation is popular in Sacramento this summer. Legislative leaders allowed several important bills to move ahead yesterday, albeit without finalising all of the language. Negotiations and amendments will continue behind closed doors as the full assembly and senate get ready to vote.

The four bills that make up the grand package of California Public Utilities Commission reforms agreed to by the governor and three key lawmakers are moving ahead. Senate bill 215, by senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco), tightens rules on who can speak with CPUC decision makers and when.… More

CPUC gut-and-amend reform bill published

11 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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No surprise, really.

A draft of a bill to overhaul the California Public Utilities Commission is up on the state legislature’s website. It’s a gut-and-amend job by assemblyman Mike Gatto (D – Los Angeles) on an assembly bill – AB 2903 – that originally concerned damages resulting from the state’s energy crisis in 2000.

It appears to be in line with the grand compromise reached with governor Brown in June. The California Research Bureau, a division of the state library, would get the job of evaluating the CPUC’s future role in telecoms regulation.… More