Expect more federal preemption of local wireless site reviews

8 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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There’s no partisan bickering in Washington over locating cell sites. The great divide is between federal and local governments. After making the obligatory nods toward local communities, top aides to all five FCC commissioners agreed that clearing the path for the millions of new cell sites that 5G networks will require is a top priority. They told the audience at the CTIA’s trade show in Las Vegas yesterday that in order to make 5G work, the cost of constructing cell sites, particularly the time and money required to get permit approval from cities and counties, has to come down.… More

FCC chair Wheeler says fiber companies can't hold 5G hostage

7 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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Valediction.

Backhaul is critical to development of next generation mobile networks, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said in Las Vegas this morning, promising the commission will ensure “that lack of competition in some places cannot be used to hold 5G hostage”.

It doesn’t look like the Federal Communications Commission will be taking up pricing and access regulations for middle mile backhaul in September, though. In what could be his final CTIA keynote as FCC chair, Wheeler promised new rules, but “before the end of this year” and not before the end of the month.… More

New network standards fuel Verizon IoT push

7 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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U.S. mobile carriers will offer specialised Internet of things (IoT) services in a big way next year. Some of the motivation is competitive, the result of pressure from companies using unlicensed spectrum, but it seems to be mostly the result of new technology protocols for the LTE standard that support IoT applications and, critically, business cases.

Verizon announced its plans for full, nationwide deployment of a key IoT standard by April 2017 at the Telit IoT Innovation conference in Las Vegas yesterday.… More

Ballot measure floated for California telecoms regulation

6 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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Out of time and running room.

A new attempt to overhaul the California Public Utilities Commission is bobbing on the horizon. Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D – Los Angeles), who fronted a failed effort in the legislature, says he’s talking with “like-minded reformers” about a ballot initiative. That’s a bit unsettling, since his fellow travellers this year have largely been telecoms lobbyists and trial lawyers. Those are two groups with deep pockets for friendly policies and long arms for compliant politicians.… More

Sparse CTIA show looks at dense cell networks

5 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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CTIA – the trade group formerly known as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association – is holding its last show in Las Vegas this week. Next year, it’s combining with the GSM Association to produce a new show in San Francisco. GSMA is the organiser of the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, which is the go-to conference for the mobile industry.

The event will shift to the second week after Labor Day, which presumably will get it out from under Apple’s shadow – as in the past, CEO Tim Cook’s fall announcements, which are usually mobile-focused, will happen right smack in the middle of CTIA’s opening keynote session.… More

Rapid climb in California's broadband speeds and use

4 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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The average speed at which Californians connected to Akamai’s content delivery network in the first quarter of 2016 was 16.4 Mbps, according to Akamai’s State of the Internet Report for the first quarter of 2016. Despite lagging behind U.S. leaders, that’s stilll a healthy jump from a year earlier, when the average was 13.6 Mbps, and a huge improvement over the 5.7 Mbps we were clocking five years ago – a 188% improvement.

The average Californian can and does buy faster Internet service plans as well.… More

Good policy and creative funding drive broadband development

3 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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I gave a presentation on connected cities and broadband planning at the American Planning Association’s California chapter’s conference in Oakland. I was on a panel with Tom Liao from the City of San Leandro, Peter James from the City of Santa Monica and Joanna Jansen, associate principal at Placeworks.

After a quick overview of what broadband really entails – digging and rigging to put it simply – I talked about tools and initiatives that city and county planners can use to promote infrastructure development.… More

California legislative update: final bills not posted yet, safety advocate approved

2 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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And away we go!

Final versions of telecom-related bills that were approved in the final, dark hours of the California legislature’s session on Wednesday haven’t been posted yet. Among those approved was senate bill 62 by senator Jerry Hill (D – San Bruno). Yesterday morning, its fate wasn’t clear, but after the dust settled, the verdict was yes; it will be sent on to the governor.

SB 62 would create a quasi-independent safety advocate’s office at the California Public Utilities Commission, similar to the ratepayers’ advocate’s office.… More

California telecoms policy reform dies in Legislature

1 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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The top line: an attempt (assembly bill 2903) to overhaul, or at least start the process of overhauling, the California Public Utilities Commission is dead; so, apparently, is one (senate bill 1017) aimed at releasing more information filed by utilities at the CPUC. Another, (AB 512), that’s intended to generally make CPUC processes more public, passed.

Going into the final, dark hours of the legislative session last night, several major utility reform bills were still in limbo, awaiting final language and votes.… More

Federal reserve urges banks to invest in broadband

31 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Banks should be in the business of increasing Internet access and use in their communities, according to the Dallas branch of the federal reserve bank. Its white paper, Closing the Digital Divide, is a broadband primer for local bankers and those who would like to work with them. It details how broadband development initiatives can help banks meet obligations for local investment imposed by the federal Community Reinvestment Act.

The white paper makes three useful points.… More