Google Fiber gets initial enviro okay in San Jose, could be model for California

22 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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I hope they survey me, Robin. The Batcave still has dial up.

Google Fiber is taking a harder look at San Jose. The city has prepared the initial environmental assessment, more than 400 pages long, which declares there will be no significant environmental impact if Google builds out a fiber to the home system there…

The proposed Project includes the following components: The installation of approximately 2,300 miles of fiber optic cables (consisting of about 1,340 miles of below ground installation and 960 miles of aerial installation using existing utility poles); the installation of approximately ten Local Aggregation Sites either inside pre-fabricated communications shelters (fiber huts) or enclosed within existing commercial buildings; underground utility vaults and utility cabinets; and connections directly to customers.

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Verizon's California copper will rot if it isn't sold

21 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not much incentive to spend on copper.

Verizon’s wireline future is fiber, not copper. That’s the takeaway from yesterday’s quarterly earnings call, where Fran Shammo, Verizon’s chief financial officer, talked up the company’s wireless plans, and said that selling its mostly copper systems in California (and Florida and Texas) was a good move strategically, because the company’s wireline investments are focused on fiber…

Most of that property was copper, not fiber. So when we look at the East Coast, it’s a much different footprint.

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Charter charges Salinas Valley high price for 1980s TV

20 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Gonzales gets the facts of life.

If you live in Watsonville, California, you can go to Charter Communications’ website and find a triple play package that gives you 60 Mbps download speeds, more than 200 channels of television, HD included, a digital video recorder and unlimited long distance calling for as little as $70 a month. There are strings attached at that price point, but it’s still a pretty good deal.
If you live in the Salinas Valley, 40 miles to the south in Gonzales, it’s a different story.… More

Surfnet takes another try in the Santa Cruz mountains

19 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for a bigger picture.

Los Cumbres is a private community in the Santa Cruz mountains with old-style DSL service. Surfnet Communications, a wireless Internet service provider in the area, is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for a $730,000 grant and a $243,000 loan from the California Advanced Services Fund to build a fiber to the home system there.

The project would reach something like 180 homes, at a total cost of $1.2 million, with the balance paid by the Las Cumbres homeowners association and Surfnet.… More

Cutting the cord doesn't really mean cutting the cord

18 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s still a battle.

Nearly a quarter of the U.S. population doesn’t have a pay TV subscription, via cable or satellite. A report published by Forrester Research and reported on by the FierceOnlineVideo and the Wall Street Journal says that 24% of U.S. television viewers don’t buy linear cable or satellite packages. What’s interesting, though, is that the number of people who have never been subscribers is three times as high as people who have bought it at one point and then cut the cord, as they say in the cable business.… More

The Apple car coming in 2019, rumors say

17 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Apple’s plans to get into the car business – supposedly code-named Project Titan – are taking on a firmer shape, according to an article in Information Week. It lists the top eight Apple car rumors floating through the automotive and high tech communities. Number one on the hit parade is a supposedly leaked target date of 2019 for the launch. That’s considered ambitious in automotive terms, where development cycles can run as long as a decade or more.… More

California wireless shot clock might trump environmental reviews

16 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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A pretty simple decision.

The California Environmental Quality Act – CEQA – has evolved into a powerful tool for Nimbys and others who want to say no to infrastructure projects or other construction work. The seemingly endless possibilities for reviews, questions and appeals can stall projects for years, with no discernible benefit to either the environment or communities. Except for people who simply want to delay the process, in the hopes of killing projects drip by drip.… More

Comcast exec says yeah, competitition made us do it

15 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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The only sure way to respond to a threat.

Comcast has a habit of upgrading and extending its infrastructure when the threat of competition raises its beautiful head. That’s a deliberate strategy, and not a coincidence, according to a Comcast executive quoted by FierceTelecom…

Speaking to attendees during the opening afternoon sessions during SCTE 2015, Jorge Salinger, VP of access for Comcast, said that the cable industry’s development of the DOCSIS 3.1 specification has come together very quickly and is being driven by an emergence of new broadband competition from Google Fiber and telcos like AT&T and CenturyLink.

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Cox lawyers up, stalls Google Fiber

14 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Backlash from Cox Communications is slowing down Google Fiber’s march on Arizona. Phoenix and surrounding towns are considered by Google to be “potential” fiber cities, and although no final decision has been made the company is taking the necessary steps to get permission to operate. Not just the standard deal, though. Everywhere it’s gone, Google has asked for particular terms regarding things like master leases for public property, permit processing and, in Arizona, local licenses, similar to cable television franchises in California.… More

Governor Brown says CPUC reforms needed, but not the ones passed by the legislature

13 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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These aren’t the bills I’m looking for.

Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed five bills that would have changed the way the California Public Utilities Commission does business. The announcement was made on Friday, two days before the constitutional deadline.

AB 825, AB 1023 and SB 48 would have required more disclosure, via web postings, of both the commission’s work and those who have business before it. SB 48 would have also changed some of the ethics and procedural rules the commission operates under, and require it meet at least six times a year in Sacramento.… More