California senate votes for quicker wireless permit decisions

27 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A fast track for wireless facilities permits is one step closer to reality in California. Assembly bill 57 was approved by the state senate and sent back to the assembly, which needs to either agree with senate amendments or work out compromise language in order for it to be sent on to Governor Jerry Brown.

The senate vote was lopsided and bipartisan – 28 yes, 6 no and 6 abstentions. All of the noes and abstention were on the democratic side of the aisle

If approved, the bill would put teeth in the Federal Communications Commission’s shot clock rules, which essentially give local governments 90 days to approve or deny applications for co-location of additional equipment on existing cellular sites and other wireless facilities, and 150 days for new ones.… More

Possible agreement at the CPUC to investigate AT&T, Verizon networks

26 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A streamlined version of a decision aimed at accelerating an investigation of AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireline networks is on the table at the California Public Utilities Commission.

The debate surrounds a study of wireline network quality that has been in the works at the CPUC since 2011. Commission president Michael Picker wants to cancel the investigation, an idea that Verizon and AT&T greeted with wild enthusiasm.

Two other commissioners – Mike Florio and Catherine Sandoval – weren’t so enamoured and offered an alternate draft that 1.… More

Billions of dollars at stake this week for rural broadband upgrades

25 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Ready for an upgrade?

AT&T and Verizon have until Thursday to claim billions of dollars in subsidies to upgrade broadband in rural areas of the U.S., including hundreds of millions to improve service in California.

The Federal Communications Commission gives operating subsidies to telephone companies that provide broadband service in rural and/or remote areas, as a part of its universal service mandate. In the current round – Phase 2 – of the Connect America Fund (CAF) program, the FCC is offering large telephone companies a right of first refusal to accept these funds, on a state by state basis.… More

Verizon says screw you California (and Texas and Florida), we're not gonna upgrade

24 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Frontier says it’ll try, Verizon says fuhgeddaboudit.

Verizon is finally saying flat out that it’s not going to improve its pitiful wireline infrastructure in California, and in particular it’s not going to upgrade any more copper telephone systems to modern broadband standards or capabilities. That’s probably not the intent of a joint filing made by Verizon and Frontier at the FCC as the two companies try to gain approval for their pending transaction. But it’s the plain meaning of what was said.… More

Two picks for (what's left of) the summer broadband reading list

23 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for more.

Two good guides to planning and executing municipal broadband projects have been published recently: The Next Generation Network Connectivity Handbook by Blair Levin and Denise Linn, and Connecting 21st Century Communities published by Next Century Cities without authorship credit.

Both offer planning frameworks for both political leaders and city staff interested in either developing local broadband projects – of any sort – or laying the groundwork for others to do so.

[Connecting 21st Century Communities]() is short – 18 pages – and focused on policy alternatives at the local, state and federal level, including dig once ordinances, building codes and streamlined permitting processes.… More

Latest Snowden revelations will push Internet infrastructure and traffic away from U.S.


Expect more lines in the future to bypass the U.S.

If there was ever any doubt that there’s no privacy on the Internet, the latest nuggets from Edward Snowden’s trove of documents detailing U.S. electronic spying efforts should remove it. Stories on the ProPublica.org website and in the New York Times show how telecommunications companies have cooperated with the National Security Agency to trawl emails that pass through their systems, regardless of where the messages originate or where they are destined.… More

Verizon ordered to explain why copper is rotting in California

21 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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What was the question?

Verizon will have to explain, on paper and in person, why its copper telephone networks are rotting on the poles in California. A California Public Utility Commission administrative law judge (ALJ) conducting hearings into Frontier Communications proposed purchase of the company’s wireline systems has ordered Verizon to…

Prepare…a comprehensive report on the current condition of [the Verizon land line network] and the cost and extent of repairs required to bring the Network into compliance with Commission-imposed standards of safety and reliability, and to make available for cross-examination at the evidentiary hearings a person or persons most knowledgeable regarding the contents of that report.

… More

Apple ready to do to autos what it did to mainframes and flip phones

20 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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The automotive assembly line of the near-future.

Rumors of an Apple-built car appear to be true. The Guardian, in a story written by Mark Harris, tells of enquiries made by Apple engineers to GoMentum Station, a test site for driverless cars located on the old Concord Naval Weapons Station in the East Bay Area. With military-grade security still in place, the site is run by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and is billed as the largest secure test bed site in the United States.… More

A gigabit is now $60 in the Mojave desert town of Boron

19 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A gig is a lot faster than 20 mules.

One of the fastest and cheapest ways to get gigabit service to your home is to move to Boron, California. Race Telecommunications finished building out fiber-to-the-home infrastructure there last month, and is selling a gig of Internet access for $60 per month, and unlimited voice service for $10 a month.

The community’s response was quick and enthusiastic. So far, about a third of the 900 homes and businesses in town have ordered service, with about 200 already connected and crews working to hook up the rest at the rate of about 30 per week.… More

California legislature approves an extra $5 million for broadband consortia

18 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the big picture.

Regional broadband consortia will be getting another $5 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), assuming governor Jerry Brown agrees. The state senate unanimously approved a bill yesterday that adds the money to the $10 million already allocated and largely spent by the 17 consortia that cover all but a handful of California’s 58 counties (h/t to Gladys Palpallatoc at CETF for the heads up).

The California Public Utilities Commission starting approving consortia in 2011, after the program was established by the legislature in 2010.… More