CPUC commissioners say no back room deals for Comcast

18 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Don’t even think about going there.

Responding to fears that the CPUC would grant Comcast its wish and cut a deal in private to approve its proposed mega merger and market swap with Time-Warner and Charter, several commissioners publicly said no way at their meeting in San Francisco last week.

Carla Peterman is the commissioner assigned to manage the merger review process. She said she’s following the commission’s ex parte rules which strictly limit one-on-one discussions…

Someone expressed some concern that some parties might have unique access through the ex parte process to kind of negotiate or influence decisions and particularly there was a mention of the Comcast Time-Warner proceeding.

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Californian conditions on Comcast merger may be trumped by FCC

17 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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The ref seems okay with it.

Comcast correctly anticipated the details of the FCC’s Internet common carrier ruling when it objected to conditions that a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge wants to slap on its mega merger and market swap with Time-Warner and Charter. In its response to the CPUC’s proposed decision, Comcast said…

The [CPUC] Proposed Decision directly conflicts with this new federal policy by imposing a host of requirements pertaining to rates, service terms, and wholesale offerings, as well as burdensome reporting obligations…These are necessarily interstate offerings, and as such, the [CPUC] is preempted under long-established principles of federal law from regulating broadband services in the ways suggested in the Proposed Decision.

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If you like the status quo you'll love the FCC's new Internet rules

16 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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I thought you didn’t want anything to change?

Some questions about common carrier Internet rules were answered, some were, again, left hanging in the FCC’s 400-page decision released on Thursday. Here’s the rundown on the five key questions I highlighted last month…

Muni broadband systems – the new rules don’t specifically address publicly-owned ISPs, but taken together with the FCC’s decision to preempt state restrictions on muni broadband, it’s pretty clear that there’s no exemption.… More

FCC decision says state laws must treat muni and private ISPs the same

15 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Only Washington can level the playing field.

Municipal broadband initiatives either have to be banned altogether by state law or allowed the same latitude to conduct business that the FCC gives private Internet service providers. That’s the core of the FCC’s decision, released last Thursday, to preempt state-imposed restrictions on publicly-owned broadband systems in Tennessee and North Carolina…

A different question would be presented if we were asked to preempt…a law that goes to a state’s power to withhold altogether the authority to provide broadband.

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New FCC Internet rules differentiate by service, not technology

14 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Everyone is on the same common carrier track.

The new, common carrier rules released on Thursday by the FCC apply to all Internet service providers, including mobile, satellite, fixed wireless, telephone and cable companies. There’s some fine tuning where technical details are concerned, particularly regarding mobile broadband companies, but for the most part, Internet service is Internet service, regardless of technology.

As promised, the new rules specifically state that no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritisation by ISPs will be allowed.… More

FCC muni broadband decision relies on a wobbly position

13 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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This isn’t the first time the feds have fought in Chattanooga.

There was no doubt that the FCC would vote two weeks ago to pre-empt state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina that restrict the ability of local governments – the cities of Chattanooga and Wilson respectively – to get into the broadband business. Both U.S. president Barack Obama and FCC chairman Tom Wheeler promised it was coming. And there’s no shortage of reasons to do it (or not).… More

Muni broadband ruling posted by FCC

12 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Today is the day. The FCC just followed up its release of new common carrier rules for the Internet with the text of its decision to preempt state restrictions on municipal broadband projects in Tennessee and North Carolina…

Click here to download the muni broadband decision…

The statements issued by the five commissioners can downloaded here.

It’s 116 pages long. Added to the 400 pages of new common carrier rules all the associated commissioner statements, objections and press releases, that makes for a serious reading assignment today.… More

FCC common carrier rules for broadband released

12 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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The FCC has posted the full, and presumably official, version of the common carrier rules that will apply to broadband infrastructure and service that it approved two weeks ago. It’s 400 pages long, but looks to be fascinating reading…

In The Matter Of Protecting And Promoting The Open Internet Report And Order On Remand, Declaratory Ruling, And Order

…All the commissioners have released statements, those can be downloaded here.

Republican commissioner Ajit Pai has posted more detailed objections to the ruling, those can be found here.

Let's settle this behind closed doors Comcast tells CPUC

12 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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If it was good enough for PG&E, it should be swell for Comcast.

Comcast, and its would-be merger and market swap partners, don’t like any of the conditions that would be imposed on the deal, if a proposed decision by a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge is approved. Not surprisingly, in a 60 page objection, the so-called Joint Applicants – Comcast and friends might be a better description – run through the 25 conditions proposed conditions and find fault with every one.… More

Debate continues over whether proposed Comcast merger benefits outweigh the damage

11 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not expecting time off for good behavior.

Ten organisations filed comments about a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge’s proposed decision regarding the Comcast/Time-Warner/Charter Communications mega-merger and market swap. Seven want the deal killed altogether, and argue that the mostly temporary conditions proposed would not offset the damage done to broadband service in California. The Greenlining Institute, a consumer advocacy group, detailed Comcast’s obstreperous response to the draft decision and said…

While the proposed conditions are well-intended, they simply cannot rehabilitate a merger which would hand Comcast a potentially permanent monopoly in virtually all of the largest markets in both California and the United States, giving Comcast unprecedented power to raise prices, decrease service quality, and harm consumers.

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