T-Mobile’s request to speed up California review of Sprint deal rejected by CPUC

6 March 2020 by Steve Blum
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Without waiting for responses from opponents, administrative law judge Karl Bemesderfer denied motions made by T-Mobile and Sprint in an attempt to speed up the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of their proposed merger yesterday. His decision was short and to the point…

After considering the motions I have determined that all of them should be denied.

No reason was given, but on the other hand T-Mobile (and junior partner Sprint) didn’t offer any new facts or arguments in making the requests.… More

T-Mobile preps to bypass CPUC, close Sprint deal before California review complete

5 March 2020 by Steve Blum
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Tmobile billboard las vegas 6jan2020

A stack of motions from T-Mobile (and Sprint, but it’s T-Mobile leading the parade) landed at the California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday. On the face of it, the four filings (links below) ask the CPUC to wrap up its review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger in time for the deal to close on 1 April 2020. As it stands, the CPUC is running on a schedule that has a final vote set for 16 April 2020, following publication of a proposed decision by 13 March 2020.… More

FCC’s go it alone broadband subsidies burn state programs, commissioners say

4 March 2020 by Steve Blum
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Thirteen days before the November election, the Federal Communications Commission plans to give away $16 billion of subsidies to broadband service providers who can deliver at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds to census blocks that lack it. Commissioners voted last week to publish the proposed 22 October 2020 date to commence a reverse auction to determine who gets those subsidies, and ask for comments on a variety of technical issues that have to be sewn up before the bidding begins.… More

Accidentally honest AT&T tells CPUC to grab the horse by the tail and face reality

3 March 2020 by Steve Blum
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Chp horses capitol 3feb2016

Unintentionally, an AT&T witness injected an insight of startling clarity into the debate over whether or not broadband is a common carrier service. It happened during a hearing to determine if the company should be held in contempt of California Public Utilities Commission orders. The witness was discussing the difference between legacy digital methods for transmitting telephone calls and contemporary Internet protocol technology.

He said…

It’s like the difference between a horse and buggy, and an automobile.

… More

CPUC slaps down Charter’s bid to monopolise low income housing, says owner has “right to choose”

2 March 2020 by Steve Blum
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John wayne slap

Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (NVCSS) builds, owns and operates more than a dozen public housing communities in the northern Sacramento Valley. It applied for a public housing broadband facilities grant from the California Advanced Services Fund for a new project in Redding, which prompted strident objections from Charter Communications.

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the grant and told Charter that it can’t block broadband subsidies for low income residents just because it happens in the neighborhood…

In its application, NVCSS stated that the Woodlands II project is a planned low-income housing development (new construction) and not wired for broadband internet.

… More

Apple’s rumored move to ARM-based Macs aims for a world of continuous connectivity

28 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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Technological tipping points are easy see in the rearview mirror – do you remember what the world was like before the iPhone? – but hard to spot in advance. One might be on the way. A well respected analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, who works for TF Securities, predicts that Apple will start using ARM-based chips it designs and makes itself in Macintosh computers.

According to a story on Apple Insider by Malcom Owen…

Kuo forecasts that Apple will be using a 5-nanometer process at the core of its new products 12 to 18 months’ time.

… More

FCC didn’t succeed in blocking San Francisco’s open access broadband law

27 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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San francisco skyline 625

San Francisco’s open access rules for broadband in multi-tenant buildings is alive and well, according to a local independent Internet service provider. That’s despite the Federal Communications Commission’s determination to preempt the ordinance passed by San Francisco supervisors in 2016. It requires landlords to allow any ISP access to buildings, regardless of whether or not an exclusivity contract is in place.

In an opinion piece published in the San Francisco Examiner, Preston Rhea, the director of engineering for the policy program at broadband provider Monkeybrains, says that tenants and ISPs are still using the ordinance as leverage to pry open building doors…

Monkeybrains’ experience in the months since the FCC’s rulemaking indicates that [the San Francisco broadband access ordinance] is intact and operating as intended.

… More

California approval of T-Mobile/Sprint deal could hinge on what Becerra, DISH tell CPUC

26 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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Responses from two key third party players – California attorney general Xavier Becerra and DISH – look like the final, and decisive, pieces of the puzzle as the California Public Utilities Commission wraps up its review of the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Both responses should address the impact the deal will have on the mobile broadband marketplace in California.

Because of confidentiality practices, it’s likely that we won’t know what Becerra and DISH have to say until a proposed decision is posted by Karl Bemesderfer, the CPUC administrative law judge managing the case.… More

CPUC sets April target for deciding whether or not to allow T-Mobile/Sprint merger

25 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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Tmobile san francisco 18may2019

The T-Mobile/Sprint merger will be on the California Public Utilities Commission’s 16 April 2020 agenda, for a decision one way or the other.

Probably.

Yesterday, Karl Bemesderfer, the administrative law judge managing the CPUC’s review of the merger, issued a ruling that set a new schedule for the proceeding. He plans to publish a proposed decision by 13 March 2020, and he expects it’ll be taken up at the commission’s scheduled voting meeting on 16 April, which would allow for at least 30 days for the public to review and provide comments on it, per CPUC practice.… More

Charter continues fight against broadband upgrades in low income California communities

24 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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Monopolising low income communities and soaking residents for expensive television and broadband service packages seems to be a key element in Charter Communications business strategy, and it’s continuing its fight against broadband subsidies that might break that stranglehold.

Even in places where it has twice challenged broadband grants, and twice lost.

Charter wants to block two broadband infrastructure projects – one in Santa Cruz County and one in Kern County – approved by the California Public Utilities Commission for subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) last year.… More