Steve Blum's Blog

Political dreams, not business sense drive plan for public takeover of PG&E

10 December 2019 by Steve Blum
PGE, pole attachment, public policy, san jose, utility regulation

It’s not a co-op, despite being “customer owned”. It’s not a utility district or a municipal utility, despite operating “as though it were a public agency”. And it’s certainly not a profit making company. Which leaves wide open the question of what kind of organisational beast San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo and 113 other northern California elected officials think will take over Pacific Gas and Electric’s operations and assets.

The group released a set of “operating principles” for a new, quasi-public entity that would replace PG&E.… More

DISH might build out 5G in rural California, but don’t bet the ranch

9 December 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, DISH, monopoly, sprint, t-mobile

DISH won’t have to build its own 5G network everywhere in California, or even in every county, if the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is approved. Jeff Blum, DISH’s chief Washington, D.C. staff lobbyist, testified at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing on Friday. He ducked and dodged questions about DISH’s exact intentions for the California assets and people that T-Mobile would spin off, under an antitrust settlement reached with the federal justice department, saying plans were still being made, data was still being analysed, decisions were in the hands of other companies and, well, so on.… More

CPUC approves $12 million subsidy for six broadband infrastructure projects

6 December 2019 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, cruzio, frontiercommunications, plumas sierra

Six of the eleven broadband infrastructure projects on the California Public Utilities Commission’s agenda yesterday were approved for subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). The other five were bumped to the CPUC’s next meeting, on 19 December 2019. Links to the most current resolutions are below.

Cruzio’s Equal Access Santa Cruz project was approved, without changes, for a $2.4 million grant. The commission rejected an attempt by Charter Communications to re-litigate its earlier and unsuccessful attempt to kill it.… More

Mobile data tests count more than maps, as CPUC votes on broadband subsidies for northeastern California

5 December 2019 by Steve Blum
casf, charter, cpuc, cruzio, frontiercommunications

A sharp-eyed reader of this humble blog spotted a gap in my collection of comments on the draft resolutions up for a vote tomorrow. H/T to David Espinoza, the manager of the Upstate and Northeast California broadband consortia, who sent me Plumas-Sierra Electric Co-op’s (PSEC) response to both the draft resolutions for its five proposed projects in Plumas and Lassen counties and the objections raised by the CPUC’s public advocates office. Links are below.

Short version: mobile broadband tests showing zero coverage trumped map models; PSEC added a low-income service plan and CPUC staff recommended extra funding as a result.… More

Approval of T-Mobile/Sprint deal could depend on DISH’s testimony at CPUC hearing

4 December 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, DISH, monopoly, sprint, t-mobile

Executives from T-Mobile, Sprint and, particularly, DISH will be cross examined tomorrow morning, as two days of hearings kick off at the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco. Witnesses from the CPUC’s public advocates office will also be on the stand. They’ll all have to explain written testimony they submitted about the wonderfulness, or lack thereof, of T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint, and asset and people spinoff to DISH.

It’s DISH’s intended role as a new, nationwide mobile telecoms competitor that’s likely to get the sharpest attention.… More

California broadband subsidies set for CPUC vote, as Charter attempts last minute hit (but not on its own grants)

3 December 2019 by Steve Blum
casf, charter, cpuc, cruzio, frontiercommunications

As of last night, all 11 broadband infrastructure projects tentatively approved for subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) are slated for a final vote by the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday. Arguments for and against the projects and grant conditions as drafted have also been filed. Links to (I think) all of the comments are below.

Frontier Communications made pitches for full funding of their projects as proposed, which were seconded by the California Emerging Technology Fund.… More

USA Today says the slowest rural broadband is in California. The truth is even worse

2 December 2019 by Steve Blum
att, cpuc, frontiercommunications, rural broadband

USA Today fell for a click bait post about rural broadband speeds, but at least it was click bait that made a useful point about the growing gap between rural and urban service levels.

The top line, of the USA Today article and the post on an Internet-oriented aggregator website, is that Newcastle, along Interstate 80 in Placer County, has the slowest rural broadband service in the U.S., with an average download speed of 3.7 Mbps.… More

Contract for the Web addresses virtues and vices of government intervention

29 November 2019 by Steve Blum
contract for the web, monopoly, privacy, public policy, utility regulation

The “Contract for the Web” campaign published its manifesto last week, titled, naturally enough, Contract for the Web. It’s a declaration of nine principles, including “make the internet affordable and accessible to everyone”, “respect and protect people’s privacy and personal data to build online trust” and “develop technologies that support the best in humanity and challenge the worst”, which are among the tasks the contract assigns to private companies. Individuals are urged to “be creators and collaborators on the web”, “build strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity”, and “fight for the web”.… More

DISH will be grilled on mobile plans for California at CPUC hearing

27 November 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, DISH, monopoly, sprint, t-mobile

DISH is the sole focus of a California Public Utilities Commission hearing next week. Administrative law judge Karl Bemesderfer decided yesterday that there’s enough evidence in hand for the CPUC to evaluate nearly all of the issues surrounding the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

Nearly.

In his ruling, Bemesderfer mused…

What then do we need to hear testimony about? The significant change in the terms of the proposed merger that has occurred over the past months is the addition of DISH as a proposed fourth facilities-based wireless carrier, replacing Sprint.

… More

Cross-examination of T-Mobile testimony ordered by CPUC, as DISH’s competitive credibility challenged

26 November 2019 by Steve Blum
cpuc, DISH, monopoly, sprint, t-mobile

T-Mobile and, perhaps, Sprint and DISH executives will be cross-examined next week, as the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger continues. Karl Bemesderfer, the administrative law judge managing the case, ruled yesterday that an evidentiary hearing next week is necessary, with the exact topics likely determined later today.

A key question raised by opponents of the deal is whether the federal anti-trust settlement that calls for T-Mobile to spin off spectrum, facilities, customers and employees to DISH will create an effective fourth competitor in California’s mobile marketplace.… More