FCC’s local pole preemption order based on speculation, ignores substantial evidence, cities tell appeals court

12 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission’s preemptions of local property rights – particularly city-owned street light poles – and local rules regulating the use of public right of ways are contrary to federal law and violate the federal constitution, according to arguments submitted to a San Francisco appeals court by dozens of cities, counties and local government associations. In their opening brief submitted on Monday, they made their case for overturning last year’s FCC rulings that swept away state and local land use, road maintenance, property leasing practices and other policies that mobile carriers find bothersome.… More

“Epic livestream” to reinstate net neutrality marks anniversary of its demise

11 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Open internet dont tread on me 2

It’s been a year since the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to scrap network neutrality rules took effect. So far, there’s no indication that wireline broadband providers have taken advantage of their new freedom to control the Internet, although mobile carriers apparently haven’t been as restrained.

To mark the day, an open Internet advocacy group, Fight for the Future, is doing a nine hour “epic livestream” to encourage the U.S. senate to pass a stalled net neutrality bill, and to generally make the case for freedom of access to the Internet.… More

Opening briefs challenging FCC pole and right of way preemptions filed in ninth circuit

11 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Tmobile small cell riverside

Dozens of local governments from across the U.S. filed joint arguments yesterday with the ninth circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco, as challenges to two 2018 Federal Communications Commission decisions move ahead. Mobile carriers and municipal electric utilities also filed opening briefs. I’ll dive deeper into the arguments in the next few days, but you can read them here now:

Petitioner Local Governments’ joint opening brief, 10 June 2019
Brief of petitioner the American Public Power Association, 10 June 2019
Petitioner Montgomery County, Maryland’s opening brief, 10 June 2019
Joint opening brief for Petitioners Sprint Corporation; Verizon Communications Inc.;… More

FCC puts political agenda ahead of regulatory relevance

10 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Self licking ice cream cone

The Federal Communications Commission is in danger of becoming just another one of Washington, D.C.’s self licking ice cream cones. Some would argue that it has already achieved that exalted status, but until pending court challenges to recent, major decisions – net neutrality and local property rights preemption, particularly – are decided, there’s still hope.

The latest example of hype-over-substance from the FCC’s current republican majority is the annual broadband deployment report that, at times, reads like an update from the old Soviet Union about its latest five year plan for increasing tractor production.… More

Wildfires burn in northern California, but proactive power cuts might have limited the damage

10 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Thomas fire 2018 utility lines 300

Pacific Gas and Electric did two rounds of proactive cuts over the weekend, in response to warnings of high fire danger due to weather conditions. It was no false alarm. Cal Fire’s online map shows more than a dozen wildfires in PG&E’s territory, including the Sand Fire in Yolo County that’s grown to at least 2,200 acres. There’s no basis to speculate why any of those fires began – that’s a question for later.

However, there is reason to suspect that it might have been worse if PG&E hadn’t cut off electricity to approximately 23,000 customers in Butte, Napa, Solano, Yolo (but not where the Sand Fire began) and Yuba counties.… More

Shift California’s broadband subsidies from consumer upgrades to paying incumbents to serve public agencies, CPUC told

7 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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There’s an idea on the table to make it even easier for big, monopoly model broadband service providers to tap into the taxpayer-funded telecoms piggybank created by the California legislature when it approved assembly bill 1665 a couple of years ago. AB 1665 rewrote the rules for the state’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program, the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).

The latest proposal to remake CASF surfaced at a panel discussion organised by the California Public Utilities Commission in Sacramento a couple of weeks ago.… More

AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Frontier, Digital Path challenge California broadband subsidy proposals

6 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Santa barbara county pole 29oct2015

Of the 13 new projects proposed for construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in May, only four are unchallenged: three proposed by Charter Communications in Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, and one proposed by a wireless Internet service provider in Sonoma County. The rest face objections from incumbent Internet services providers that want to protect their turf.

Ten challenges, plus a snarky letter from AT&T, were filed against broadband projects being reviewed for CASF grant eligibility by yesterday’s deadline.… More

CPUC approval of T-Mobile-Sprint deal slipping to August, if then

5 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Caltrans slow 2

Even if the federal justice department has an Ajit Pai-like epiphany about T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint and approves the deal today – not likely – there’s diminishing hope that California’s review of the merger will wrap up before August. And the possibility of a mid-September decision is growing.

There are three structural reasons for the delay. First, the CPUC only has one voting meeting scheduled for July, on the 11th, and there’s a four week gap between the commission’s last August meeting and its first one in September.… More

Another bipartisan bill preempting local ownership of streetlight poles lands in U.S. senate

4 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Despite promises to work with local government representatives to develop less onerous language, a bill to preempt local ownership of streetlight poles and other municipal property that is 1. located in the public right of way and 2. coveted by wireless broadband providers was re-introduced in the U.S. senate with no significant changes. S.1699 is sponsored by the same bipartisan team of John Thune (R – South Dakota) and Brian Schatz (D – Hawaii) that pushed it last year.… More

Picker quitting as CPUC president, as soon as Newsom picks a replacement

3 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Picker 20may2019

Michael Picker will step down as president of the California Public Utilities Commission sometime in the coming weeks or months. He made the announcement at the end of last week’s CPUC meeting…

I’ve made comments, mostly joking, about retiring before I have to buy a new business suit, and more recently I’ve been thinking about retiring regardless of how shabby my clothing is. So you always can think of reasons of why you should stay and why you’re essential in the greater purpose of the organisation that you serve.

… More