Unanimous dig once vote puts broadband conduit in federal highway plans

11 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Broadband infrastructure, and service providers, will have to be included in planning done for federally funded highway projects if, as expected, the U.S. senate goes along with a bill – house resolution 4986, aka the Ray Baum act – passed by the house of representatives last week. State transportation departments wouldn’t be required to include conduit and other telecoms facilities in projects, but they would have to share their construction plans with broadband companies and other state and local agencies, and do a minimal amount of coordination.… More

State lawmakers can do stupid things to the Internet too

10 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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State legislatures and governors are stepping into the void left by the Federal Communications Commission when it rolled back network neutrality last year. Laws reinstating net neutrality requirements of one kind or another passed or are pending in California, Washington, Oregon and elsewhere. In Montana, governor Steve Bullock did it by executive order.

That’s a trend that cheers up net neutrality advocates, but there’s another side to it that’s not so pleasant and offers a solid argument for keeping states out of the business of regulating the Internet.… More

Wyoming's legislature bows to telco, cable lobbyists, but not as deeply as California's

9 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Following California’s lead, Wyoming lawmakers grabbed their ankles and took what cable and telco lobbyists gave them: a law that subsidises broadband infrastructure, but only to the extent that incumbents want. Even so, Wyoming is not buying into the 1990s service levels that lobbyists for Frontier Communications, AT&T, Comcast and Charter Communications bribed convinced Californian assembly members and senators to accept.

As described by Phillip Dampier in Stop the Cap, what started out as an effort to give communities the option of pursuing their own broadband projects turned into an incumbent right of first refusal, secretly rewritten by lobbyists for Charter and CenturyLink.… More

The State of Washington takes on Washington, DC with its own net neutrality law

8 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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The State of Washington is the first to enact a network neutrality law. Washington governor Jay Inslee, a democrat, signed the bill on Monday. Both republicans and democrats voted in favor, with the bill winning lopsided majorities in the Washington house and senate.

The core language tracks with the former FCC’s three bright line rules, as well as similar legislation introduced in California. Internet service providers would not be allowed to…

(a) Block lawful content, applications, services, or nonharmful devices, subject to reasonable network management;
(b) Impair or degrade lawful internet traffic on the basis of internet content, application, or service, or use of a nonharmful device, subject to reasonable network management; or
(c) Engage in paid prioritization.

… More

FCC considers clearing a path through federal reviews for small cells

7 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Update: the FCC approved the report and order, click here for it.
Small cell sites and similarly sized wireless facilities will be able to skip federal environmental and historic preservation reviews if, as expected, the Federal Communications Commission okays new rules at its meeting later this month. As drafted, the FCC report and order would exempt “small wireless facilities” from studies and paperwork required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.… More

Wrangling over electric company fiber continues at CPUC

6 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Both Southern California Edison and TURN, a consumer advocacy group, are lobbying the California Public Utilities Commission in the hope of pressing home their respective arguments about how much money generated from telecoms services, such as dark fiber leasing, privately owned electric companies can keep. The narrow issue that’s on the table is a master fiber lease agreement between SCE and Verizon that needs to be approved by the CPUC, but it could have far reaching effects on how, or even if, electric companies pursue telecoms opportunities and ultimately on the availability of independent long haul dark fiber in California.… More

Truth is the first casualty of small cell deployments

5 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Mobile broadband companies are increasingly getting it when it comes to aesthetics, but pledges made on the front end aren’t always fulfilled by construction and operations staff or backed up by management. Wireless lobbyists and public relations people understand that they need to speak the right words to massage away concerns about how small cell installations will look as they proliferate along urban and suburban streets. But those oh-so-sincere promises, accompanied by beautifully rendered conceptual drawings, don’t always survive the descent into contract language, let alone appear on poles.… More

CPUC not ready to cripple dark fiber competition just yet

4 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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No decision so far from the California Public Utilities Commission regarding changing the rules of the game for privately owned electric companies when they engage in dark fiber leasing and other telecoms business activities. The commission was scheduled to vote Thursday on a draft decision that, as currently written, would require Southern California Edison to give 75% of the gross revenue it gets from leasing out dark fiber to its electric customers. Up until now, it’s only had to hand over 10% of gross telecoms revenue to ratepayers.… More

California allows driverless car testing, if anyone still cares

3 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Driverless vehicles can be tested on California streets and highways beginning next month, but they won’t be completely on their own. The California Department of Motor Vehicles posted new regulations (and supporting arguments) for autonomous vehicles this week. Among the changes is a way for manufacturers or developers to get permission to run vehicles without anyone physically behind the wheel.

Physically. A remote operator is required, someone who “is not seated in the driver’s seat of the vehicle; engages and monitors the autonomous vehicle; is able to communicate with occupants in the vehicle through a communication link” and is “available to assist law enforcement at all times that the vehicle is in operation”.… More

Fiber can compete, but no competition, no fiber

2 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Fiber-to-the-home broadband service can effectively compete against cable company offerings, but copper-based DSL service can’t. That’s a lesson that’s coming into sharp focus as telcos report 2017 financial results.

Verizon backed away from legacy telephone service, selling its California systems to Frontier among other things, but hung on to its FiOS business, which is concentrated in the northeastern U.S. As a result, Frontier is bleeding DSL subscribers (although it’s doing better where it offers FTTH service), while Verizon’s share of broadband subscribers in its FiOS territory is climbing.… More