ab1665

California senate votes to pay $300 million for slower broadband

13 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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Assembly bill 1665 was approved by the California senate this afternoon on a lopsided vote. The initial count was 32 in favor and 2 against, but the roll was left open for a while, so the final numbers could be different. The no votes came from Mike McGuire (D – Healdsburg) and Janet Nguyen (R – Garden Grove).

The bill will drop California’s minimum speed standard to 6 Mbps down/1 Mbps up, and allocate $300 million in construction subsidies under rules that all but guarantee the money will go to AT&T and Frontier Communications.… More

More telco perks added to $300 million broadband subsidy bill as California senate vote nears

11 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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Incumbent telephone and cable companies convinced their friends in the California legislature to add another slab of pork to a broadband subsidy bill, as the senate prepares to vote on it. Assembly bill 1665 started out as a telco-centric bill, and subsequent amendments, including the the ones added on Friday, have made it even more one-sided – in most areas of the state, it will be impossible for independent broadband projects to qualify for support from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

Legislative games put $2.2 million Riverside FTTH project in peril

7 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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Red zone is where federal subsidies pay for slow broadband service.

Anza Electric Cooperative is giving another push to its proposal for a $2.2 million California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant to pay for expanding its fiber to the home system in rural Riverside County.

It sweetened its application yesterday by promising a low cost tier of service – $25 per month for symmetrical 10 Mbps service – to households that are eligible for any one of a long list of public assistance programs.… More

Telco, cable wish list queued up in California legislature

5 September 2017 by Steve Blum
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Two major bills that telephone and cable companies want are set for floor votes in Sacramento, and one they don’t want is in deep freeze, as the legislative session enters its final, hectic two weeks. At the end of last week the senate and assembly appropriations committees okayed assembly bill 1665 and senate bill 649, respectively.

AB 375, on the other hand, remains stuck in the senate rules committee. It’s an attempt to write Internet privacy protections that were scrapped by the federal government into California law.… More

California senate committee votes to give telcos $300 million for slower broadband

31 August 2017 by Steve Blum
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The California legislature continued its love affair with telecommunications companies on Wednesday. The senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee, chaired by Ben Hueso (D – San Diego), voted 8 to zero to approve assembly bill 1665 in its current form and send it on to the senate appropriations committee for further review.

It wasn’t exactly unanimous. One senator, Mike McGuire (D – Healdsburg), who had opposed the bill, abstained when the vote was taken, as did two republicans, Anthony Cannella (R – Merced) and Mike Morrell (R – Rancho Cucamonga).… More

Hope dims for good broadband policy in Sacramento

21 August 2017 by Steve Blum
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It’s an eclipse that’s shading the sun this morning, not the return of the California legislature from a month-long break. Although you might be excused for thinking so. The dismal outlook for broadband policy in the California capitol is as gloomy as the Oregon coast will be this morning. But our neighbors to the north will only have to wait a couple of minutes for the light to return. We’ll have to endure the darkness.

Three bills are pending that could shape Californian broadband policy for years to come.… More

Legislators should aspire to meet Californians' broadband expectations

17 August 2017 by Steve Blum
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Higher broadband standards are a threat to legacy telephone companies, like AT&T and Frontier Communications, and to cable companies, like Charter and Comcast. But for different reasons.

When the Federal Communications Commission set the speed standard for advanced telecommunications services at 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload in 2015, legacy telcos pushed back because their copper line systems couldn’t come anywhere near it, except in affluent, “high potential” areas where the short return on investment is high.… More

$20 million still available for California broadband subsidies

1 August 2017 by Steve Blum
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There’s about $20 million, plus or minus, left for broadband infrastructure grants in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), against pending proposals totalling $5.7 million. That’s without taking into account a possible top-up that’s under consideration in the California legislature, but which might also make spending it on anything other than minimal upgrades by Frontier Communications or AT&T virtually impossible.

Over the years, the California legislature has pumped $315 million into the kitty, with $270 million of that allocated to construction subsidies for broadband systems – middle and last mile – in areas that are either completely unserved or lack service at a minimum of 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds.… More

Hostile takeover of California broadband subsidies on ice, for now

18 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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The attempt by telephone and cable companies to hijack the California Advanced Services Fund – the state’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program – is derailed, for at least a few weeks and probably forever. Keeping in mind that forever in Sacramento’s dictionary means until the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Assembly bill 1665 was pulled off of this morning’s agenda in the senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee, which means that it can’t be considered again (in the normal course of business) until lawmakers return from their summer break on 21 August 2017.… More

Cracks in Frontier's business model widen

17 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Competition and a botched takeover of Verizon wireline systems in California, Texas and Florida are pushing Frontier Communications deeper into the red, as its customers cancel service. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, via Morningstar.com, company executives have backed away from predictions that falling subscriber revenue would soon be on the way up…

Revenue has instead declined companywide for the past year. Frontier’s 2016 loss widened to $373 million from $196 million a year earlier.

… More