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Telecoms lobbyists tell Calfornia lawmakers which side of the digital divide they're on

2 November 2015 by Steve Blum
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Lobbyists for AT&T and the California cable industry gave state assembly members clear insight into why rural broadband development is such an intractable challenge. It wasn’t exactly the insight they were planning to deliver – that consisted mostly of platitudes about the wonderful work they’re doing and the evils of subsidising independent companies that would dare to compete against them. The insight came from the way they tried to divert attention away from the rural questions that the assembly’s select committee on the digital divide in California is tasked with answering, and toward the investment they’re indisputably making in more lucrative urban areas.… More

Competition keeps incumbent prices down and speeds up

9 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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There’s a reason Chicago sings the blues.

If you want faster and cheaper broadband service, the surest way to get it is to threaten incumbents with competition. We saw it in Santa Cruz where, after years of charging high speed prices for low speed bandwidth, Comcast suddenly upgraded its network to support Silicon Valley-levels of service. The spur was a combination of legislative pressure, in the form of new eligibility for infrastructure construction subsidies, a county plan to create a fiber backbone connecting key economic areas and, critically, the announcement of a city-backed fiber to the home project.… More

Wireless local loop is looking faster, says AT&T

2 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Might work fine here.

AT&T is starting to position its wireless substitute for wireline broadband service as able to meet the Federal Communication Commission’s 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload standard. According to a story in FierceWireless…

AT&T said it is currently testing fixed wireless local loop (WLL) technology in select areas of the country with local residents who want to try the service, including in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia, and is seeing speeds of around 15 to 25 Mbps.

… More

AT&T won't even explore most of California and the West

17 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Hooray, hooray, hooray!

AT&T’s GigaWeasel is slithering to more cities in the eastern half of the U.S., but it’s ignoring nearly all of the states in the Pacific and Mountain time zones (h/t to Fred Pilot at the Eldo Telecom blog for the pointer). A company blog post hypes the addition of “parts of…Jacksonville, St. Louis and San Antonio” to the list of markets where its so-called GigaPower service is available, but also adds the standard disclaimer that it’s up to 1 gigabit per second.… More

AT&T abandons copper to spend rural broadband subsidies on wireless

31 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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As it accepted $2.6 billion in federal subsidies over six years to improve rural broadband service, AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission that it’ll spend the money on building out its wireless infrastructure, rather than upgrade decaying copper networks. Consistent with the story it told the FCC during its successful bid to acquire DirecTv, AT&T called out plans to rely on what it previously labeled as wireless local loop technology to deliver broadband service to rural customers in areas that are eligible for Connect America Fund (CAF) money…

We anticipate meeting our CAF Phase II obligations through a mix of network technologies, including through the deployment of advanced wireless technologies on new wireless towers that will be constructed in previously unserved areas.

… More

CPUC will investigate AT&T, Verizon wireline network conditions

30 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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How much of it looks like this?

The condition of AT&T’s and Verizon’s copper telephone networks in California will be independently examined. By a vote of 4 to 1, the California Public Utilities Commission decided to speed up an existing study of wireline systems in the state, instead of scrapping it altogether.

That study has been in the works since 2011. It isn’t popular with AT&T or Verizon, which put up vociferous opposition, or with CPUC president Michael Picker, who voted against it on Thursday.… More

Big telcos claim half a billion dollars for rural California broadband

28 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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The two biggest incumbent telephone companies in California will be taking federal subsidies to upgrade rural broadband service. Yesterday was the deadline for AT&T and Verizon to claim the money, and both more or less said yes.

AT&T’s acceptance was unambiguous. It’s taking the Federal Communication Commission’s offer of $60 million a year in Connect America Fund (CAF) subsidies to boost Internet service speeds to 10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up for 106,000 homes and businesses in rural California.… More

Verizon turns its back on rural broadband subsidies

27 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Verizon won’t be taking part in the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund program, aimed at improving broadband service in rural areas. Today was the deadline for major telcos to notify the FCC that they were going to participate, and Verizon’s answer was no. The company did put a marker down on money allocated to California and Texas, though, on behalf of Frontier Communications, which is in the process of buying Verizon’s wireline systems in those states.… More

AT&T says yes to FCC rural broadband subsidies in most states, including California

27 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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AT&T picked up most of the subsidy money offered by the Federal Communications Commission to upgrade rural broadband service, including $60 million a year for six years in California. In total, AT&T accepted $428 million in annual payments, and turned down $66 million. Three states were left off of AT&T’s list: Missouri, Nevada and Oklahoma. It’s been a bad day for Oklahoma; CenturyLink likewise bypassed it. So far, no word on what Verizon is doing.

CenturyLink accepts federal broadband subsidies, but not in California

27 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Today is the deadline for major telcos to say whether or not they’re accepting Connect America Fund subsidies from the Federal Communications Commission to upgrade rural broadband service.

So far, no word on whether AT&T and Verizon have accepted any of the money, but CenturyLink has picked up most of the half billion dollars per year (per six years) it was offered. However, it turned some of the money down, including $55K per year for 45 homes in Modoc County, in the far northeast corner of California.… More