boron – Steve Blum's Blog

A gigabit is now $60 in the Mojave desert town of Boron

19 August 2015 by Steve Blum
boron, casf, cpuc, ftth, public policy, race telecommunications

https://www.destinationlancasterca.org/includes/events/?action=displayDetail&eventId=324

A gig is a lot faster than 20 mules.

One of the fastest and cheapest ways to get gigabit service to your home is to move to Boron, California. Race Telecommunications finished building out fiber-to-the-home infrastructure there last month, and is selling a gig of Internet access for $60 per month, and unlimited voice service for $10 a month.

The community’s response was quick and enthusiastic. So far, about a third of the 900 homes and businesses in town have ordered service, with about 200 already connected and crews working to hook up the rest at the rate of about 30 per week.… More

Verizon throws three more broadband subsidy tantrums

14 October 2013 by Steve Blum
boonville, boron, broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, public policy, race telecommunications, verizon, westport

Can you hear me now?

To get a broadband construction subsidy from the California Advanced Services Fund (CPUC), you have to show that the area where you want to build is at least underserved, as defined by the California Public Utilities Commission speed standard of 6 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up. Incumbent carriers are then given a chance to prove you wrong.

In the current round of CASF grant and loan applications, submitted last February, some projects – particularly Golden Bear in north California and ViaSat all over the map – drew protests from a wide range of providers.… More