broadband

Move fast and build things, like broadband infrastructure

24 September 2018 by Steve Blum
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The debate over California’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program continues. Another round of comments landed at the California Public Utilities Commission Friday, with ideas – some good, some not – for changing the way the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is run.

I drafted and submitted the Central Coast Broadband Consortium’s (CCBC) contribution. There are many administrative, practical and, yes, political details to be worked out. Which is a large part of the problem with the program: the grant application and review process is complicated, time consuming and capricious.… More

CPUC leaves SCE’s fiber business intact, but the beatings will continue

17 September 2018 by Steve Blum
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With barely a mention at its meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission closed the first chapter of a saga that should never have been written. By a unanimous vote, commissioners allowed Southern California Edison to withdraw its request for blanket approval of a dark fiber lease deal with Verizon.

SCE asked to pull the application because the deal was dead, the victim of a mauling by so called consumer advocates and a purblind proposed decision by CPUC commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen.… More

FCC thinks its broadband standard is fast enough. What do you think?

3 September 2018 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission is beginning its annual exercise to determine if Internet service in the U.S. is adequate, and it wants to know what you think of last year’s conclusion that 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds are “advanced” enough is good enough. Comments are due 17 September 2018. The FCC’s republican majority thinks so…

The 2018 Report found that the current speed benchmark of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps was the appropriate measure to assess whether fixed services provides advanced telecommunications capability.

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California can offer a cure for midwest derangement syndrome

2 September 2018 by Steve Blum
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Monterey County’s former U.S. congressman, Sam Farr, used to call it “midwest derangement syndrome”. That’s the condition that seems to afflict federal agriculture department subsidy programs, including broadband development grants and loans.

It’s real. The agriculture department’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has a long track record of favoring small states with lots of small farms in small counties. In other words, the sort of rural communities that predominate in the midwestern and southern U.S.

California has places where you can find traditional family farms with traditional farm families in residence.… More

California WISPs win $149 million in FCC broadband subsidy auction

30 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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Internet service providers – most, if not all, wireless – will get $149 million in federal subsidies to serve 52,000 homes and businesses in California over the next 10 years. The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund (CAF 2) auction ended this week. Bidders competed for money to provide broadband service in census blocks bypassed by the main CAF 2 subsidy round in 2015.

Although California didn’t proportionately have as many census blocks and locations on the table as some other states, it came out very well in the bidding, gaining 10% of the total money on offer.… More

No consensus on public property lease rates, but FCC committee moves ahead anyway

24 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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Telecoms companies and local government representatives didn’t agree on how lease rates for assets such as street light poles should be set, but at least they were able to articulately lay out their positions and identify what they do agree on. The Federal Communications Commission’s broadband deployment advisory committee received a draft report last month that looked at how fees and rental rates are set. It was produced by a sub committee that had two members from local agencies, plus a municipal lobbyist and a state government representative.… More

One foot of sea level rise puts thousands of miles of fiber underwater

18 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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Climate change poses a significant threat to telecommunications infrastructure. That’s the conclusion of a recently published paper by three researchers from the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin.

The authors took standard electronic map data – i.e. geographical information system/GIS files – showimg major fiber routes and overlayed it with coastal flooding predictions made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The data shows thousands of miles of long haul fiber at risk…

The results of our analysis show that climate change-related sea level incursions could have a devastating impact on Internet communication infrastructure even in the relatively short term.

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Performance, not weasel words, should drive California broadband subsidies

16 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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The reboot of the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure subsidy program continues, with a new round of comments and suggestions landing at the California Public Utilities Commission.

I drafted the Central Coast Broadband Consortium’s filing. One issue that the CPUC should consider very carefully is what qualifies as a bona fide service offer.

When the California legislature allowed lobbyists for AT&T, Frontier Communications, Comcast and Charter Communications to rewrite the law and turn CASF into their own, private piggy bank, the minimum broadband standard was lowered to 6 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds.… More

CPUC won’t kill SCE’s dark fiber business. Yet

15 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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Southern California Edison fought its dark fiber battle to a draw, but all out war looms on the horizon. That’s my reading of a proposed decision by a California Public Utilties Commission administrative law judge that would end SCE’s quest for approval of a bulk fiber lease deal with Verizon, if the commission votes to approve it next month.

SCE, like other electric utilities in California, installed fiber optic cables on its pole routes, initially to monitor and operate its infrastructure.… More

Caltrans backs off requiring extra conduit in highway projects, but broadband cooperation door still open

11 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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Caltrans updated its “user guide” for installing broadband infrastructure into highway projects. The big change is the elimination of a shadow conduit requirement – telecoms companies that take advantage of opportunities to install facilities in highway projects are no longer obligated to install extra conduit and fiber for Caltrans, at their own expense.

On the whole, it’s not a killer change. The more independent broadband infrastructure in the ground – Caltrans is nothing if not independent – the better.… More