broadband

Incumbent carriers' response is exactly what Google intended to provoke

6 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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Google’s fantastic fiber voyage on (a long) course to a happy ending.

In the same way the tiniest virus can trigger a massive flood of antibodies, Google’s willingness to bankroll competitive – and likely money-losing – fiber to the home projects in a handful of markets is rewriting capital investment plans at major carriers.

CenturyLink’s decision to build out an FTTH network in a limited area of Omaha is, as many have pointed out, a special case.… More

Fear and economics fuel CenturyLink's Omaha FTTH test

2 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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The case for fiber converges on Omaha.

After getting stung by Google in Provo, Utah, CenturyLink will roll out fiber-to-the-home service in Omaha, Nebraska. Two key factors that will drive future FTTH deployments make this announcement more than a marketing stunt.

First, CenturyLink is targeting a particular area served by pre-DOCSIS hybrid fiber and coaxial cable system, according to a story on the Telecompetitor news site. Instead of upgrading it with better coax or trying to refurbish it in place, CenturyLink is replacing it with gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology.… More

FTTH price sensitivity looking similar in Britain and California

1 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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But not at any price, luv.

Last month, British Telecom rolled out a fiber-to-the-home offering that relied on just over half of its users paying somewhere in the $1,000 to $2,300 range for installation, and the rest paying more. Now PC Pro, a UK-based newsletter, reports that BT is backing away from its previous goal of getting FTTH into 25% of its subscriber’s homes.

The report quotes a BT source as linking the pull back to success with its fiber-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) offerings, which are already touted as being in the 40 to 80 Mbps range and could soon go as high as 100 Mbps.… More

California senate committee guts broadband infrastructure funding, for now

30 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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“Just raising a number of concerns,” said the phone guy.

Additional money for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is on hold. The sponsor of a bill – SB 740 – to refill the fund with $100 million over five years, senator Alex Padilla (D – Los Angeles), pulled the money off the table today. He said he wanted to wait and see what happens to the more than $200 million in grant applications that are pending before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).… More

California love fest for public housing broadband subsidies

29 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen fiber?

The California Assembly’s utilities and commerce committee considered a bill today – AB 1299 – to direct $25 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) toward wiring public housing complexes and encouraging residents to subscribe to broadband service.

No one was opposed. Lobbyists for AT&T, Verizon, Frontier and the cable industry all spoke in favor, which was no surprise. They’re naturally inclined to support something that reduces construction subsidies for competitors and will likely increase their subscriber count.… More

Broadband subsidy plan for both infrastructure and public housing taking shape in California legislature

28 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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It’s easy. Just build a bigger barrel.

There’s a deal forming in Sacramento to generate money for public housing projects and the non-profit organisations that orbit them by refilling the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in a way that also maintains a healthy balance for broadband infrastructure subsidies. Two separate CASF-related proposals in the state legislature are being shaped to complement each other, if not converge into a single bill.

Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D – Los Angeles) wants to spend $25 million from CASF on wiring public housing projects for broadband and paying non-profit groups to run broadband promotion programs in those neighborhoods.… More

Sweets for cable companies could sour public housing broadband grants

27 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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In a horse trade, it’s not just the horse that can get taken for a ride.

Cable television lobbyists in Sacramento seem to be earning their pay checks. A proposed revision to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) has a couple of very nice presents for the industry. Assembly bill 1299, which will be heard by the utilities and commerce committee on Monday, gives benefits to cable companies which might have the perverse effect of discouraging public housing authorities from pursuing broadband projects.… More

New Californian broadband subsidy priorities take shape

26 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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Committee chair Steven Bradford wants more money for urban organizations.

Next week may determine the future of the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), which provides subsidies for broadband infrastructure in underserved (and unserved) areas of the state. Two bills will be aired in front of two committees – one in the state senate, SB 740, the other in the assembly, AB 1299.

SB 740, which will be heard by the senate energy, utilities and communications committee on Tuesday, would add $100 million to the fund by extending a fee that’s tacked on to phone bills and allow a greater range of broadband providers to apply.… More

Two projects pulled as CASF challenges come thick as flying monkeys


Just set me down in Kansas. They have fiber there.

Two applications submitted by Race Communications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) subsidies are off the table, leaving twenty-seven still under consideration. Of those, incumbent carriers have challenged twenty projects, claiming that some or all of the areas proposed for funding already receive sufficient broadband service and are ineligible.

Race originally put in five proposals for fiber-to-the-home systems in Eastern California. Mojave and California City – towns in eastern Kern County – are already wired and receiving service that meets the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) minimum 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload standard.… More

Back and forth, again, over eligibility for Californian broadband subsidies

24 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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The latest round of comments and counter comments on the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) review of broadband subsidy eligibility has closed. Two organisations filed replies to the comments filed a couple of weeks ago, the CPUC’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) and a consumer advocacy group, the Utility Reform Network (TURN). DRA also weighed in a couple of weeks ago.

TURN repeated its support for allowing non-traditional organisations to apply for broadband infrastructure construction grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund.… More