broadband

CPUC urged to keep broadband promotion subsidies provider neutral

17 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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Broadband promotion grant rules should have air tight guarantees that the money won’t be used to promote any particular Internet service provider. That’s the consensus of several organisations that reacted to a draft decision that would have the California Public Utilities Commission set up a broadband “adoption” program, subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).

As the new rules were being developed, big, incumbent ISPs argued, in effect, that they should be able to leverage the money to supplement their subscriber acquisition – aka sales – efforts.… More

SCE proposes doing CPUC reviews the old, costly way to save its fiber business

15 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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Instead of shooting Southern California Edison’s fiber business in the head, the California Public Utilities Commission might have shot itself in the foot. Earlier this year, commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen drafted a plan to kill the business model that the CPUC approved for SCE’s dark fiber leasing enterprise nearly 20 years ago. It was in response to a request from SCE for approval of a high volume master fiber lease agreement it negotiated with Verizon.

In a recent closed door meeting with Rechtschaffen’s staff (plus an advisor to commissioner Lianne Randolph), SCE proposed scrapping the master lease and using the existing time and labor intensive – for SCE and the CPUC – method of reviewing each new agreement individually.… More

Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom

11 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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If you’re reading this post, the Internet did not explode when network neutrality control rods were yanked this morning. The Federal Communications Commission made today the day that its repeal of bright line net neutrality no-nos – no blocking, throttling or paid prioritisation – takes effect.

The federal appeals court challenge to the FCC’s action hasn’t gone anywhere yet, except to bounce from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, and back again. As of Friday afternoon, no one had even asked the D.C.… More

California broadband subsidy law demands equal treatment for all, rich and poor alike

8 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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One of the mysteries surrounding Californian subsidies for broadband infrastructure is the abysmally low standard that the California Public Utilities Commission imposes on the people who live in public housing, and only on them. The thicket of laws that govern the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) initially set aside $20 million to pay for broadband facilities in public housing communities, with the possibility of adding more when it runs out.

The CPUC is in the middle of rebooting the CASF program, after the California legislature added to the mess by turning the general infrastructure subsidy program – with $300 million in new money – into a piggy bank for AT&T and Frontier Communications.… More

FCC caught in lies about flood of net neutrality comments

7 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission lied when it claimed its online public comment system was blocked by a deliberate and malicious cyber attack, after HBO’s John Oliver issued a call to arms over plans to repeal network neutrality rules. Then it lied again to protect the first lie. That’s the conclusion of an investigation into the incident by Gizmodo.

As I blogged about at the time, the FCC’s online system came to a grinding halt, apparently after being flooded with automated comments of dubious origin that supported the repeal.… More

Priority lanes the top priority for big ISPs, when net neutrality ends

3 June 2018 by Steve Blum
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When the FCC’s repeal of network neutrality rules takes effect, as is likely, a week from tomorrow on 11 June 2018, you can expect the big Internet service providers to move slowly toward paid prioritisation. The moment they think they can get away with it, they’ll begin selling fast lanes to online content and service companies (edge providers, as they’re called) and giving their in-house content the same boost.

Paid prioritisation, throttling and blocking are three “bright line” practices that the 2015 FCC order banned, and they’re all interrelated.… More

FCC appoints a pack of dingos to guard the broadband baby

22 May 2018 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communications Commission named a fifteen member “working group” on Friday, and charged it with the “harmonisation” of local and state broadband policies developed by its Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC).

Only five of the fifteen members come from local or state agencies.

Nearly all of the rest are telecoms industry lobbyists, including capos from AT&T and Comcast. The working group’s chair, Elizabeth Bowles, is “primarily responsible for directing the legislative strategy for WISPA, the trade association for the fixed wireless broadband industry”, according to her LinkedIn profile.… More

CPUC offers plan to increase Internet use in communities that need it most

21 May 2018 by Steve Blum
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Disadvantaged communities are first in line for broadband education, marketing and access grants subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in a draft plan to implement a new “adoption” program run by the California Public Utilities Commission. The proposed decision, by commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves, also tweaks existing subsidies for broadband service and promotion in public housing communities and winds down a defunct infrastructure loan program.

Two kinds of adoption projects will be funded: digital literacy – i.e.… More

CPUC posts proposed new rules for Internet adoption, public housing broadband grants

18 May 2018 by Steve Blum
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This morning, commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves released a draft plan for giving out grants to broadband adoption programs, revising an existing grant program that pays for broadband facilities in California’ public housing communities, and winding down a defunct broadband infrastructure loan account. You can read it here:

Proposed decision by commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves, implementing CASF broadband adoption program and modifying the CASF public housing broadband and infrastructure loan programs, 18 May 2018

You can find the background documents here.… More

Dozens of ISPs qualify to bid on FCC broadband subsidies, hundreds more in line

18 May 2018 by Steve Blum
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Almost three hundred companies could be bidding for broadband service subsidies when the Federal Communications Commission begins auctioning off unserved rural territory across the United States. The FCC received 277 applications from companies that want to participate in the Connect America Fund program’s reverse auction, which is scheduled for late July.

Only 47 are good to go, though. The other 230 companies – including Frontier Communications – didn’t fully complete their applications, in the eyes of the FCC.… More