broadband

No compromise as AT&T snakes more perks into California copper killer bill

18 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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No mistaking when a copper head responds.

AT&T isn’t interested in third party improvements to the copper retirement bill it wrote and assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley) is guiding through the California legislature. In fact, AT&T and Low want to make sure there’s no misunderstanding about assembly bill 2395’s real intentions.

An amended version was posted Monday night. It includes meaningless cosmetic changes – requiring 60 days notice to consumers before turning off service instead of 30, for example – to give the impression that AT&T is responding to growing protests about the bill.… More

Five ideas to allow AT&T a workable wireline exit

17 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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The Central Coast Broadband Consortium offered five suggestions for turning assembly bill 2395 into legitimate public policy, in a letter sent to the bill’s author, assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley) yesterday. AB 2395 was actually written by AT&T and would allow it to pull out copper wireline networks in rural areas of California and replace them with wireless service.

Full disclosure: I drafted the letter, but it was reviewed by consortia members, who represent local governments, private companies and other interested organisations in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.… More

California lawmakers need sharper thinking, reality check on telecoms policy

16 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Not everyone is 99 and 44/100% pure.

No one expected zero problems when Frontier took over Verizon’s telephone systems in California last month. At least no one who understands that big telecommunications companies are complicated and not particularly predictable. It’s a lesson that California lawmakers should take to heart, as they consider allowing AT&T to replace wireline service with cell phones at will.

Frontier added about two million customers to its existing 200,000 subscriber base in California, scattered across 150 telephone exchanges that range from the best infrastructure in the state – FiOS-brand fiber to the home – to the worst.… More

Dig once dropped from federal broadband bill

15 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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But closed conversation.

The latest version of a U.S. senate bill aimed at boosting broadband availability cuts out language from a previous version that would have encouraged, but not required, federal agencies to include conduit in highway projects. Senate bill 2555, also known as the Mobile Now act, would clear more wireless spectrum for broadband purposes and streamline access to federal property in order to install both wireline and wireless facilities.

The bill was approved, with bipartisan support, by the senate commerce, science and transportation committee and is now on track for a full senate vote.… More

AT&T plan to scrap copper networks will widen digital divide, say rural reps

10 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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AT&T’s attempt to force a bill through the California legislature that would allow it to, among other things, replace low priced, low margin wireline systems with more lucrative wireless service continues to draw fire from rural interests. The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) – a group comprised of supervisors from 35 rural counties – is urging its members to oppose assembly bill 2395, a proposed law written by AT&T and carried by assemblyman Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley).… More

Comcast and Charter try to block low cost broadband in California public housing

9 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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A dozen grants to fund installation of broadband facilities in public housing projects in California will be in front of the California Public Utilities Commission next month. The twelve proposals have been stalled, some more than a year, because Charter and Comcast tried to kill the grants in order to protect what little business they have in those low income communities. According to the draft CPUC resolution…

Charter and Comcast have provided documentation that services are available to 100 percent of residents in these challenged properties.

… More

British ad watchdog bites down on ISPs

7 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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How many times have you gone on line to figure out how much Internet service from a major service provider will cost, and come away even more confused than when you started? If your answer is every freaking time, then you’re floating right in the middle of the mainstream. British regulators tested consumers on their ability to figure out the total cost of an Internet service contract, and found that 80% couldn’t do so.

As a result, the U.K.’s… More

El Dorado was the county of gold, now it struggles to keep AT&T's copper

6 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Putting it in, or taking it out?

Rural counties in California are lining up against a plan to allow AT&T to replace rural and inner city wireline networks with wireless service. The board of supervisors in El Dorado County voted 4 to 1 on Tuesday to send a formal letter opposing assembly bill 2395 to its author Evan Low (D – Silicon Valley) and members of the appropriations committee, which are next in line to say yes or no to it, likely later this month.… More

Antique tech is good enough for USDA, so it must be fine for everyone else

5 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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We’re upgrading to Pong next year.

All of a sudden, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s – and, consequently, the Federal Communication Commission’s – belief that slow 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds are adequate benchmarks for rural broadband infrastructure development makes sense. Technologically, the USDA is a decade behind everyone else. That’s an entire lifetime in Silicon Valley dog years.

I had signed up for a USDA webinar on the new round of the Community Connect broadband grant program yesterday (which sets an even lower, 4 Mbps download standard).… More

AT&T releases copper fog over California

4 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Opposition is growing to AT&T’s attempt to rewrite California law so it can pull out its wireline networks in rural and inner city communities, and use wireless networks to provide broadband and phone service instead. In response, AT&T is pushing misleading and lawyerly talking points to elected officials in rural counties and to non-profit groups in urban areas.

If you examine the claims made in the documents submitted by AT&T into the public record (see links below), each one is arguably true when read in isolation.… More