broadband

Rural means something different in California

8 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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California has been shut out of federal broadband grants for infrastructure projects in rural areas for the past several years. I was asked why don’t California’s wineries and farms throw lobbying dollars at the problem?

The wineries and farms don’t need to. California agriculture is characterised by large corporate holdings (albeit sometimes family controlled). The ag operations themselves can usually get sufficient connectivity, by building their own point to point microwave links and, occasionally, fiber connections.… More

Projects, policies and plans for broadband development on California's central coast

6 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the presentation.

Broadband projects and policy are moving ahead on California’s central coast. That was my message to a meeting with elected officials from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, convened in June by the Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC).

The project with the biggest impact on the region is the middle mile link between Santa Cruz and Soledad, which is being built by Sunesys and largely paid for by the California Public Utilities Commission via the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

CPUC will investigate AT&T, Verizon wireline network conditions

30 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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How much of it looks like this?

The condition of AT&T’s and Verizon’s copper telephone networks in California will be independently examined. By a vote of 4 to 1, the California Public Utilities Commission decided to speed up an existing study of wireline systems in the state, instead of scrapping it altogether.

That study has been in the works since 2011. It isn’t popular with AT&T or Verizon, which put up vociferous opposition, or with CPUC president Michael Picker, who voted against it on Thursday.… More

Possible agreement at the CPUC to investigate AT&T, Verizon networks

26 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A streamlined version of a decision aimed at accelerating an investigation of AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireline networks is on the table at the California Public Utilities Commission.

The debate surrounds a study of wireline network quality that has been in the works at the CPUC since 2011. Commission president Michael Picker wants to cancel the investigation, an idea that Verizon and AT&T greeted with wild enthusiasm.

Two other commissioners – Mike Florio and Catherine Sandoval – weren’t so enamoured and offered an alternate draft that 1.… More

Two picks for (what's left of) the summer broadband reading list

23 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for more.

Two good guides to planning and executing municipal broadband projects have been published recently: The Next Generation Network Connectivity Handbook by Blair Levin and Denise Linn, and Connecting 21st Century Communities published by Next Century Cities without authorship credit.

Both offer planning frameworks for both political leaders and city staff interested in either developing local broadband projects – of any sort – or laying the groundwork for others to do so.

[Connecting 21st Century Communities]() is short – 18 pages – and focused on policy alternatives at the local, state and federal level, including dig once ordinances, building codes and streamlined permitting processes.… More

Alphabet restructuring positions Google Fiber to go big

16 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Google Fiber is about to become a standalone venture, owned by Alphabet. That’s the holding company announced last week by Google which will own the core business – still called Google – and a raft of separate entities that don’t have much in common with that core business. Things like Google Fiber, Nest, Calico and the Google X incubator that nurtures out of the box ideas like Project Loon.

For now, Alphabet will own 100% of all these companies.… More

AT&T shaves the Uverse cord

14 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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AT&T is moving its Uverse television platform into legacy status, and will use DirecTv technology to deliver video to new subscribers in the future. That’s according to a story in Fierce Cable by Mike Dano. In comments made to analysts on Wednesday…

AT&T executive John Stankey said that the carrier is moving to “one consistent architecture” that is a “derivative of the DirecTV in-home architecture.” He said the company will begin selling the platform across all its channels by the beginning of next year.

… More

Federal rural broadband stimulus program slammed

9 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not much to show for $3 billion.

The federal agriculture department’s Rural Utilities Service is broken, according to a long and well researched article by Tony Romm in Politico. Given $3 billion in stimulus money by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, RUS approved broadband infrastructure builds that couldn’t or wouldn’t be completed – about half of the 300 or so approved projects are still works in progress, and 42 of those never got started at all.… More

San Antonio confirmed as Google Fiber's next stop

6 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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San Antonio opens the gate for Google.

San Antonio has officially gone from being a “potential” Google Fiber city to an “upcoming” one. Google made the announcement yesterday in its blog…

Fast growing cities need Internet speeds that can keep up with their progress. For the 1.4 million residents of San Antonio, one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the country, this is truer than ever. Which is why, today, we’re proud to announce that Google Fiber is coming to San Antonio—the largest Fiber city to date…

Soon, we’ll enter the design phase of building our fiber network in San Antonio.

… More

Cable operators see broadband pulling away from video

5 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications is gaining broadband subscribers, while Suddenlink is losing them. Both companies are shedding television customers, although Suddenlink is dropping them at a much faster rate. That’s the top line from the companies’ financial reports for the second quarter of this year.

On the whole, Charter reported a net gain, with pickups in broadband and voice accounts more than compensating for the declining video subscription numbers. It ended the quarter with about 5 million broadband and 4.1 million televisions subs, a gain of 70,000 and a loss of 33,000 respectively.… More