broadband

New FCC Internet rules differentiate by service, not technology

14 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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Everyone is on the same common carrier track.

The new, common carrier rules released on Thursday by the FCC apply to all Internet service providers, including mobile, satellite, fixed wireless, telephone and cable companies. There’s some fine tuning where technical details are concerned, particularly regarding mobile broadband companies, but for the most part, Internet service is Internet service, regardless of technology.

As promised, the new rules specifically state that no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritisation by ISPs will be allowed.… More

FCC common carrier rules for broadband released

12 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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The FCC has posted the full, and presumably official, version of the common carrier rules that will apply to broadband infrastructure and service that it approved two weeks ago. It’s 400 pages long, but looks to be fascinating reading…

In The Matter Of Protecting And Promoting The Open Internet Report And Order On Remand, Declaratory Ruling, And Order

…All the commissioners have released statements, those can be downloaded here.

Republican commissioner Ajit Pai has posted more detailed objections to the ruling, those can be found here.

How the FCC will vote is certain, what's to be approved isn't

25 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Tomorrow should be the big day. Common carrier regulation of broadband infrastructure and service is scheduled to be on the table at the FCC. There’s a possibility it could be bumped a month, though. Republican commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly want it delayed. Actually, they want it stopped altogether. But democrats hold three of the five commission seats, so that’s a sideshow.

One of the democrats, Mignon Clyburn, is reportedly pushing chair Tom Wheeler to make changes.… More

FCC won't bulldoze state bans on muni broadband, yet

17 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Parked.

Hopes and fears that the FCC will sweep away state restrictions on municipal broadband at its upcoming meeting this month appear overblown. That’s not to say it won’t be an important decision – assuming, as is all but certain, at least three commissioners vote yes – but it will involve particular issues in two cities in two states. That’s what FCC chair Tom Wheeler told a tech group in Colorado last week…

To be clear, my proposed ruling on these two petitions for pre-emption is an adjudicatory matter.

… More

Central coast leaders dig into broadband

14 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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There’s one big similarity between water and broadband access on California’s central coast: there’s a lot of it close at hand but high cost and low quality make it nearly unusable. That’s how I set up a discussion about broadband at the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) conference in Seaside a couple weeks ago.

The Central Coast Broadband Consortium has mapped hundreds of miles of fiber optic lines throughout the region. But most of it, like water in the Pacific Ocean, is too expensive for everyday use.… More

Will common carrier-lite Internet rules kill local loop competition?

13 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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The days of plain old telephone service aren’t behind us yet, but the time will come — sooner rather than later — when all telecoms services, including voice, run over Internet protocol systems. The switch from copper to end-to-end fiber is a bit further down the road, but it’s near enough that practical questions about it have to be dealt with now.

Yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission offered its suggestions on how to do that to the FCC, unanimously approving comments for the feds to consider.… More

Santa Cruz County supervisors look at fiber plan, consider options to move ahead

12 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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On Tuesday, Santa Cruz County supervisors took a look at the broadband development plan that I previewed a couple of days ago. It sketched out a possible core fiber network in five key unincorporated areas of the county that have been identified as economic development priorities, as well as providing additional support for the broadband infrastructure policy initiatives that are already underway.

“Infrastructure is already inadequate and it’s being pulled back”, Peggy Dolgenos, CEO of Cruzio, a local independent ISP, told supervisors after the presentation.… More

Public posturing is a lousy way to evaluate new Internet rules, but it's all the FCC allows

11 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Vague outlines are little help, just give us the full picture.

If you assume for the moment that both (democrat-appointed) FCC chair Tom Wheeler and (republican-appointed) commissioner Ajit Pai are speaking the literally truth when they characterise what the current plan to bring the Internet under common carrier utility rules actually says, then the shape of what’s in the still-secret document starts to emerge.

Wheeler gave a speech to a tech group in Colorado on Monday.… More

Fiber network proposed for five Santa Cruz County communities

10 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full report.

Build an open access fiber backbone network through areas Santa Cruz County that are high priorities for economic development: that’s the recommendation county supervisors will hear later this morning when they consider a draft broadband master plan.

The study, prepared for the county by Design Nine, includes a number of useful recommendations about broadband policy and planning, but the center piece is an independently operated fiber system that focuses on five key areas of Santa Cruz County.… More

There are devils lurking in the details of new broadband rules, warns FCC commissioner

9 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Minority report.

The latest plan to regulate broadband under common carrier rules is “a monumental shift toward government control of the Internet”, according to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai. On Friday, he released his rebuttal to chairman Tom Wheeler’s rosy summary of a thick – and still secret – proposal to impose stricter rules on how Internet service providers operate.

As a commissioner, Pai gets to see it now, before it’s voted on and released publicly at the end of the month.… More