casf

Three broadband subsidy projects proposed in eastern California

9 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Two companies – Race Telecommunications and Ultimate Internet Access – submitted a combined total of 3 broadband project proposals yesterday for consideration in the new round of California Advanced Services Fund grants and loans. All are in or near the desert areas northeast of Los Angeles.

Race’s application is for the Five Mining Communities project, which takes in Randsburg, Johannesburg, Red Mountain, Searles Valley and Trona, in the high desert where Inyo, Kern and San Bernardino counties meet.… More

ViaSat becomes a regulated telephone company, sorta

5 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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One of the big questions surrounding ViaSat’s request for an $11.1 million grant from the California Advanced Services Fund is whether it’s even eligible for the program. The California Public Utilities Commission said yes, it is eligible at yesterday’s meeting in San Francisco, approving ViaSat’s application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN).

In other words, the satellite Internet service provider is now considered to be a regulated telephone company, to the extent that it’s engaging in the sort of business that the CPUC regulates.… More

No opening day CASF gold rush

2 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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There was no stampede for the newest round of broadband infrastructure grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund. No project applications were filed yesterday, the first day of the new season. Or at least, there were no notifications sent out – applicants are supposed to send a project summary to a service list maintained by the CPUC. And yes, I checked my spam folder.

Even so, there are still project proposals totalling $26.2 million in the hopper, left over from the last round, which closed nearly 2 years ago, on 1 February 2013.… More

New round of broadband construction subsidies begins in California

1 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Prospectors still look for gold in Sacramento.

The application window is open for grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund The new round of funding – there’s something like $160 million available for grants – began today.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which administers CASF, has posted answers to frequently asked questions. The parameters of the program were redefined this year, but in most regards it’s the process as before. One change is that the funding window will stay open until the money runs out, which the CPUC hopes will be sometime in 2015.… More

Fast track broadband projects proposed in northern California

21 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Almost 120,000 people – 50,000 households – in 14 California counties would be reached by broadband projects reviewed by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) at its rural forum in Redding last week.

The list of “projects with some current momentum” was developed with the cooperation, and in many cases active participation, of the regional broadband consortia that represent those areas. The plan going forward is to work with project backers, state and federal agencies and CETF to bundle financing together that will cover the typical 30% to 40% investment match requirements of the California Advanced Services Fund.… More

California readies $25 million public housing broadband program

18 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Public housing operators in California can start applying for broadband facilities and marketing subsidies beginning next month, assuming the California Public Utilities Commission approves draft rules for the program that were released yesterday.

I can’t summarise the program any better than CPUC staffer Tom Glegola…

The Account provides $20 million for grants and loans to finance inside wiring and equipment, and $5 million for adoption projects. AB 1299, the legislation creating the new account, limits eligibility for both activities to a “Publicly supported community” (PSC) which is defined as “a publicly subsidized multifamily housing development that is wholly owned” by either a chartered public housing authority or a 501 (c)(3) non-profit that has received public funding to subsidize the construction or maintenance of affordable housing.

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Heat maps point the way to California broadband gold

13 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Maps and raw data showing broadband availability correlated to demographic and economic statistics are now available for 36 northern California counties, thanks to the California Emerging Technology Fund. It was developed for CETF by the City of Watsonville and Tellus Venture Associates, for a two day meeting in Redding that’s aimed at identifying a short list of feasible broadband infrastructure projects that can be paid for, in part, by the California Advanced Services Fund.

The center piece of the analysis is a heat map that shows areas that are eligible for CASF subsidies, color coded by housing density.… More

CETF zeros in on Californian broadband subsidy priorities

12 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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About 200 broadband-starved communities in California have been identified as priority areas for subsidised infrastructure builds. The list was put together by regional broadband consortia funded through the California Advanced Services Fund, which is also intended to be the source of the money to do the construction work.

Even though there’s something like $160 million available in CASF to spend on broadband upgrades, that’s not anything like enough to pay for 200 projects. Even if Internet service providers were interested in picking up their share of the cost, which is nominally something like 30% to 40% of the construction budget.… More

Local fiber maps unlock opportunities on California's central coast

6 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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A lot of fiber is installed along California’s central coast. But most of it is locked up by incumbent telephone and cable companies, and not available to local businesses and independent Internet service providers. The Central Coast Broadband Consortium, with a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission via the California Advanced Services Fund, mapped both long haul and local last mile fiber in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties.

Most of the locally accessible fiber is owned by AT&T, Comcast and Charter Communications.… More

Californian ISPs pass on upgrades, open door to subsidised competition

4 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Exercising the right to refuse first.

It looks like the right of first refusal hurdle has been cleared for broadband infrastructure subsidies in California, and successfully so. Assuming no filings are stuck somewhere in the system, only Frontier Communications has told the California Public Utilities Commission that it will upgrade broadband service on its own in at least some of its territory. For up to a year, the commission won’t fund competing broadband projects in the 7 communities identified by Frontier.… More