casf

FCC rural broadband experiments become 10% more cost effective in California

12 September 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,

Any Californian ISP that gets funding from the FCC to build out and operate an experimental rural broadband system can also get money from the California Advanced Services Fund. The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved a blanket 10% match of any federal funds an ISP might win via the FCC’s program.

The hope is that the extra CASF subsidy will buy down the cost of pursuing those rural broadband experiments in California, making them more cost effective in the eyes of the FCC and giving them a competitive edge against proposals from other states.… More

Future of broadband subsidies in hands of California's governor

2 September 2014 by Steve Blum
, , ,

It’s up to California governor Jerry Brown, to decide whether or not to double labor costs and effectively cut broadband construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund in half by requiring all projects it funds to follow union work rules and pay scales.

In lopsided votes that included both democrat and republican support, the California senate and assembly approved assembly bill 2272 last week. According to its author, assemblyman Adam Gray (D – Merced)…

AB 2272 codifies a decision already handed down by the department of industrial relations [DIR] to pay prevailing wage on projects funded by the California Advanced Services Fund.

… More

Mobile operators are short term cure, long term cause of broadband divide

Wireline upgrades get low priority on the wrong side of the divide.

Mobile broadband networks are increasingly ubiquitous throughout the world, and are the most widely used way of accessing the Internet in developing countries. But that’s despite high costs and stingy caps on data transfer. As a solution for increasing primary household access to broadband and encouraging people to use it, mobile networks have limited potential, according to a South African broadband policy study…

Of the access mechanisms, mobile coverage is the most extensive, but mobile broadband access is limited to lucrative urban areas and data costs are relatively high.

… More

$160 million still available for broadband infrastructure subsidies in California

26 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , ,

When the California Public Utilities Commission starts accepting applications for broadband infrastructure grants later this year, there will be something like $160 million available to hand out. That’s my estimate, based on the amount approved to date and expected administrative costs.

The overall cap on the California Advanced Services Fund is $315 million. Of that, $10 million is set aside for infrastructure loans, $10 million for regional consortia and $25 million for public housing projects.… More

California senate weighs even more protection for incumbent telephone and cable companies

20 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , ,

The system is the solution.

There’s no love for independent Internet service providers in the California senate. A bill that would have made it harder for independents to put together broadband infrastructure projects that can be subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund has been amended by the senate appropriations committee to make it nearly impossible.

Not only does assembly bill 2272 mandate union scale pay and union work rules…

Under the [prevailing wage] law, there are multiple responsibilities of the awarding body, which is defined as the department, board, authority, office, or agent awarding a contract for public work.

… More

California legislature can help and hurt broadband infrastructure development this week

18 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,

One step forward and two slides back.

Two bills with big implications for broadband infrastructure in California are queued up for votes in the state legislature this week. Assembly bill 2272 was blessed by the senate leadership last week and sent on for a floor vote. The date hasn’t been set yet.

That bill would put a huge dent in the California Advanced Services Fund by requiring all the projects it subsidises to follow an inflated statewide set of union work rules and pay scales, regardless of who is doing the job or what the going rates are in a particular area.… More

CPUC considers making rural broadband experiments 10% sweeter

14 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,

Proposals for FCC-funded rural broadband experiments in California will get an extra, and automatic, 10% subsidy, if the California Public Utilities Commission approves new draft rules released earlier this week.

As currently written, the resolution…

Pre-authorizes CASF monies for any California projects that the FCC selects and provides for such projects to be subject to the FCC Rural Broadband Experiments rules, not the CASF program rules. California applicants interested in participating in these Experiments must file with the FCC by October 13, 2014.

… More

Higher broadband construction costs means higher costs, California senate analysis admits

11 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Not again.

It’s not exactly push back, but the first hint of clear headed thinking about more or less doubling broadband construction costs has emerged from the California legislature. Assembly bill 2272 would add broadband infrastructure subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund to the list of construction projects that are subject to the state’s so-called prevailing wage law – in other words, be subject to union work rules and wages regardless of who is doing the work.… More

Broadband rocks the 80s in California public housing

10 August 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

There’s an odd debate going on over whether broadband service standards should be lower in public housing projects than in the rest of California, at least when the infrastructure is subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund.

The California Public Utilities Commission is developing rules for spending $20 million on upgrading broadband facilities in public housing. The money comes from the same pot as the state’s primary broadband infrastructure subsidy program, which sets a minimum of 6 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds for systems it funds.… More

Broadband subsidies for public housing might be wrapped in less red tape

29 July 2014 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Assuming there aren’t back channel conversations going on, there seems to be something like a consensus forming around draft rules proposed for subsidising broadband facilities and marketing programs in public housing in California.

Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission released recommendations for spending $20 million on upgrading broadband infrastructure in public housing and $5 million on programs to encourage residents to subscribe to and use Internet services. The money was part of a grand deal made last year to top up the California Advanced Services Fund and expand eligibility – at least in theory – to independent Internet service providers and, to an even more limited extent, local governments.… More