casf

Trimmed Salinas Valley broadband project heads back to CPUC


Building jobs and a better economy.

A 91-mile fiber optic middle mile network reaching from Santa Cruz deep into the Salinas Valley is back on track, after discussions between the California Public Utilities Commission and Sunesys, LLC – the company applying for the project – led to a $388,000 cut in proposed grant funding.

A revised draft resolution, offered as an alternative by CPUC president Michael Peevey, was posted this afternoon and is scheduled to be considered by commissioners on Thursday.… More

California lawmakers vote to raise broadband construction costs

2 April 2014 by Steve Blum
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One more way to stop broadband competition.

It’s becoming likelier that subsidised broadband projects will be more expensive, if not impossible, following a vote by a California assembly committee this afternoon. The labor and employment committee approved assembly bill 2272, which would put projects paid for by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) under the jurisdiction of the state’s prevailing wage law.
That means that union scale pay and work rules would apply to CASF projects, regardless of whether the companies that build and operate the systems are union shops.… More

California bill would protect broadband incumbents by raising competitors' and consumers' costs

1 April 2014 by Steve Blum
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The empire strikes back.

Broadband infrastructure construction subsidies would be rolled back in California, if a bill pending in the state assembly is approved. Tomorrow – Wednesday 2 April 2014 – the assembly labor and employment committee will consider assembly bill 2272, introduced by assemblyman Adam Gray (D – Merced), which would bring all work funded by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) under the state’s “prevailing wage” law. It would impose union scale wages and work rules on CASF projects – in many cases mandating metropolitan rates and benefits even in remote rural areas.… More

Gonzales mayor makes the case for Salinas Valley broadband


Maria Orosco addresses the CPUC yesterday.

Gonzales mayor Maria Orosco and city manager Rene Mendez spoke on behalf of their community, the Salinas Valley and the entire central coast region yesterday, as they urged the California Public Utilities Commission to approve an $11 million grant to build a fiber optic broadband backbone system.

Mayor Orosco spoke to the Salinas Valley’s need for twenty-first century broadband infrastructure and the benefits it would bring…

Good morning, my name is Maria Orosco, mayor of the City of Gonzales.

… More

Salinas Valley fiber optic project gets CPUC support, but final vote postponed


Click to see presentation.

“I think this is a great project and I want to see it happen”, said commissioner Michel Florio, as the California Public Utilities Commission discussed an $11 million proposal to build a fiber optic backbone down the Salinas Valley. “I drive through that areas regularly. I know the geography, it’s the 101 corridor. It is in many respects a low income area”.

But he wasn’t completely sold on the numbers, questioning the length of time it would take for the applicant, Sunesys LLC, to see a return on its investment in the project, if 83% of the construction cost was subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

CPUC considers Salinas Valley fiber project tomorrow

26 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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Building better infrastructure.

An $11 million proposal to build a fiber optic backbone connecting the Salinas Valley to Silicon Valley, by way of Santa Cruz, goes in front of the California Public Utilities Commission tomorrow morning. A decision might or might not come. Commissioner Michel Florio has asked that the vote be delayed until next month, although that could change as the proposal is discussed.

CPUC president Michael Peevey is proposing to subsidise 83% of construction costs – grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) are usually limited to the 60% to 70% range – because of the social and economic impact the project would have.… More

CPUC gets enthusiastic support for Salinas Valley broadband project

Once upon a time, Silicon Valley looked pretty much the same.

Community leaders from California’s central coast have weighed in on a grant application in front of the California Public Utilities Commission that would pay for a large portion of a 91-mile fiber optic backbone for the region. The project, submitted by Sunesys, LLC would provide disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley with the kind of broadband infrastructure Silicon Valley takes for granted. Not surprisingly, there is tremendous local support for CPUC president Michael Peevey’s proposal to raise the allowable percentage of the construction costs that can be subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund.… More

Online ride sharing companies adapting to Californian rules


If Lyft’s customers were this happy before there were rules, just think how they must feel now.

California’s pioneering attempt to regulate online ride sharing services such as Lyft and Uber seems to be going as smoothly anyone could expect. The California Public Utilities Commission was briefed this morning on progress made since it adopted rules setting safety, training, insurance and other operational standards for transportation network companies, as it now calls them, including…

Obtain a permit from the [CPUC]…require criminal background checks for each driver, establish a driver training program, implement a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol, and require insurance coverage.

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CPUC commissioner proposes modest haircut for Cressman

11 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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Update 13 March 2014: The CPUC delayed the vote on the Cressman project to 10 April 2014.


It doesn’t have to look good to look better.

Commissioner Michel Florio wants to trim five homes from a project proposed by Ponderosa Telephone Company in Fresno County, and save the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) $373,000. The project in and around the remote community of Cressman has been stalled for months, at Florio’s request, and now it’s clear why…

The fiber optic extension from Lower Cressman to…Rush Creek will cost $621,700, or 36% of the total project costs.

… More

Rural broadband appeals flood into the FCC


Round up twice the usual number of suspects.

There’s no lack of interest in the FCC’s rural broadband experiment. By 5:00 p.m. California time, more than 500 expressions of interest had been filed electronically with the FCC and posted on its website (h/t to The Baller Herbst List for pointing me to the link). The total appeared to be climbing, and I’m guessing that the FCC will be accepting letters at least until midnight Midway Island time, if not well into the weekend.… More