casf – Page 44 – Steve Blum's Blog

Californians' ground truth begins to paint a better broadband availability picture

15 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, calspeed, casf, cpuc, ground truth, public policy

Crowdsourced data has been added to the California Public Utilities Commission’s broadband availability map, along with updated information submitted by service providers and developed by the CPUC’s own mobile field testing program.

The new map takes a long step toward bridging the gap between the advertising claims that carriers make – which is also the basis for what they report to the CPUC – and what consumers can actually buy. The public feedback information – “layers” in mapping jargon – shows locations from where people have filed personal reports about the service they’re getting.… More

$170 million in California broadband subsidy proposals await decisions

9 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, public policy

The latest update from the California Public Utilities Commission shows that 12 projects are still in the hunt for subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Eleven projects, totalling $30 million in grants and $41,000 in loans, have been approved. Nine have either been rejected by commission staff or are on hold.

One of the pending projects – a $1 million DSL upgrade proposed by Ponderosa Telephone Company in Fresno County – is due for a vote by the commission next week.… More

CPUC proposes new rules expanding broadband infrastructure subsidy eligibility

6 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, sb740

Welcome to the party.

Companies that provide broadband service, but aren’t traditional telephone companies regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, would have to meet certain financial standards to qualify for broadband infrastructure grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), according to proposed new rules released today.

The draft decision, authored by commission president Michael Peevey, are the first step in implementing a law passed last year by the California legislature that made it possible for independent Internet service providers to apply for CASF subsidies, albeit with restrictions that give priority and preference to traditional phone companies.… More

CPUC finds a legal way to treat ISPs as regulated phone companies

23 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, escrbc, golden bear, public policy, schat communications, surfnet, viasat, voip

CPUC sends a Schat across incumbents’ bow.

Buried in last week’s California Public Utilities Commission consent agenda was a resolution granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to Schat Communications, an independent Internet servicer provider based in Bishop, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Schat applied for the CPCN in order to qualify for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants for two proposed last mile projects in Mono and Inyo Counties.… More

CPUC pushes open access to subsidised middle mile fiber

22 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, middle mile, ponderosa telephone, public policy

Access only by fiber or snowmobile.

Once again, the California Public Utilities Commission has set an expectation that publicly subsidised middle mile fiber should be available on a wholesale basis. To gain approval for a $1.8 million subsidy for a fiber to the home system in a remote area of Madera County, Ponderosa Telephone Company agreed to sell access to the fiber backhaul line that will feed it. According to a CPUC staff presentation to commissioners…

Ponderosa has affirmed that wholesale access to the network will be provided in the project area.

… More

CPUC approves $1.8 million for "fiber to the vacation cabin"

19 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, ponderosa telephone, public policy

No phone, no water, no power, no people. But wicked fast email.

“I’m a big supporter of fiber to the home, but fiber to the vacation cabin is a different thing”, said commissioner Michel Florio as he argued against giving a $1.8 million grant to the Ponderosa Telephone Company to build broadband infrastructure in a remote area of Madera County. His fellow commissioners did not agree, though, and the project was approved on a 4 to 1 vote.… More

Setting broadband development priorities for California's central coast

18 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia

Central coast roadmaps for broadband development.

The Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) took the first steps yesterday towards identifying priority areas for broadband infrastructure development. At its annual meeting, held at the Monterey airport, representatives from local Internet service providers, agencies and businesses looked over plans for a three month process that’ll lead to a list of communities that are eligible for broadband construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) and have both a high degree of need and resources sufficient to ensure successful projects.… More

Broadband priorities and lessons learned for California's Central Coast

16 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy

Broadband gaps are easy to find.

Broadband infrastructure priorities for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties are up for discussion tomorrow, as the Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) holds its annual meetings with economic development, public works and telecoms professionals. The CCBC is wrapping up the second year of a three year broadband development project funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, via the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).

The CPUC has asked regional consortia to think about how to identify areas that are eligible for CASF subsidies for broadband infrastructure construction, have the need for it and sufficient resources to support it.… More

CPUC debates fairness of giving big broadband subsidies to tiny communities

5 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, ponderosa telephone, public policy

Is anyone home? (Click to download today’s staff presentation).

“It’s a little frustrating that this would be one of the last places you’d expect high quality internet service, yet you have communities like Point Arena and Gualala that don’t have service at all,” said commissioner Michel Florio this morning, as the California Public Utilities Commission discussed a proposal to give a $1.8 million subsidy to Ponderosa Telephone Company to build a fiber-to-the-home system in the remote Madera County communities of Beasore and Central Camp.… More

Ponderosa broadband subsidy proposal ducks middle mile responsibilities

20 November 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, middle mile, ponderosa telephone, public policy

Quacks like a middle mile project.

A draft resolution approving a $1 million California Advanced Services Fund grant for a DSL upgrade in the small mountain community of Cressman in Fresno County was posted on the California Public Utilities Commission website yesterday. Proposed by Ponderosa Telephone Company, the project has middle mile fiber and a middle mile price tag, but doesn’t offer middle mile access.

The cost per household is $8,900, making it the second most costly project so far in the current round of CASF subsidy applications.… More