casf – Page 46 – Steve Blum's Blog

No quick changes for Californian broadband subsidy program

7 October 2013 by Steve Blum
ab1299, broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, public policy, sb740

Glaciers are slow, but reliably arrive.

Because it was tagged as urgency legislation and then approved by a two-thirds vote of the California legislature, senate bill 740 took effect the moment it was signed by Governor Brown. Even so, don’t expect any immediate changes to the way the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is managed or broadband construction subsidies are given out.

Eleven months ago, the California Public Utilities Commission began the lengthy process of changing CASF eligibility rules, under the assumption that the legislature would allow it.… More

Governor Brown signs California broadband subsidy bills into law

3 October 2013 by Steve Blum
ab1299, broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, public policy, sb740

According to the sponsors of the legislation, Governor Brown has showered affection and money on Californian broadband backers, signing senate bill 740 and assembly bill 1299 into law. We’re all feeling the love now.

“Congratulations everyone, SB 740 has been signed by the Governor”, said SB 740 author senator Alex Padilla (D- Los Angeles). “I know a lot of hard work, dedication, and patience went into the bill, but it’s great to know that all the work has paid off.”… More

CPUC approves $4 million for broadband projects, but tougher decisions are ahead

3 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, golden bear broadband, public policy, sebastian

In a unanimous vote this morning, the California Public Utilities Commission approved $4 million in grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) for three projects: $2 million for Winterhaven in Imperial County and $1.8 million for Olinda in Shasta County – both DSL upgrades – and $117,000 for fixed wireless service in Foresthill in Placer County.
These are the first three projects approved from the batch of thirty two applications submitted back in February.… More

The art of estimating broadband subsidy costs by households in rural California

2 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, ponderosa telephone, public policy

It’s one house, but how many homes?

Maybe 800 homes on the western side of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains will get upgraded broadband service, many via fiber to the home connections, if a pair of draft resolutions is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

CPUC staff is recommending giving Ponderosa Telephone Company a total of $2.7 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). About $1.8 million would go to an FTTH build in two small Madera County communities, Beasore and Central Camp, and $900,000 would help pay for a DSL upgrade and limited FTTH service in the Big Creek area of Fresno County.… More

Pinnacles broadband upgrade recommended for CASF funding

29 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, pinnacles, public policy, regional consortia

Pinnacles’ wide and open vistas are beautiful to see, difficult to serve.

With only a couple hundred subscribers spread over an area of California larger than Alameda County, Pinnacles Telephone Company has to do a big job with tiny resources. Even so, it has consistently worked to modernise its plant in southern and eastern San Benito County over the years, replacing copper links with fiber and offering Internet service, via both DSL and fixed wireless connections.… More

Competitive ADSL upgrade subsidies recommended for California's Mendocino County

27 September 2013 by Steve Blum
boonville, broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, willitsonline

DSL upgrades installed by a competitive local exchange carrier in two Mendocino county towns will be largely paid for by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), if the California Public Utilities Commission approves draft resolutions released yesterday. With AT&T and Verizon quietly shutting down DSL service in rural areas of California, these types of projects might be a way to avoid forcing residents to rely on the costly wireless service preferred by the incumbents.

Both projects were proposed by WillitsOnline.… More

Priority for new funding for California broadband consortia goes to counties without one

26 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, regional consortia

CPUC wants to fill in the blanks.

A new round of grant applications is under way for regional broadband consortia in California. First priority will go to proposals for the nine counties that are not currently covered by a consortium. Existing consortia, which cover the other forty-nine counties in California, can also apply for additional money, although they’ll be second in line.

The California Public Utilities Commission gave notice this afternoon that it’ll be accepting proposals to spend the remaining $950,000 in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) that’s been earmarked for consortia.… More

Sheer tenacity primes Boron FTTH for California broadband subsidy

24 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, escrbc, ftth, public policy, race telecommunications

Boron upgrades from twenty mules to a gigabit.

On its fourth try, Race Telecommunications seems set to get public grant backing to build a fiber-to-the-home system in the small Mojave desert town of Boron. California Public Utilities Commission staff have released a draft resolution that, if approved by commissioners, would spend up to $3.4 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to pay 60% of the cost of building a fiber optic network to serve about 900 customers in the Boron area, plus cover the cost of any state or federal income tax on the grant.… More

CPUC approves broadband testing, mapping money

23 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccta, cpuc, public policy

Good for another year.

The California Public Utilities Commission waved through next year’s budget for the California Advanced Services Fund, voting unanimous approval at last week’s meeting.

The plan includes a steep jump in administrative costs, without giving much detail on the reason for the increase. The CPUC’s division of ratepayer advocates asked for more transparency after the first draft of the budget resolution was released. There wasn’t much more detail about overhead costs in the approved version, though.… More

Savoring victory at eastern Sierra broadband meeting

20 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, digital 395, esrbc, public policy, regional consortia

Looking forward in Bishop.

What a difference a year makes. The Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium held its annual meeting in Bishop, California on Thursday. Like last year’s forum, the conversation was dominated by Digital 395, a middle mile fiber optic network that runs the length of the region – Mono, Inyo and eastern Kern counties – and connects to major transcontinental routes in Reno and Barstow.

But it was a much different conversation.… More