community networks

Broadband speed matters, so does quality, quantity and cost

Tube in the 1000 Watt standby transmitter for CKCI 1350 AM Parksville. (now gone and replaced by CIBH 88.5 FM) This was once the standby transmitter for CKEG 1350 AM Nanaimo.
Copper costs pennies, glass even less.

There’s more to measuring bandwidth than simple speed. The number of bits per second a customer can send and receive is the defining characteristic of most services. But to be meaningfully compared with alternatives, solutions – particularly satellite-based ones – also have to be evaluated on other metrics such as data caps, variability, capacity limits, latency and reliability.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) did not explicitly make that distinction when they relaunched the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) infrastructure grant and loan program last year, and extended eligibility to include qualified satellite companies.… More

Legislative push for more money, fewer restrictions for CASF


Do you think this would cover it?

A last minute push is on at the state capitol to put more money in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) and open up eligibility. The deadline for new legislation is this Friday, 22 February 2013. The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and other broadband advocates are working with two key lawmakers – Senator Alex Padilla and Assemblyman Steven Bradford – to get a bill introduced by then.

Two goals are in sight: lifting the $225 million cap on CASF funding – maybe by an additional $100 million – and allowing a wider range of companies and organizations to apply for broadband infrastructure subsidies.… More

ViaSat's California broadband subsidy plan targets wired homes


Viasat stakes a claim from the Klamath to the Colorado.

A satellite Internet service provider, ViaSat, asked for $11.1 million in the latest round of California Advanced Service Fund (CASF) grant requests. They want to provide subsidized broadband service over a huge swath of California that begins at the border with Mexico and runs up the western half of the state all the way to Oregon, plus a few detours to the east.

They’re not asking for money to serve every household in that area, only about 178,000.… More

Northern California middle mile proposal looks fiber rich but cash poor

13 February 2013 by Steve Blum
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Our sturdy Golden Bear knows a thing or two about sparse population and public funding.

Golden Bear Broadband wants $119 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to build 1,000 miles of fiber backbone and lease 1,200 miles more in 16 northern California counties. That’s the real Northern California, (mostly) beyond the urban reach of the Bay Area and Sacramento region.

It’s not crazy talk. The Digital 395 project in eastern California, paid for by the federal stimulus program and CASF, is similar in size, cost and population density.… More

Twenty-seven CASF applications accepted, now open to challenge

12 February 2013 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has posted the official list of thirty-one projects that are in the running for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants and loans. The total comes to about $256 million.

Four projects, totaling about $32 million, are listed as “pending”. That means there’s still some work to be done before the requests can be considered.

As of 12 February 2013.

The challenge clock is running on the other twenty-seven applications. Competing service providers who disagree with an applicant’s assertion that a given area is under or unserved can contest a project’s eligibility for funding.… More

CASF grant requests triple the $75 million likely to be in the bank

The grant proposals filed with the California Public Utilities Commission CPUC) on Friday totaled about $246 million. It looks to be about three times the amount of money that will be available in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) when the Commission votes on the requests later this year. Five of the thirty proposals were submitted with the assistance of Tellus Venture Associates.

In 2010 the California legislature gave the CPUC authority to collect an additional $125 million for CASF via a surcharge on phone bills.… More

Most CASF money requested is for fiber

3 February 2013 by Steve Blum
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The California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) proposal count is now an even 30, with a total of $246 million requested. That’s more than twice the available money in the CASF kitty.

A $13.3 million middle mile project linking Santa Cruz to Soledad in Monterey County is proposed by Sunesys, working with U.C. Santa Cruz.

Nearly half of the total – $119 million – is for the other middle project, a 2,200 mile fiber build through 16 rural Northern California counties.… More

$230 million and counting

At least $230 million in grant and loan proposals were sent to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) yesterday, and more is to come. I’ve seen a total of 29 projects from 15 different organizations. Most of the requests – almost $229 million – are for grants, but half a dozen also requested loans totaling nearly $2 million.

The CPUC doesn’t have that much money in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). They have something like $150 million left of their original authorization, but probably only about half that is in the bank.… More

CASF requests pushing $200 million already


Big ask for a big project.

I’m counting about twenty applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants and loans tonight. The deadline just passed, and the dust hasn’t settled from the email service list yet. So there might be – probably will be – more. But the total is pushing close to $200 million, which means there’s going to be some tough decisions coming at the California Public Utilities Commission.

It looks like the combined proposals will go well over the CASF’s authorized limit, let alone what they have on hand.… More

Crunch time for CASF applications

31 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Friday is the deadline for would-be applicants to the California Advanced Service Fund. Projects proposed for underserved, or combined unserved and underserved, areas have to be filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by 5:00 p.m.

So far, four projects have been circulated to the CASF email distribution list:

  • The Big Dipper project, an upgrade to microwave radio links to improve broadband service in Placer County. They’re asking for a $117 thousand grant.
  • The Olinda project, a $1.8 million grant request for an upgrade to telephone infrastructure in Shasta County.
… More