cpuc

CenturyLink trades long haul fiber routes for permission to buy Level 3

4 October 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Allowing two of the major – sometimes only – sources of inter-city dark fiber to merge would be anti-competitive and illegal, according to the federal justice department. So in order to gain approval to buy Level 3 Communications, CenturyLink agreed to a settlement that requires it to give up control of 24 strands of dark fiber between 30 pairs of cities, including five key California routes.

The settlement also requires CenturyLink to divest overlapping metro fiber systems in Albuquerque, Boise and Tucson.… More

Governor Brown urged not to lower California's broadband speed standard

2 October 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Governor Jerry Brown has two weeks to decide if California’s broadband speed standard should be slower than it is now, and if the California Advanced Services Fund should be turned into a piggy bank for AT&T, Frontier Communications and the cable industry. That’s what assembly bill 1665 would do, if Brown allows it to become law.

He’s getting plenty of encouragement to sign it, from the California Emerging Technology Fund and, one might safely assume, the platoon of lobbyists that telephone and cable companies maintain in Sacramento and back with generous cash contributions to politicians of both parties.… More

October dawns with CenturyLink-Level 3 deal still undecided

1 October 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Today is the day that a CenturyLink lawyer described as “almost too awful to contemplate”: October is here and CenturyLink doesn’t have permission yet to buy Level 3 Communications, from either the California Public Utilities Commission or federal regulators that are reviewing the transaction.

It’s not really all that horrible. The 30 September 2017 deadline was a target that the two companies set for wrapping everything up. It’ll cost them more to keep the financing arrangements intact, but the tab isn’t going to hugely different from what it would have been if they had a better grasp of what it takes to get big telecoms mergers okayed and allowed more time from the beginning.… More

California makes AT&T's list for limited and costly rural broadband

29 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Taxes not included. Except in my bonus check.

AT&T says it’s official: they are launching slow, expensive wireless Internet service in rural California, and other undefined “underserved” areas, instead of upgrading ageing copper networks to modern levels. The technology is designed to support 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds, although there are no guarantees.

The California Public Utilities Commission, on the other hand, decided to go in the opposition direction and unanimously endorsed the higher standard of 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up yesterday.… More

CPUC changes tack, heads toward an emphatic yes, speed matters

28 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

The latest draft of the California Public Utilities Commission’s broadband advice to the Federal Communications Commission specifically calls out speed as a key benchmark, and recommends that the standard for advanced telecoms capability remain 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

The first draft ducked the speed issue and focused on other metrics such as latency and dropped connections. Which are important, particularly for high end commercial and industrial applications. But speed matters and the comments that CPUC commissioners are scheduled to consider at their meeting later this morning put it at the top of the list…

The 25/3 speed tier, the FCC’s current benchmark for “Advanced Services,” represents a useful, reasonable, and forward-looking dividing point to define a “high-speed” broadband tier.

… More

Measure mobile performance, don't just assume says CPUC draft

26 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

The California Public Utilities Commission might not offer an opinion on how fast broadband service should be in order to support “advanced telecommunications capability”, but it is on track to say whether mobile and wireline service should be lumped together. According to draft comments that’ll be filed with the Federal Communications Commission if CPUC commissioners concur, the answer is a qualified no…

The CPUC should share its finding that mobile and residential broadband services are “generally not substitutes”, in order to assist the FCC in its consideration of this issue.

… More

Electric utilities' fiber business gets harder look in California

22 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Electric companies are often also in the telecommunications business. In California, the two biggest electric investor owned utilities – PG&E, in northern California, and Southern California Edison – both have extensive dark fiber networks that they lease out to telecoms companies. SCE became a certified telephone company and began actively marketing dark fiber nearly twenty years ago, while PG&E has moved more slowly. But their business models are converging and the California Public Utilities Commission is taking a harder look at how they might be regulated.… More

New York fines Charter $13 million for stalled upgrades

21 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

The New York State State Public Service Commission has slapped a $13 million fine on Charter Communications, as punishment for missing broadband expansion requirements attached to regulatory approval of its purchase of Time Warner Cable systems last year. According to a story by Kendra Chamberlain in FierceCable, Charter’s build out in New York fell far short…

The agreement included statewide speed upgrades reaching 100 Mbps by 2018 and 300 Mbps by 2019, and a timeline for building out its broadband network in chunks of over 36,000 new residents and businesses per year, to be completed by 2020.

… More

CETF audit, more CPUC reforms approved by California legislature

17 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

A second round of California Public Utilities Committee reorganisation was approved in the final hours of the legislative session on Friday night. Senate bills 19 and 385 are heading to the governor’s desk. The main one is SB 19, carried by senator Jerry Hill (D – San Mateo), who has been deeply involved in CPUC reform efforts ever since a massive, fatal explosion of a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno in 2010.

There are general changes that affect the way the commission does business overall.… More

CenturyLink-Level 3 deal moving ahead in California, but not until October

8 September 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

CenturyLink will be allowed to buy Level 3 Communications, under the terms of a settlement reached in June with some of the organisations that challenged the deal, if the California Public Utilities Commission endorses a proposed decision posted this morning by a CPUC administrative law judge.

If the usual process is followed, commissioners will make the final decision at their 12 October 2017 meeting, or a later meeting if there’s significant disagreement amongst them.… More