cpuc

Assembly votes to write the CPUC out of the California constitution

4 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Disestablished?

It’ll be up to the California senate to decide whether or not to put the future of the California Public Utilities Commission on the November general election ballot. The assembly approved assembly constitutional amendment 11 on Thursday. If it gets on the ballot and voters approve it, the CPUC would lose its special constitutional status as an independent agency.

The state legislature would then have to decide how utilities – energy, telecoms, water and transportation – will be regulated in California.… More

Four good reasons to favor FTTH over wireless broadband, CPUC says

2 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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No less deserving.

When it approved a $16 million grant for the Bright Fiber fiber-to-the-home project in Nevada County last year, the California Public Utilities Commission said that expensive and patchy wireless Internet service is not sufficient to block broadband infrastructure construction subsidies in underserved areas. Last week, the CPUC reaffirmed that decision, unanimously rejecting requests for a rehearing from two fixed wireless Internet service operators.

In doing so, the commission said that there are clear differences between wireless and wireline broadband service…

  • First, the fiber-to-the-premises network proposed by Bright Fiber is not subject to terrain variability, and Bright Fiber has committed to serve every household in the project area…
  • Second, fiber-to-the-premise systems have significant speed advantages over fixed wireless systems…
  • Third, a fiber network has a significant advantage in terms of capacity over fixed wireless in any given area.
… More

Unanimous vote to bring California utility regulation back to Sacramento

31 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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The California assembly has backed off from giving AT&T a free pass to yank out wireline service in less lucrative rural and inner city communities, but it’s moving ahead with a plan to completely re-write the way telecommunications and other utilities are regulated.

On the same day it put AT&T’s copper killer bill on what appears to be terminal hold, the assembly appropriations committee unanimously approved a constitutional amendment that would, in effect, turn utility regulation into just another state function, carried out by departments answerable to the legislature and the governor.… More

Charter cries for exclusive rights in public housing

29 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications still doesn’t get it. California law does not grant it ownership of public housing residents. But boiled down, that’s what it’s telling the California Public Utilities Commission.

Three years ago, the California legislature passed a bill that set aside $20 million to pay for installing broadband facilities in public housing properties. Governor Brown signed it into law. And once you trim away all the bureaucratese about defining what, exactly, a public housing operator is, it’s a very simple bill.… More

Faster federal broadband specs proposed for public housing

25 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Honest, the label on the box says it’ll do a gozangabit!

The federal housing and urban development department is floating new rules for publicly subsidised housing – but not homes bought with FHA loans or other federal loan guarantees – that would require installation of broadband infrastructure in new or remodelled multi-dwelling units. It’s a good new/bad news rule: it uses the FCC’s definition of high speed broadband, but leaves plenty of room for implementation mischief…

HUD is proposing to define broadband infrastructure as cables, fiber optics, wiring, or other permanent infrastructure, including wireless infrastructure, as long as the installation results in broadband infrastructure in each dwelling unit meeting the definition created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which currently is 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download, 3 Mbps upload.

… More

Decisions this week on key California broadband bills

23 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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It all comes down to the wire.

With deadlines looming this week and next, broadband-related bills are queued up in Sacramento, awaiting decisions. The committee to watch is the assembly appropriations committee, which has to vote on a constitutional amendment to disband the California Public Utilities Commission and on AT&T’s attempt to get out of the rural wireline broadband and phone business.

AT&T’s copper killer bill – assembly bill 2395 – is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, while the CPUC measure – assembly constitutional amendment 11 – is sitting in a stack of bills that might or might not come to a vote.… More

Charter gets CPUC okay to buy Time Warner, Bright House

13 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s all Charter territory now.

Charter Communications will own Time Warner cable systems in southern California and Bright House systems in the San Joaquin Valley and become the state’s largest cable company, following yesterday’s unanimous approval of the deal by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Commission president Michael Picker – technically, the commissioner responsible for the decision text – made one change to the revised draft prepared by an administrative law judge. He added a three year limit on Charter’s obligation to “comply with all the terms and conditions of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order, regardless of the outcome of any legal challenge”.… More

CPUC approves Charter purchase of Time Warner, Bright House

12 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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In a unanimous vote a few minutes ago, the California Public Utilities Commission approved Charter Communications’ purchase of Time Warner and Bright House cable systems in California. It’s the final regulatory hurdle for the transaction. CPUC president Michael Picker made one change to the text of the decision that was on the table, adding a time limit of three years to Charter’s obligation to abide by the FCC’s common carrier rules. As written, the text left that commitment open ended, which was apparently a drafting oversight.… More

Game on for Charter deal as CPUC meets in Sacramento

12 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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The decision should come later this morning, and it’s looking increasingly like the California Public Utilities Commission will approve Charter Communication’s purchase of Time Warner and Bright House cable systems in California.

It won’t skate through on the consent agenda – the long list of non-controversial decisions the CPUC (and most other public agencies) take with a single, usually unanimous vote. It was originally placed there, but was officially pulled off yesterday afternoon, when last minute revisions to today’s agenda were posted.… More

California's blessing for Charter-Time Warner on track for tomorrow

11 May 2016 by Steve Blum
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Holy orders or holy hand grenade?

Charter Communications is inching closer to gaining the California Public Utilities Commission’s okay to buy cable systems owned by Time Warner and Bright House. The CPUC administrative law judge handling the case published a revised version of his original draft decision approving the deal late yesterday, and there were no major changes.

The revised draft reviewed objections raised by a number of organisations that continue to oppose the deal, as well as responses from Charter offering additional concessions, such as promising to upgrade all customers to 300 Mbps capability by 2019.… More