cpuc

Race targets Sonoma County for FTTH project

2 January 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

If you head west from Santa Rosa on State Route 12, and take the fork at Occidental Road, about halfway to the Pacific Ocean you’ll come to the town of Occidental. Residents there get broadband service from AT&T and Comcast, but if you go a little further west, the lines end. Race Telecommunications wants to build out a fiber to the home system there, and is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for a $9.1 million grant from the California Advanced Services Fund to do it.… More

FTTH project pitched for CASF subsidy in south Santa Clara County

28 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, ,


Click for more.

When you travel south of the Silicon Valley, Internet access begins to degrade. The southern stretch of Santa Clara County – the Coyote Valley – relies on a uneven mix of service from Verizon (soon to be Frontier), AT&T and Charter Communications, plus a handful of independents. LCB Communications and co-owned South Valley Internet, a wireless ISP and DSL reseller in the area, want to get into the fiber to the home business, and is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for a $2.8 million subsidy from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

California broadband grant proposed for FTTH in Nicasio

24 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , , ,


Click for a bigger picture.

The western Marin County town of Nicasio is in the hunt for for a $1.7 million grant from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to build a fiber to the home broadband system. The application was submitted by Inyo Networks, which is involved in several pending CASF project proposals as well as the already operating Digital 395 system. According to the publicly posted summary…

The area is fully “wireline unserved” by the [incumbent telephone company] and is not served by a cable television service provider alternative either.

… More

Anza FTTH project approved for funding by CPUC

21 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,


Desert communities get competing broadband subsidies from California, feds.

The Anza Electric Cooperative will get $2.7 million from the California Advanced Services Fund to build a fiber to the home system throughout its service area in western Riverside County. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the grant at its meeting on thursday. According to the resolution…

This project is economical and provides a wide benefit. The CASF per-household subsidy is $710 per household (based on 3,751 households that will have access).

… More

CPUC okays sale of Suddenlink to Altice

18 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Not a big footprint in California.

UPDATE: the day after the CPUC approved the deal, the FCC did likewise, adding a condition requiring Altice to guarantee law enforcement and spy agency access to its network.

Altice has permission to take over control of Suddenlink’s cable systems in California. Without discussion, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the transaction at its meeting on Thursday. According to the decision…

The proposed acquisition occurs entirely at the parent ownership level and the Applicants indicate that the transaction will be “seamless and transparent to consumers in terms of current services, rates, terms and conditions.”17

… More

New California mobile broadband metrics closer to reality

15 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Then and now. Half the time, mobile broadband in Alameda and Contra Costa counties is pretty good. But all the time? Not so much.

Mobile broadband service in California is reasonably good overall. In some places, it’s excellent. In others, non-existent. And there’s a lot of gradations in-between. But you wouldn’t know that by relying on the marketing claims made by the four big mobile carriers, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. According to them, they deliver super service everywhere, except where it’s super duper.… More

Frontier's purchase of Verizon is a step in a competitive direction, says California attorney general

14 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , ,

The decision to allow Frontier Communications to buy Verizon’s wireline systems in California was based partly on an opinion by the California attorney general’s office. The California Public Utilities Commission, which had the final say, asked the AG whether or not the purchase would be anti-competitive. On the contrary, came the reply, it should result in more competition…

We find that this acquisition has the potential to increase competition among competitive local exchange carriers. If indeed Verizon California has allowed its copper infrastructure to fall into disrepair, Frontier is likely to improve and maintain Verizon California’’s copper networks in a manner that may not have occurred absent the transaction.

… More

Next steps to watch in Frontier's takeover of Verizon systems

6 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , ,


It’ll all turn blue shortly. Click for the full-sized version.

It’ll be three or four months before Verizon formally hands Frontier Communications the keys to its wireline telephone systems in California (and Florida and Texas). On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved both the sale and a long list of conditions the two companies have to meet. That was the last significant regulatory hurdle for the deal. Texas said yes, Florida doesn’t review such things and the federal government also gave its blessing.… More

Big fine for back room conversations with CPUC

4 December 2015 by Steve Blum
,

That’s one hell of a dinner tab.

Talking to the wrong person at the wrong time at the California Public Utilities Commission can be very expensive. Yesterday the CPUC imposed a $17 million fine on Southern California Edison (SCE) for, among other things, not reporting private conversations with former CPUC president Michael Peevey and current commissioner Mike Florio, nor an email sent to all five commissioners.

Under state law and CPUC rules, anyone who’s involved in particular kinds of business with the commission is required to file a formal report of any private conversation or other exchange – known as ex parte communications – with a commissioner or top level staff.… More

Frontier gets permission to buy Verizon's California wireline systems

3 December 2015 by Steve Blum
, , ,

On a unanimous vote, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the sale of Verizon’s wireline telephone systems to Frontier Communications this morning. I’ll post the final version of the resolution when it’s available, but it’ll pretty much be this:

Proposed decision approving Frontier/Verizon deal, 2 December 2015 version
With the addition of these appendices

There might be other attachments to the final version. The deal is expected to close at the end of March.