cpuc – Page 85 – Steve Blum's Blog

Golden Bear fiber plan not sturdy enough to survive incumbent challenges

5 March 2014 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, casf, comcast, cpuc, golden bear, public policy, sunesys, verizon

The two thousand mile, $120+ million Golden Bear middle mile fiber network is officially dead. Snaking through the canyons and river valleys of far northern California, the project was touted as a way of bringing fast, inexpensive backbone connectivity to areas far removed from bandwidth-rich regions to the south.

Effectively, backers were asking for 100% grant funding from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Nominally, the limit is somewhere between 60% and 70%, depending on the level of broadband service, if any, that is available.… More

Open and early application window considered for California broadband grants

4 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia

At the ready.

The next round of applications for broadband infrastructure construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) might be accepted on a rolling first come, first served basis, as soon as this summer. That was one of the options discussed this morning by California Public Utilities Commission staff at a statewide meeting of regional broadband consortia in Sacramento.

The CPUC is working on new rules for CASF grants and loans, to allow independent ISPs and local governments to participate in the program, as approved by the state legislature last year.… More

Testing students tests broadband in California

3 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, regional consortia

More complicated than sending a note home to mother.

The first step in identifying broadband availability gaps in California is defining how much and where bandwidth is needed. Education is a major driver of bandwidth demand, particularly as new methods for measuring how well California’s children are being taught come into effect. That initiative – the so-called Smarter Balance Assessment – replaces pencil and paper tests with online computers. But the initial guidelines drawn up by education officials for estimating the broadband speeds necessary are too simplistic, according to California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval.… More

$130 million available for broadband infrastructure grants in California

2 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, digital 395, golden bear, public policy

We found the money.

The California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) will be topped up to the $315 million limit set by law by mid–2016, thanks to a hike in a surcharge added to phone bills that was approved last week by the California Public Utilities Commission. But much of it is already spent or earmarked, so the amount available for broadband infrastructure construction grants is likely to be $130 million, plus or minus a few million, the next time the CPUC accepts applications.… More

When communications go down, communications companies fail to communicate

28 February 2014 by Steve Blum
att, cpuc, level 3, PGE

No one picked up the phone until a bullet hit a PG&E transformer.

More than ten months on, the motive and people behind fiber cuts and gun shots south of San Jose last year are still a mystery, according to a briefing given to the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday. The incident happened on 16 April 2013, knocking out Internet service to thousands of AT&T customers. A PG&E substation was also damaged, although no power outages resulted.… More

CPUC expands broadband subsidy eligibility, toughens requirements

27 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, municipal broadband, public policy

It got a little harder to clear the bar today.

Local governments and independent Internet service providers can apply for broadband infrastructure construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), under new rules approved this morning by the California Public Utilities Commission.

There are pluses and minuses in the decision. On the whole, the commission is requiring these newly eligible application to meet requirements that are very similar to those imposed on regulated telephone companies, but without granting the same operational privileges – pole attachment and interconnection rights, for example.… More

Salinas Valley towns top regional broadband priority list

25 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia, salinas valley

Heat map of broadband desert.

The latest rev of a regional broadband priority analysis for the Central Coast Broadband Consortium shows that Salinas Valley communities would see the greatest benefit from broadband infrastructure development, and be more likely to support viable projects.

These preliminary results add weight to the argument for building a fiber optic line through these towns and connecting them to Santa Cruz.

The top three communities by county and regionally are…

Monterey County: 1.

… More

FCC-funded rural broadband experiments have to walk the legacy telephone line

24 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, community networks, cpuc, fcc, public policy, rural broadband experiment

Eligible areas in the Golden State.

With the deadline for what the FCC is calling expressions of interest in its rural broadband experiments coming up fast – a week from Friday, on 7 March 2014 – the California Public Utilities Commission has put together some helpful tools for prospective applicants.

The list includes…

A summary of the FCC Internet protocol transition experiment program, including both the rural broadband and legacy voice service experiments.
A spreadsheet showing the eligible census tracts in California served by large telephone companies – AT&T, Verizon, Frontier and, it seems, SureWest.

… More

Raise subsidy limits for social, economic impact says CPUC president

23 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia, sunesys

Opportunity to add value.

Limits on money from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) are not written in stone, according to CPUC president Michael Peevey. Late Friday, he proposed lifting the cap – 60% to 70%, depending on broadband availability – that commissioners previously set on CASF grants, at least for a middle mile project in the Salinas Valley proposed by Sunesys LLC, a dark fiber company.
The alternate resolution text that Peevey is asking his colleagues to approve says…

The Commission recognizes that a higher level of CASF funding may be needed for Sunesys to undertake the project.

… More

Cities, independent ISPs not welcome in FCC rural broadband experiment

19 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, community networks, cpuc, fcc, public policy, rural broadband experiment

FCC keeps friends close, and telephone companies closer.

Only traditional telephone companies, or companies and agencies that jump the same regulatory hurdles, can apply for grants to take part in the FCC’s upcoming rural broadband experiment program. That’s the word today from the California Public Utilities Commission.
Commissioner Catherine Sandoval led a workshop at the CPUC’s San Francisco headquarters this morning to look at how the FCC’s request for “expressions of interest” in its rural broadband program plays out in California.… More