cpuc – Page 87 – Steve Blum's Blog

I got that completely wrong: satellite is allowed with a lower service hurdle by new Californian subsidy rules

21 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, viasat, wireless

Satellite gets a boost, actually.

Contrary to what I posted yesterday, satellite-based Internet service providers would be eligible for broadband infrastructure subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) under new eligibility rules proposed earlier this month. In fact, the new language appears to makes it easier for satellite providers to qualify for CASF grants and loans. (H/T to Tom Glegola at CPUC for gently pointing out my error).

The draft decision, authored by commission president Michael Peevey, strikes out language now in effect that specifically includes satellite in the list of eligible technologies.… More

Satellite companies barred from California broadband subsidies

20 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, viasat

Update: Pay no attention to the post below. It’s absolutely wrong. Please see my correction:

I got that completely wrong: satellite is allowed with a lower service hurdle by new Californian subsidy rules

Sorry.

Shot out of orbit.

Satellite Internet service providers won’t be able to get subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), if the California Public Utilities Commission approves language buried deep in a draft of new rules governing the program.

I make no excuses: I missed it the first time I read through the draft decision written by commission president Michael Peevey and circulated for public comment earlier this month.… More

Californians' ground truth begins to paint a better broadband availability picture

15 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, calspeed, casf, cpuc, ground truth, public policy

Crowdsourced data has been added to the California Public Utilities Commission’s broadband availability map, along with updated information submitted by service providers and developed by the CPUC’s own mobile field testing program.

The new map takes a long step toward bridging the gap between the advertising claims that carriers make – which is also the basis for what they report to the CPUC – and what consumers can actually buy. The public feedback information – “layers” in mapping jargon – shows locations from where people have filed personal reports about the service they’re getting.… More

$170 million in California broadband subsidy proposals await decisions

9 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, public policy

The latest update from the California Public Utilities Commission shows that 12 projects are still in the hunt for subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Eleven projects, totalling $30 million in grants and $41,000 in loans, have been approved. Nine have either been rejected by commission staff or are on hold.

One of the pending projects – a $1 million DSL upgrade proposed by Ponderosa Telephone Company in Fresno County – is due for a vote by the commission next week.… More

CPUC proposes new rules expanding broadband infrastructure subsidy eligibility

6 January 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, sb740

Welcome to the party.

Companies that provide broadband service, but aren’t traditional telephone companies regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, would have to meet certain financial standards to qualify for broadband infrastructure grants and loans from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), according to proposed new rules released today.

The draft decision, authored by commission president Michael Peevey, are the first step in implementing a law passed last year by the California legislature that made it possible for independent Internet service providers to apply for CASF subsidies, albeit with restrictions that give priority and preference to traditional phone companies.… More

Watsonville growing economy and cash with muni dark fiber

30 December 2013 by Steve Blum
ccbc, community networks, cpuc, dark fiber, municipal broadband, public policy, regional consortia, santa cruz, watsonville

“We want to be able to service other business”, said Bob Berry, public works project manager for the City of Watsonville. “We think we want to turn this into an enterprise fund”.

The city is installing dark fiber between key public buildings and, incidentally, through core business areas of Watsonville. The project was launched after Charter Communications raised the price it was charging for similar connections from free to $150,000 a year, a move made possible by its shift from local to statewide cable franchising.… More

Layers of regulation: CPUC maintains grip on telecoms infrastructure

29 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, cpuc, public policy, schat communications, voip

Kicking down barriers to competition, progressively.

There’s always a danger of reading too much into a single, seemingly routine decision by the California Public Utilities Commission, but I’ll risk it. Earlier this month, the CPUC granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Schat Communications LLC, which is a sister company of Schat.net, an Internet service provider in eastern California. In doing so, the commission determined that Schat is a “telephone corporation” under Californian law and can be regulated as such.… More

CPUC finds a legal way to treat ISPs as regulated phone companies

23 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, escrbc, golden bear, public policy, schat communications, surfnet, viasat, voip

CPUC sends a Schat across incumbents’ bow.

Buried in last week’s California Public Utilities Commission consent agenda was a resolution granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to Schat Communications, an independent Internet servicer provider based in Bishop, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Schat applied for the CPCN in order to qualify for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants for two proposed last mile projects in Mono and Inyo Counties.… More

CPUC pushes open access to subsidised middle mile fiber

22 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, middle mile, ponderosa telephone, public policy

Access only by fiber or snowmobile.

Once again, the California Public Utilities Commission has set an expectation that publicly subsidised middle mile fiber should be available on a wholesale basis. To gain approval for a $1.8 million subsidy for a fiber to the home system in a remote area of Madera County, Ponderosa Telephone Company agreed to sell access to the fiber backhaul line that will feed it. According to a CPUC staff presentation to commissioners…

Ponderosa has affirmed that wholesale access to the network will be provided in the project area.

… More

CPUC approves $1.8 million for "fiber to the vacation cabin"

19 December 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, ponderosa telephone, public policy

No phone, no water, no power, no people. But wicked fast email.

“I’m a big supporter of fiber to the home, but fiber to the vacation cabin is a different thing”, said commissioner Michel Florio as he argued against giving a $1.8 million grant to the Ponderosa Telephone Company to build broadband infrastructure in a remote area of Madera County. His fellow commissioners did not agree, though, and the project was approved on a 4 to 1 vote.… More