cpuc

Setting broadband development priorities for California's central coast

18 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Central coast roadmaps for broadband development.

The Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) took the first steps yesterday towards identifying priority areas for broadband infrastructure development. At its annual meeting, held at the Monterey airport, representatives from local Internet service providers, agencies and businesses looked over plans for a three month process that’ll lead to a list of communities that are eligible for broadband construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) and have both a high degree of need and resources sufficient to ensure successful projects.… More

Growing a region's economy and protecting its quality of life with broadband


Economic development pros at CCBC workshop.

“The goal is to put in infrastructure that supports 10 Gbps,” explained Patrick Mulhearn at the Central Coast Broadband Consortium’s (CCBC) economic development workshop this morning. Mulhearn works for Santa Cruz County supervisor Zach Friend, who is leading the effort there to overhaul the the way county manages and regulates the construction of broadband infrastructure. He pointed to two key policies approved by supervisors…

  • Allow the installation of equipment within public right of ways, subject only to “time, place and manner” of access, through the County’s encroachment permit process.
… More

Broadband priorities and lessons learned for California's Central Coast

16 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Broadband gaps are easy to find.

Broadband infrastructure priorities for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties are up for discussion tomorrow, as the Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) holds its annual meetings with economic development, public works and telecoms professionals. The CCBC is wrapping up the second year of a three year broadband development project funded by the California Public Utilities Commission, via the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).

The CPUC has asked regional consortia to think about how to identify areas that are eligible for CASF subsidies for broadband infrastructure construction, have the need for it and sufficient resources to support it.… More

If CPUC doesn't change broadband subsidy rules, results will still disappoint

9 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Waiting for AT&T to light up Point Arena.

The towns of Pt. Arena and Gualala in Mendocino County, on California’s northern coast sparked debate at the California Public Utilities Commission last week. Commissioner Michel Florio used them as examples of communities that don’t have Internet service at all, as he questioned whether the CPUC should spend $1.8 million to build a fiber-to-the-home system for somewhere between 32 and 159 households in the Sierra National Forest, in Madera County.… More

CPUC debates fairness of giving big broadband subsidies to tiny communities

5 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Is anyone home? (Click to download today’s staff presentation).

“It’s a little frustrating that this would be one of the last places you’d expect high quality internet service, yet you have communities like Point Arena and Gualala that don’t have service at all,” said commissioner Michel Florio this morning, as the California Public Utilities Commission discussed a proposal to give a $1.8 million subsidy to Ponderosa Telephone Company to build a fiber-to-the-home system in the remote Madera County communities of Beasore and Central Camp.… More

Mobile broadband test results speeding back to the FCC

27 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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The FCC’s mobile broadband speed test app for Android is a hit. In its first two days, it was downloaded and installed on 30,000 devices. It’s been out now for two weeks, and its getting a 4.4 out of 5 rating on the Google Play store.

Those first two days produced 40,000 reports from all over the country. The FCC says that all 50 states and all the major carriers are represented in the data received so far.… More

Ponderosa broadband subsidy proposal ducks middle mile responsibilities

20 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Quacks like a middle mile project.

A draft resolution approving a $1 million California Advanced Services Fund grant for a DSL upgrade in the small mountain community of Cressman in Fresno County was posted on the California Public Utilities Commission website yesterday. Proposed by Ponderosa Telephone Company, the project has middle mile fiber and a middle mile price tag, but doesn’t offer middle mile access.

The cost per household is $8,900, making it the second most costly project so far in the current round of CASF subsidy applications.… More

CPUC takes more time on broadband subsidy limits


I can explain that…

The California Public Utilities Commission is again bumping a decision on a particularly expensive broadband subsidy request for another two weeks. Commissioner Michel Florio pulled the $1.8 million grant proposal made by the Ponderosa Telephone Company for a Madera County fiber-to-the-home project from tomorrow’s commission agenda. As is customary practice, no reason was given, but it’s the second time this application has been put on hold.

It’s easy to spot what sets this California Advanced Services Fund application apart from the ten others that commissioners have approved without discussion in the past couple months: the amount of money they would be spending on each household in the proposed service area.… More

Golden Bear versus everyone else in Californian broadband subsidy competition

10 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Pondering options as the game dwindles away.

Counting just the money that’ll be available over the next couple of years, there’s about $107 million left in the CASF grant kitty, give or take. The remaining grant applications total $178 million, making it likely that some will be denied or drastically reduced. One proposal – the Golden Bear middle mile project in the northern end of the state – accounts for $119 million of that, which leads to three possible scenarios…

  • Most or all of the fourteen other pending projects, totalling $59 million, will be funded, likely leaving too little for Golden Bear to be viable.
… More

CPUC faces a decision on broadband subsidy limits

Broadband construction subsidies are averaging $2,200 per household, as the California Public Utilities Commission works through the current round of proposals submitted for California Advanced Services Fund grants. Nine applications for last mile projects have been approved so far, with an estimated reach of 9,700 homes and totalling $21 million.

CASF approved projects, as of 31 October 2013.

The most money – $3,800 per household passed – is going to an FTTH project in the high desert town of Boron.… More