cpuc – Page 90 – Steve Blum's Blog

Pinnacles broadband upgrade recommended for CASF funding

29 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, pinnacles, public policy, regional consortia

Pinnacles’ wide and open vistas are beautiful to see, difficult to serve.

With only a couple hundred subscribers spread over an area of California larger than Alameda County, Pinnacles Telephone Company has to do a big job with tiny resources. Even so, it has consistently worked to modernise its plant in southern and eastern San Benito County over the years, replacing copper links with fiber and offering Internet service, via both DSL and fixed wireless connections.… More

Competitive ADSL upgrade subsidies recommended for California's Mendocino County

27 September 2013 by Steve Blum
boonville, broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, willitsonline

DSL upgrades installed by a competitive local exchange carrier in two Mendocino county towns will be largely paid for by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), if the California Public Utilities Commission approves draft resolutions released yesterday. With AT&T and Verizon quietly shutting down DSL service in rural areas of California, these types of projects might be a way to avoid forcing residents to rely on the costly wireless service preferred by the incumbents.

Both projects were proposed by WillitsOnline.… More

Priority for new funding for California broadband consortia goes to counties without one

26 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, regional consortia

CPUC wants to fill in the blanks.

A new round of grant applications is under way for regional broadband consortia in California. First priority will go to proposals for the nine counties that are not currently covered by a consortium. Existing consortia, which cover the other forty-nine counties in California, can also apply for additional money, although they’ll be second in line.

The California Public Utilities Commission gave notice this afternoon that it’ll be accepting proposals to spend the remaining $950,000 in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) that’s been earmarked for consortia.… More

Sheer tenacity primes Boron FTTH for California broadband subsidy

24 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, escrbc, ftth, public policy, race telecommunications

Boron upgrades from twenty mules to a gigabit.

On its fourth try, Race Telecommunications seems set to get public grant backing to build a fiber-to-the-home system in the small Mojave desert town of Boron. California Public Utilities Commission staff have released a draft resolution that, if approved by commissioners, would spend up to $3.4 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to pay 60% of the cost of building a fiber optic network to serve about 900 customers in the Boron area, plus cover the cost of any state or federal income tax on the grant.… More

CPUC approves broadband testing, mapping money

23 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccta, cpuc, public policy

Good for another year.

The California Public Utilities Commission waved through next year’s budget for the California Advanced Services Fund, voting unanimous approval at last week’s meeting.

The plan includes a steep jump in administrative costs, without giving much detail on the reason for the increase. The CPUC’s division of ratepayer advocates asked for more transparency after the first draft of the budget resolution was released. There wasn’t much more detail about overhead costs in the approved version, though.… More

Savoring victory at eastern Sierra broadband meeting

20 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, digital 395, esrbc, public policy, regional consortia

Looking forward in Bishop.

What a difference a year makes. The Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium held its annual meeting in Bishop, California on Thursday. Like last year’s forum, the conversation was dominated by Digital 395, a middle mile fiber optic network that runs the length of the region – Mono, Inyo and eastern Kern counties – and connects to major transcontinental routes in Reno and Barstow.

But it was a much different conversation.… More

Suddenlink makes aggressive move with Digital 395 bandwidth

19 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, cpuc, digital 395, escrbc, public policy, regional consortia, suddenlink

Suddenlink takes the Digital 395 pole position.

No longer constrained by severely limited backhaul capacity, Suddenlink has cranked up Internet speeds for its customers in Mammoth Lakes and is planning to do the same in the other eastern California communities it serves. Customers with service plans that delivered 1.5 to 3 Mbps are now getting 15 Mbps at no extra cost, and can upgrade to a 30 Mbps tier if they want. That’s according to Jason Oelkers, Suddenlink’s California system manager, speaking today at the Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium annual forum in Bishop, which sits astride the route.… More

Crowdsourced data included in new version of California broadband map

17 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, cpuc, mapping, public policy, regional consortia

Before you can connect the dots, you have to find them.

Data submitted by the public is now integrated into the interactive California broadband availability map, which is published by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The map has been evolving for the past five years, starting out as a set of static graphic files. With the help of funding from the 2009 federal broadband stimulus program (which is nearly gone), it migrated to an interactive online platform developed by Chico State University.… More

CPUC hints at new middle mile policy for subsidised broadband projects

15 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, humboldt county, public policy

Section of coastal fiber route claimed by both KRRBI and NCC.

The Karuk and Yurok tribes on California’s far northern coast are asking for $6.6 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to build an 82 mile fiber backbone to an existing Internet hub and then build out last mile wireless connections to 814 homes and businesses scattered across rugged inland terrain. A draft resolution released on Friday by California Public Utilities Commission staff recommends approving the money, which represents just over half of the total cost of the project.… More

Major Kern County broadband project prepped for CPUC vote

13 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, public policy, race telecommunications

The Tehachapi Pass of the future will have broadband too. And probably a lot sooner.

Race Telecommunications proposed building a fiber-to-the-home system near the Tehachapi Pass in an application for a California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant earlier this year. Now, it’s been vetted by California Public Utilities Commission staff, and it’s heading for a vote by commissioners at their 17 October 2013 meeting.

A draft resolution released yesterday explained why the Kern County High Desert project, intended for the communities of Stallion Springs, Bear Valley Springs and Golden Hills, got the green light for 12.6 million from CASF…

Staff recommends this project for funding, because it has an above average overall score relative to the other projects.

… More