ebbc

A skeptical eye finds more broadband opportunities

5 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full presentation.

The California Public Utilities Commission collects a mountain of data from Internet service providers, and does a good job of sorting it out and publishing it in a very accessible way. But as a state regulatory agency, the CPUC can’t arbitrarily decide which claims it’ll believe and which it’ll discount. So it runs tests.

Ryan Dulin, the head of the CPUC division that regulates telecoms companies and manages broadband infrastructure subsidies through the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), demonstrated how that works for mobile broadband, running a speed test on his Verizon service during his presentation at a broadband conference for local government officials.… More

Broadband grades depend on copper and glass

Examples of how the grading was done.
The grading system I developed to rate and compare the broadband infrastructure available to communities east of San Francisco – Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties – focuses on primary, consumer wireline networks because those are the base upon which all service is built…

Even wireless systems must connect to wireline networks at some point, usually directly after the first “hop” from a subscriber. Consequently, the level of broadband connectivity in a region is primarily determined by the quality and extent of wireline facilities.

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Cities matter to broadband investors

19 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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Just looking the same isn’t enough

The quality of your broadband service depends on whether or not you live in an incorporated city. A study I recently completed for the East Bay Broadband Consortium – East Bay Broadband Report Card – found that broadband infrastructure is generally worse in unincorporated communities than in adjacent and economically similar cities.
Western Contra Costa County is an economically disadvantaged area, on the whole. The major city – Richmond – has a high crime and poverty rates, as do several of the unincorporated communities that surround it.… More

East Bay Broadband Report Card published by Tellus Venture Associates confirms benefits of competition


Download the full report.

I’ve published the final report on regional broadband resources, prepared for the East Bay Broadband Consortium. The East Bay Broadband Report Card gives a community-by-community assessment of core broadband infrastructure in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay.

The top line conclusions are…

The best consumer-grade broadband service is in central Contra Costa County, in the City of Concord (A-). It was the only one of the forty cities studied that rated an “A” level grade.

… More

Transforming the East Bay with a 21st century broadband infrastructure

1 November 2013 by Steve Blum
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Would you allow it?

“We just cannot do this without the right infrastructure and we’ll just have to go elsewhere. We don’t want to go elsewhere, but it is what it is,” said K.G. Charles-Harris, CEO of Emanio, a Berkeley-based business intelligence company that needs two things: fat broadband pipes and the talent it attracts. “As a business guy what’s important is to invest and grow, and to invest and grow you need people.”

He was speaking at an East Bay Economic Development Alliance meeting in Pleasanton, California on Wednesday, as a regional plan for broadband infrastructure development was presented by Sunne Wright McPeak, CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund.… More

San Leandro is a model for the country, says FCC chair Genachowski

“It’s a wonderful thing that San Leandro is doing here, and OSIsoft and Lit San Leandro,” said Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski. “You join a small but important number of communities that share your vision.”
He was delivering a keynote speech at an event last Wednesday celebrating Lit San Leandro and the partnership with the City of San Leandro that made it possible. The video from that event has been posted. You can watch the entire program here.… More

Bay Area cities offer FCC chair a glimpse of the future


FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sees a gigabit city in San Leandro.

Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) visited San Leandro today, taking a look at the economic progress kindled by the Lit San Leandro project and delivering a keynote speech to local leaders, business people, city staff and proud residents. I’ll have more on his remarks later.

I was fortunate enough to be invited as one of the opening speakers. My assignment was to give some background on efforts in the Bay Area and around California to develop our economy by developing broadband infrastructure:

Here in the Bay Area, we are surrounded by the fattest Internet pipes on the planet.

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Where consumer broadband leads, business follows


Newark, California rates a solid “C” for residential broadband but drops to a red “D” or grey “f” in the working districts of the city.

There are two worlds of commercial and industrial grade broadband: the specialized business broadband companies and the major incumbent carriers. Analysis of commercial broadband availability in California’s East Bay region shows that many specialized providers want to compete, but can be limited in the scope of their services by basic infrastructure provided by the big guys.… More

Report card: competition boosts broadband in California's East Bay region

28 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Top and bottom of the chart.

The best residential broadband in California’s East Bay region is in the City of Concord. It was the only one of the forty cities studied that rated an “A” grade in research conducted for the East Bay Broadband Consortium (EBBC) by Tellus Venture Associates.

The neighboring cities of Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill received “B” grades, with a high “C” given to Berkeley and Alameda. The common characteristic amongst all five is competition.… More

East Bay broadband report cards due on Monday

27 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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To late for the dog to eat it.

Tellus Venture Associates will be presenting the initial results of an in-depth analysis of broadband availability in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties at the East Bay Broadband Consortium’s quarterly meeting in Oakland tomorrow.

The research looked at literally hundreds of thousands of broadband availability reports submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission by Internet service providers. The data was initially broken into three categories: residential, commercial and mobile service.… More