fcc

Cities get better deals from wireless companies in a free market

27 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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One of the working groups spun off by the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband deployment advisory committee (BDAC) – an industry dominated body – looked at how much it costs telecoms companies to attach wires and wireless gear to poles. The results of that study are here. It was based on information that participants voluntarily submitted – the study kindly describes it as a “convenience sample” – so there’s a limit to its reliability. Even so it paints an interesting picture.… More

Telecom industry's broadband policy advice takes shape at FCC

26 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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The Federal Communication Commission’s industry-centric broadband deployment advisory committee (BDAC) met again yesterday. I didn’t watch the day-long webcast, but I did read through the transcript. It was here, but will probably be gone from the FCC’s website by the time you read this. The version I downloaded is here.

The group signed off on tweaks to a proposed one touch make ready policy. If adopted by the FCC, it would create a fast track process for new broadband infrastructure to be attached to existing utility poles.… More

California net neutrality law can survive federal challenge, lawmakers told

25 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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The California senate’s judiciary committee approved, on a party line vote, a proposed net neutrality law, after hearing that it was at least defendable against the inevitable court challenges that cable and telephone companies would file. Senate bill 822 would define blocking, throttling, paid prioritisation and paid or provider-specific zero rating as unfair competition, and enforce those rules via civil lawsuits.

The big question was whether a Californian net neutrality law would withstand the Federal Communications Commission’s declaration that it was preempting state level broadband regulations.… More

California net neutrality bill bends to telco, cable wishes

23 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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It would still ban blocking, throttling, paid prioritisation and some kinds of zero rating, but a California senate committee has pulled some of the sharper enforcement teeth out of a bill to reinstate network neutrality rules. With one exception, though, definitions of banned and permitted practices remain the same.

Senate bill 822 was approved by the senate energy, utilities and communications committee last week on a party line vote, with the condition that undisclosed changes, negotiated behind closed doors, would be made.… More

FCC pits one local technical expert against big telecom's lobbyist horde

19 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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Ajit Pai is trying to stop the bleeding on his Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). The Federal Communications Commission chairman appointed David Young to the committee, as a representative of the National League of Cities. Young is the fiber infrastructure and right of way manager for Lincoln, Nebraska’s public works department. It’s not explicitly stated, but the intent seems to be to fill at least one of the chairs left vacant by recent resignations by high profile municipal representatives.… More

AT&T, Comcast, Charter get net neutrality help from California senate friends

18 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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Network neutrality legislation moved ahead in the California senate yesterday, but it’s not clear what exactly it says. The senate’s energy, utilities and communications committee worked over senate bill 822, before endorsing it on a party line vote and sending it on to the judiciary committee. As is common practice in Sacramento, the committee didn’t vote on the published text of the bill, carried by senator Scott Wiener (D – San Francisco), but conceptually approved it, based on unpublished amendments negotiated secretly on Monday, which will be further modified by changes yet to be dictated by committee chair Ben Hueso (D – San Diego).… More

Mobilitie, Sprint whacked with fines for ignoring environmental, historic rules

11 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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Mobilitie’s fast and loose way of building out cellular networks has earned it and its major customer, Sprint, fines and a reprimand from the Federal Communications Commission. In a consent decree – a negotiated settlement – Mobilitie agreed to pay a $1.6 million fine and Sprint agreed to a $10 million fine for ignoring federal environmental and historic review regulations when building new towers.

The FCC’s documents don’t detail where and when the two companies sinned, but the violations were deliberate, as Mobilitie’s consent decree makes clear…

In an effort to meet certain deadlines, Mobilitie had commenced construction of certain wireless facilities without securing all necessary regulatory and environmental approvals required under the Commission’s Wireless Infrastructure Rules.

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Another muni broadband expert says no to being a stage prop for industry lobbyists

3 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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Citing similar worries as San Jose mayor Sam Licardo over the FCC’s apparent determination to let industry lobbyists write the Federal Communication Commission’s broadband deployment advisory committee (BDAC) manifesto, Miguel Gamino, New York City’s chief technology officer, turned in his letter of resignation last week…

I have expressed concerns with other municipal colleagues in multiple meetings and documents that the makeup of the BDAC, with roughly 75 percent of members representing large telecommunications and cable companies or interests aligned with those companies, would result in recommendations unfavorable to localities looking to responsibly manage public rights-of-way to promote public safety, quality of life, and other priorities.

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Federal broadband subsidy auction doesn't favor California

2 April 2018 by Steve Blum
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California could, in theory, get as much as $476 million in broadband upgrade subsidies from the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming Connect America Fund (CAF) auction, but the actual total is likely to be a lot less.

Eligible broadband service providers will bid against a “reserve price” that the FCC sets as the maximum it will pay to fund broadband service at a minimum of 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds in (mostly) rural areas that lack it.… More

San Francisco court punts net neutrality decision back to D.C.

30 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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It was nice while it lasted, but Washington, D.C.’s inexorable gravity has pulled the court fight over network neutrality – or lack thereof – away from San Francisco and back inside the Beltway.

Originally, a judicial lottery determined that the fifteen challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to roll back network neutrality and broadband status as a common carrier service would be heard by the federal ninth circuit appeals court in San Francisco, where Santa Clara County and the California Public Utilities Commission filed their cases.… More