fcc

FCC muni broadband preemption challenged by North Carolina

18 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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Now, go home.

North Carolina is joining Tennessee, sorta, in challenging a decision by the Federal Communications Commission to negate laws in the two states that put tight restrictions on municipal broadband enterprises. Last week, North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper asked a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia to throw out the preemption, saying the FCC was butting in where it had no authority to do so…

In the Order, the FCC preempts North Carolina’s statutory law…governing municipal provisioning and operation of broadband communications services.

… More

Comcast tells CPUC to unring the bell

17 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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Coming from Philadelphia and all, Comcast thinks it knows about bells.

The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote on Thursday on whether or not to deny Comcast permission to take over Time Warner and Charter cable systems in the state. On the one hand, it is pretty pointless because the companies have cancelled the mega deal. On the other, it matters because the basis for rejecting the merger rests on a particular interpretation of federal law that, if accepted, gives the CPUC authority to “encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans” by evaluating the effect of corporate telecoms deals and other transactions on broadband infrastructure and services in California.… More

Internet companies' seminal argument against common carrier rules slams glow in the dark prophylactic

15 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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The telecoms companies and associated lobbyists that are challenging the Federal Communication Commission’s common carrier rules for the Internet did the completely expected and asked an appeals court to put the new regulations on hold. The move followed the FCC’s completely expected denial of a similar request.

The arguments are pretty much the same. Again, the companies and lobbyists are pulling a public relations stunt by saying hey, it’s okay if the stuff about no blocking goes into effect because we’re such high minded corporate citizens that we’re doing it anyway.… More

FCC declines to shoot itself in the head

11 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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Oh, baby, you are so talented – and they are so dumb!

Check that one off the list. Pro forma petitions to delay enforcement of common carrier rules for broadband infrastructure and service were denied by the Federal Communications Commission on Friday. The request was made by pretty much every Internet service provider in the country, or at least the lobbyists representing them. They did it because it was a necessary legal hoop they had to jump through to be able to do what they really want: ask a federal appeals court to put everything on hold while they try to get the new rules thrown out completely.… More

CPUC broadband oversight might yet rise out of the wreckage of the Comcast deal

6 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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The five members of the California Public Utilities Commission might get a chance to vote on the Comcast-Time Warner-Charter mega-merger after all. That deal is still dead, but opponents are pushing for a decision anyway. As I wrote last week, there is a pile of work that was done and some controversial policy that was put on the table, not least the assertion by some commissioners and staff that the CPUC has the authority to consider the impact of its decisions on California’s broadband infrastructure and service.… More

ISP lobbyists ask FCC not to enforce common carrier rules while under court review

5 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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We’re all on the same page.

Internet service providers – nearly all of them – want the Federal Communications Commission to put common carrier regulations on hold while a federal appeals court decides whether or not the new rules are legal. Five major lobbying fronts representing cable, telephone, mobile and fixed wireless companies, as well as AT&T and CenturyLink, say that enforcing common carrier rules during the review process would cause “irreparable harm” because the appeal is “likely to succeed on the merits”.… More

Cities side with FCC against state regulators in federal court

4 May 2015 by Steve Blum
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The battle lines are forming over the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to tell states that they can’t particularly restrict municipal broadband systems. They could ban them altogether, but once allowed, the FCC says that munis can’t be required to play by significantly different rules than private Internet service providers.

The State of Tennessee was the first to file an appeal, in the federal appellate court in Cincinnati, aka the Sixth Circuit. No one else filed elsewhere, and in fact the other primary party in the matter, the State of North Carolina, still seems to be weighing its options.… More

AT&T says its future is fiber, but that doesn't mean yours is too

30 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Hanging out, but not hanging fiber.

With the Comcast mega-merger officially dead, the next big deal in line for federal review is AT&T’s proposed purchase of DirecTv. The buzz is that regulators don’t have the same concerns and the expectation is that AT&T will get a green light. The odd thing, though, is that the idea that the deal will improve rural broadband seems to have caught on in Washington.

AT&T sent a letter (h/t to the Eldo Telecom blog for the pointer) to the FCC claiming that consumers would see faster broadband speeds if the deal is approved because off-loading video delivery onto satellite will free up wireline bandwidth and that, somehow, the deal will make fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) service economically feasible for two million more homes.… More

Comcast deal started, but didn't finish, the job of defining the CPUC's broadband regulatory role

29 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Reintroduce, reuse, recycle.

A lot of energy and angst was expended over the defunct Comcast – Time Warner – Charter mega-merger and market swap, much of it involving the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of the deal. With the abrupt end to the transaction, there’s nothing much left to do about it until the next dealmaker comes along to pick up the pieces. But it wasn’t all wasted work.

The process set the CPUC on the path to overseeing broadband infrastructure, services and markets in California.… More

No tears at the Comcast-Time Warner-Charter mega-deal funeral

25 April 2015 by Steve Blum
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Whoops. Missed the ruby slippers again.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler and U.S. attorney general Eric Holder both took a victory lap yesterday, proclaiming that the death of the Comcast-Time Warner-Charter deal was, respectively, “in the best interests” and the “best outcome” for U.S. consumers.

And so it is. And doubly so for California, where Comcast would have been left with control – monopoly or duopoly – of at least 86% of the broadband market.… More