fcc

Comcast applauds FCC chair's talk of broadband competition but pimps for less

6 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out his vision for the future of broadband. We applaud his focus on the importance of broadband competition to benefit all Americans.

So says Comcast’s chief lobbyist David Cohen in a blog post yesterday. He goes on at length about how Comcast is a living example of everything Wheeler said about the wonders of a competitive broadband market in a speech the day before.

And Cohen is right. Wheeler’s vision is also Comcast’s vision: a broadband market managed in Washington by people like Wheeler and Cohen who rotate jobs between government posts and giant incumbent companies, pretending to be acting for the greater good of all.… More

FCC chair talks broadband hardball but keeps tossing slowpitch

5 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the FCC, gave a ringing speech yesterday at a Washington incubator, calling for more broadband competition, decrying the poor choice and service across huge swaths of the U.S., plugging municipal broadband and admitting that mobile service is no substitute for wireline networks, particularly fiber.

All good things. All wonderful words. The question, though, is whether he’ll follow through or if he’ll use pro-competition rhetoric to lay down a smoke screen for incumbent-friendly policies.… More

CPUC to FCC: Comcast's proposed mega-merger poses particular problems for California

4 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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California knows fit characters.

The California Public Utilities Commission is urging the FCC to consider Comcast’s “character and fitness to hold FCC licenses or authorizations”, particularly in light of an ongoing enquiry into its admitted publication of confidential subscriber information. That’s one of the highlights of comments the CPUC filed with the FCC regarding its review of the proposed merger of Comcast and Time-Warner. (H/T to UCSC’s Jim Warner for the heads up – I was slacking off in the Sierra when this went down.… More

Comcast's lobbying is extraordinarily aggressive according to one of its peers

1 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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Comcast is a particularly nasty competitor at the political level, according to comments filed by CenturyLink with the FCC regarding the proposed mega-merger with Time-Warner (h/t to Fierce Cable for the pointer). Although CenturyLink claims to be the “third largest telecommunications provider in the United States”, it also points out that it’s relatively small player in TV terms – 215,000 subs in 12 markets, it says – due in part to Comcast’s unique influence and combative stance with local governments…

Comcast has been uniquely and extraordinarily aggressive in seeking to delay CenturyLink’s entry into new markets.

… More

Comcast honors FCC commissioner with $110,000 contribution

17 August 2014 by Steve Blum
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No conflict of interest, it seems.

FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn was – and still is, really – to be honored at a dinner sponsored in part by Comcast and Time-Warner, despite the fact she is reviewing, and will presumably vote on, their proposed merger. The occasion is the Walter Kaitz foundation dinner next month, where she’ll receive the group’s diversity award for being the first African-American woman to chair the FCC, a position she held last year while Tom Wheeler was waiting to be confirmed by the the U.S.… More

CPUC considers making rural broadband experiments 10% sweeter

14 August 2014 by Steve Blum
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Proposals for FCC-funded rural broadband experiments in California will get an extra, and automatic, 10% subsidy, if the California Public Utilities Commission approves new draft rules released earlier this week.

As currently written, the resolution…

Pre-authorizes CASF monies for any California projects that the FCC selects and provides for such projects to be subject to the FCC Rural Broadband Experiments rules, not the CASF program rules. California applicants interested in participating in these Experiments must file with the FCC by October 13, 2014.

… More

Wall Street isn't fooled: the (paid) political winds are at Comcast's back

9 August 2014 by Steve Blum
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If you’re less cynical than me – not tough – then you might think the reaction of Wall Street cable TV analysts to the end of Sprint’s bid to buy T-Mobile is amazingly cynical. I call it a refreshingly honest assessment of the current coin-operated leadership at the FCC. According to a story by Daniel Frankel in FierceCable…

The reported decision by Sprint to end its $32 billion quest to buy T-Mobile will provide a significant regulatory boost to Comcast in its $45 billion attempt to buy Time Warner Cable, and AT&T in its $49 billion effort to buy DirecTV.

… More

FCC accepts incumbent's broadband availability claims at face value

1 August 2014 by Steve Blum
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Click to see how you come out.

An interactive map and a big spreadsheet listing census blocks (careful, it’s 50 MB-plus) that are eligible for participation in the FCC’s rural broadband experiments has been posted (h/t to Tom Glegola at the CPUC for the pointer).

The rules mean different census blocks qualify for different aspects of the program, but some way, some how, all are eligible. Judging by what the FCC’s press release says, the spreadsheet is definitive: “census blocks not on this list are not eligible for funding in the rural broadband experiments”.… More

FCC offers first class and coach options for commenting on muni broadband petitions

30 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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The FCC now has two petitions in front of it, asking that state restrictions on municipal broadband be swept aside. In both cases – Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina – the cities are already operating fiber-to-the-home systems in conjunction with muni electric utilities and want to expand their service areas. The Tennessee and North Carolina laws are different, but each in its own way effectively prevents FTTH expansion outside of the city or its immediate surroundings.… More

Three reasons to ignore the muni broadband debate at the FCC

28 July 2014 by Steve Blum
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Over the past few days, I’ve written several posts about what I characterise as FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s muni broadband posturing. I don’t think anything good or useful will come of it. In a comment on yesterday’s post though, Christopher Mitchell, a muni broadband advocate, asked a very relevant question, which I will boil down to: so what?.

It’s a fair question. I take Robert Heinlein’s maxim as axiomatic: Certainly the game is rigged.… More