public policy

Rapid growth in mobile data use puts pressure on everyone

5 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Mobile data consumption in the U.S. is growing exponentially, with typical usage hitting 2.5 GB per month, according to a report released by Chetan Sharma Consulting…

The average mobile data consumption (cellular) is approximately 2.5GB/mo. In the US, it took roughly 20 years to reach the 1GB/user/mo mark. However, the second GB mark has been reached in less than 4 quarters. An entire year’s worth of mobile data traffic in 2007 is now reached in less than 75 hours.

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Charter takeover of Time Warner would be anticompetitive, protests say

3 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Maybe Comcast and Charter will get a junction named after them too.

Charter Communication’s bid to buy two rival cable companies, Time Warner and Bright House, appears headed down the same rhetorical highway that led to the death of Comcast’s similar attempt earlier this year. At least in California.

Three formal protests were filed against Charter’s request for approval of the deal from the California Public Utilities Commission, by the CPUC’s own office of ratepayer advocates (ORA) and various advocacy organisations.… More

CPUC endorses extending lifeline tax to broadband service

2 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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One of the ways that broadband service and infrastructure is subsidised is through universal service taxes paid by consumers on their telephone bills, both in California and at the federal level. Broadband itself, however, is not taxed in that way.

Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission decided that broadband is a telecommunications service that, to one extent or another, falls under common carrier rules and universal service obligations previously reserved for traditional telephone service. At the time, there was the usual partisan bickering over whether the FCC intended to use the new rules to extend universal service taxes to broadband.… More

Express lane bill for tower permits clears California legislature

1 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not much point if no one pays attention.

Permit applications for new cellular towers and other wireless telecoms facilities will be deemed granted in California, if local governments don’t make a decision within Federal Communications Commission deadlines. Assuming governor Jerry Brown agrees.

The California assembly waved assembly bill 57 through on a 66 to 8 vote last week, agreeing to amendments made in the state sentate. The measure puts teeth in the FCC’s shot clock: if an application for a new tower or other wireless facility isn’t approved or denied in 5 months or one for collocation of equipment on existing facilities isn’t acted upon within 3 months, then the permit is automatically granted.… More

AT&T abandons copper to spend rural broadband subsidies on wireless

31 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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As it accepted $2.6 billion in federal subsidies over six years to improve rural broadband service, AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission that it’ll spend the money on building out its wireless infrastructure, rather than upgrade decaying copper networks. Consistent with the story it told the FCC during its successful bid to acquire DirecTv, AT&T called out plans to rely on what it previously labeled as wireless local loop technology to deliver broadband service to rural customers in areas that are eligible for Connect America Fund (CAF) money…

We anticipate meeting our CAF Phase II obligations through a mix of network technologies, including through the deployment of advanced wireless technologies on new wireless towers that will be constructed in previously unserved areas.

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CPUC will investigate AT&T, Verizon wireline network conditions

30 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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How much of it looks like this?

The condition of AT&T’s and Verizon’s copper telephone networks in California will be independently examined. By a vote of 4 to 1, the California Public Utilities Commission decided to speed up an existing study of wireline systems in the state, instead of scrapping it altogether.

That study has been in the works since 2011. It isn’t popular with AT&T or Verizon, which put up vociferous opposition, or with CPUC president Michael Picker, who voted against it on Thursday.… More

California senate votes for quicker wireless permit decisions

27 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A fast track for wireless facilities permits is one step closer to reality in California. Assembly bill 57 was approved by the state senate and sent back to the assembly, which needs to either agree with senate amendments or work out compromise language in order for it to be sent on to Governor Jerry Brown.

The senate vote was lopsided and bipartisan – 28 yes, 6 no and 6 abstentions. All of the noes and abstention were on the democratic side of the aisle

If approved, the bill would put teeth in the Federal Communications Commission’s shot clock rules, which essentially give local governments 90 days to approve or deny applications for co-location of additional equipment on existing cellular sites and other wireless facilities, and 150 days for new ones.… More

Possible agreement at the CPUC to investigate AT&T, Verizon networks

26 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A streamlined version of a decision aimed at accelerating an investigation of AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireline networks is on the table at the California Public Utilities Commission.

The debate surrounds a study of wireline network quality that has been in the works at the CPUC since 2011. Commission president Michael Picker wants to cancel the investigation, an idea that Verizon and AT&T greeted with wild enthusiasm.

Two other commissioners – Mike Florio and Catherine Sandoval – weren’t so enamoured and offered an alternate draft that 1.… More

Two picks for (what's left of) the summer broadband reading list

23 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Two good guides to planning and executing municipal broadband projects have been published recently: The Next Generation Network Connectivity Handbook by Blair Levin and Denise Linn, and Connecting 21st Century Communities published by Next Century Cities without authorship credit.

Both offer planning frameworks for both political leaders and city staff interested in either developing local broadband projects – of any sort – or laying the groundwork for others to do so.

[Connecting 21st Century Communities]() is short – 18 pages – and focused on policy alternatives at the local, state and federal level, including dig once ordinances, building codes and streamlined permitting processes.… More

A gigabit is now $60 in the Mojave desert town of Boron

19 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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A gig is a lot faster than 20 mules.

One of the fastest and cheapest ways to get gigabit service to your home is to move to Boron, California. Race Telecommunications finished building out fiber-to-the-home infrastructure there last month, and is selling a gig of Internet access for $60 per month, and unlimited voice service for $10 a month.

The community’s response was quick and enthusiastic. So far, about a third of the 900 homes and businesses in town have ordered service, with about 200 already connected and crews working to hook up the rest at the rate of about 30 per week.… More