public policy

Saving the environment doesn’t have to mean choking off local infrastructure and economic growth

1 March 2015 by Steve Blum
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You can protect the coast without littering it with red tape.

To keep Santa Cruz’s tech economy growing, basic infrastructure has to get better. Broadband is a big part of it, but so is housing, transportation and office space. A day long conference in Seaside in January – the kick-off event for the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership – brought business and government leaders together from Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties to talk about creating the right conditions for an entrepreneurial culture to grow.… More

Still waiting to read the actual FCC net neutrality and muni broadband decisions

27 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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The suspense is killing the Internet.

The FCC’s decisions yesterday to preempt state bans on municipal broadband projects and regulate Internet service and infrastructure using common carrier rules are still under wraps. The commission wasted no time in posting laudatory summaries, which largely reiterated past public statements. The (prepared) comments the commissioners made during the voting session were also quickly up on the FCC’s website.

But the actual text of the decisions they approved yesterday haven’t been made public.… More

FCC imposes common carrier rules on the Internet, preempts muni broadband bans

26 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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The deed is done. Both, actually. The FCC voted this morning to use common carrier rules to regulate Internet infrastructure and service, and to preempt two state bans on municipal broadband in two particular communities.

“The Internet is simply too important to allow broadband providers to be the ones making the rules”, said chairman Tom Wheeler.

The three democrats on the commission – chairman Tom Wheeler and commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn – voted (and spoke) in favor; the two republican commissioners – Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly – voted against, after reading lengthy and sharply worded dissenting statements.… More

How the FCC will vote is certain, what's to be approved isn't

25 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Tomorrow should be the big day. Common carrier regulation of broadband infrastructure and service is scheduled to be on the table at the FCC. There’s a possibility it could be bumped a month, though. Republican commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly want it delayed. Actually, they want it stopped altogether. But democrats hold three of the five commission seats, so that’s a sideshow.

One of the democrats, Mignon Clyburn, is reportedly pushing chair Tom Wheeler to make changes.… More

Three points to watch for in FCC muni broadband decision

24 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Black letter law.

The FCC has to win an uphill fight against past court decisions if Thursday’s expected preemption of two particular state bans on municipal broadband is to have any practical effect.

The primary obstacle is Gregory v. Ashcroft, a 1991 U.S. supreme court decision that said, in effect, if congress wants to “upset the usual constitutional balance of federal and state powers” then it must make that intention “unmistakably clear in the language of the statute”.… More

Temporary conditions will make Comcast's Californian monopoly permanent

23 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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It won’t get any better when the referee leaves the ring.

One of the more fascinating aspects of a proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision approving the Comcast/Time-Warner/Charter mega merger and market swap is an analysis of the resulting broadband market in the state. Prepared for the CPUC’s office of ratepayer advocates by Lee Selwyn, a telecommunications analyst, the study reaches the bottom line conclusion that if Comcast swallows up all of Time-Warner and Charter subscribers in California (except for Charter’s subs in the Lake Tahoe area), Comcast would have monopoly control of the broadband market in 78% of its expanded service area.… More

Vague rules will make the FCC a poor referee

22 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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It’s always a bad call when a ref begs to be noticed.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler says he wants to be the Internet’s referee. He’s used that description of how he see’s the FCC role in managing the broadband ecosystem several times, most recently in a Colorado speech where he talked about his proposal to bring the Internet under common carrier regulations…

The proposal also looks forward into the broadband future to assure there are basic ground rules and a referee on the field to enforce them.

… More

Common carrier opponents' talking points miss the point

21 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Unfortunately, it’s the way the game is played.

At first it seemed like there might be something resembling a public debate about the merits of bringing broadband infrastructure and service under common carrier rules before the FCC votes on it.

First, chairman Tom Wheeler delivered his sales pitch for the proposed rules. Then, commissioner Ajit Pai countered with substantive objections to what’s in the still-secret draft. But at the same time, he labeled it “President Obama’s plan to regulate the Internet”.… More

Comcast has to clean up its act if it wants to merge in California

19 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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How about starting with some botox and a manicure?

If Comcast wants approval for its mega merger and market swap with Time-Warner and Charter, it’s going to have to meet some stiff, if mostly temporary, conditions. That’s the preliminary determination of a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge in his review of the deal.

The proposed decision – there’s still some back and forth to come, and final approval is subject to a vote by the five commissioners – reaffirms that the CPUC has authority under federal law to assess the impact of the merger on broadband, as well as telephone, service in California.… More

WiFi dominates California public housing broadband grant proposals

18 February 2015 by Steve Blum
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Good enough for public housing.

Wired networks account for only two of the 52 public housing grant proposals made to the California Public Utilities Commission in the first round of applications. The rest either rely on WiFi – mesh networks, mostly – or, in the case of 24 projects proposed by the San Bernardino County housing authority, don’t specify a technology type.

Promised service speeds are consistent with both the technology proposed and the CPUC’s disappointing low minimum of 1.5 Mbps down and nothing particular for uploads, significantly less than the 6 Mbps down/1.5 Mbps minimum it thinks is acceptable for Californians who don’t live in public housing, and nowhere near the FCC’s new standard of 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up.… More