public policy

No surprise, CPUC president calls it quits

10 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission will have a new president next year. Michael Peevey, head of the commission for the past 12 years, announced yesterday that his current term will be his last…

I originally planned to make the following announcement at the CPUC’s regularly-scheduled Voting Meeting on October 16th, but instead I am moving the announcement to today to state that I will not seek reappointment to the CPUC when my term expires at the end of this year.

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Subsidising AT&T fiber to boost bandwidth for schools could be a net loss for rural areas

9 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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More federal subsidies for fiber build outs and connections for schools in rural areas, as FCC chair Tom Wheeler has suggested in a recent speech is a fine idea as far as it goes. But unless the money is used to create infrastructure that’s available on a competitive basis to all users – residents, businesses and local governments, as well as schools – the net result could be more expensive and less capable access for people in rural areas.… More

Three ways for California to lead telecoms policy in the right direction

8 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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Time to untangle.

California is large enough and our economy is advanced enough to support independent telecommunications policy making, as the California Public Utilities Commission is beginning to do. It’s a start in the right direction, and more can be done…

  1. In recent decisions regarding the California Advanced Services Fund, the CPUC has made useful and workable distinctions between middle and last mile broadband infrastructure, requiring open access on transparent terms to the former and non-discriminatory access to the latter.

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Wireline broadband regulation should follow the wireless roadmap

7 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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The major broadband service providers are cable and telephone companies, which are regulated, or not, under two completely different sets of rules. There are huge differences in technology and business models, but the basic service – Internet access – is a commodity. It’s time to find a common regulatory regime.

A good starting point is to look at the the wireless industry. Regulation is split into two largely independent policy areas: 1. creation and physical management of the infrastructure – technical regulation of the allocation and use of spectrum – and 2.… More

Will the CPUC pick up the tab for unionising independent broadband projects?

6 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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When the state legislature was considering a bill to impose union wages and work rules – so-called prevailing wage rules – on broadband projects subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund, an independent analysis by legislative staff pointed to the unknown but hefty – “likely in the millions of dollars” – extra cost…

This bill would become effective on January 1, 2015 for all infrastructure projects funded in part by the CASF, including those projects which are currently underway.

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New prevailing wage law puts Californian ISPs and broadband upgrade projects at risk

3 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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Assume that any broadband construction work done in conjunction with a subsidy from the California Advanced Services Fund on or after 1 January 2015 has to comply with prevailing wage laws. Including the obligation to comply with a mountain of rules and paperwork. A new law approved by Governor Brown on Tuesday is very specific: CASF subsidies turn infrastructure builds into public works projects, which have to comply with union pay scales and rules.

Existing law has an exception for “work done directly by any public utility company pursuant to order of the Public Utilities Commission or other public authority”.… More

State telecoms regulators are broadband data takers, not makers anymore

2 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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The data used to drive the California broadband availability map and similar state-level projects will reverse its flow. Carriers and ISPs, including the likes of AT&T and Comcast, will lump all their nationwide broadband availability information together and file it with the FCC, instead of submitting it state by state as they do now, where it’s vetted locally and then rolled up at a national level.

The change is due to the end of the original funding provided by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka ARRA, aka stimulus program).… More

Governor hamstrings California's broadband subsidy fund, pleases cable, telcos, unions

1 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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With a stroke of Governor Brown’s pen, the cost of building independent broadband infrastructure using money from the California Advanced Services Fund has nearly doubled. Without comment, he signed assembly bill 2272 yesterday.

The new law, which takes effect in January, brings all CASF-subsidised broadband infrastructure projects under so-called prevailing wage rules, which impose union pay scales and work rules – often determined on a statewide basis – regardless of the typical construction costs and practices in a local area.… More

Governor Brown signs community broadband bond financing bills into law

30 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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Cities and other local agencies in California will be able to issue bonds to pay for building broadband infrastructure, thanks to two new laws approved by Governor Brown yesterday. Assembly bill 2292 and senate bill 628 expand the use of infrastructure financing districts (IFDs), on the one hand specifically allowing broadband to be included in old-style IFDs and creating a new kind, called enhanced infrastructure financing districts, on the other. In both cases, the bonds can be repaid by earmarking the incremental tax revenue that the project is expected to produce.… More

California assemblyman gushes over Comcast and takes its cash

29 September 2014 by Steve Blum
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Comcast is a model of modern corporate responsibility, according to assemblyman Adam Gray (D – Merced). In a letter he submitted to the FCC and cited by Comcast as a reason its mega-merger with Time-Warner and market swap with Charter should be approved, Gray showers his love on the company…

I am writing in support of the proposed transaction between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, because, while my constituents appreciate Comcast as a service provider, we are even more grateful to them for their investments in our community.

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