public policy – Page 174 – Steve Blum's Blog

Sunk costs support sinking gigabit prices

6 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, chattanooga, community networks, ftth, public policy, utopia

Nowhere to go but up.

Fiber-to-the-home system operators are falling in behind Google’s idea that market share counts more than marginal revenue gains (or cost controls). Both Chattanooga’s municipal FTTH network and the Utopia system serving several Utah communities are following Google’s lead in Kansas City and Provo, and offering residential gigabit service for monthly fees in the $65 to $70 range.

At $350 per month, Chattanooga was attracting only a few dozen gigabit-level subscribers. At $70 per month, it should shortly have tens of thousands.… More

Governor Brown signs California broadband subsidy bills into law

3 October 2013 by Steve Blum
ab1299, broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, public policy, sb740

According to the sponsors of the legislation, Governor Brown has showered affection and money on Californian broadband backers, signing senate bill 740 and assembly bill 1299 into law. We’re all feeling the love now.

“Congratulations everyone, SB 740 has been signed by the Governor”, said SB 740 author senator Alex Padilla (D- Los Angeles). “I know a lot of hard work, dedication, and patience went into the bill, but it’s great to know that all the work has paid off.”… More

CPUC approves $4 million for broadband projects, but tougher decisions are ahead

3 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, golden bear broadband, public policy, sebastian

In a unanimous vote this morning, the California Public Utilities Commission approved $4 million in grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) for three projects: $2 million for Winterhaven in Imperial County and $1.8 million for Olinda in Shasta County – both DSL upgrades – and $117,000 for fixed wireless service in Foresthill in Placer County.
These are the first three projects approved from the batch of thirty two applications submitted back in February.… More

The art of estimating broadband subsidy costs by households in rural California

2 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, cpuc, ftth, ponderosa telephone, public policy

It’s one house, but how many homes?

Maybe 800 homes on the western side of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains will get upgraded broadband service, many via fiber to the home connections, if a pair of draft resolutions is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

CPUC staff is recommending giving Ponderosa Telephone Company a total of $2.7 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). About $1.8 million would go to an FTTH build in two small Madera County communities, Beasore and Central Camp, and $900,000 would help pay for a DSL upgrade and limited FTTH service in the Big Creek area of Fresno County.… More

Santa Cruz County supervisors move forward with comprehensive broadband policy

1 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, ccbc, community networks, public policy, regional consortia, santa cruz

Plenty of coverage, but it’s not much good without the capacity to go with it.

After being duly warned about the World Bank’s global domination conspiracy, the danger of fluoridating water and the threat to honey bees posed by mobile phones, the Santa Cruz County, California board of supervisors approved recommendations for encouraging and assisting the deployment of new and upgraded broadband infrastructure.

County staff presented the findings of a report on barriers to construction of broadband facilities in general, including fiber optic lines, rural terminal boxes and, yes, wireless facilities.… More

City of Benicia releases RFP for industrial broadband

30 September 2013 by Steve Blum
benicia, broadband, community networks, public policy

Major California long haul fiber routes converge underneath the Benicia bridge, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area.

In July, the Benicia, California city council decided to revitalise a major industrial park and surrounding areas by upgrading broadband infrastructure. Today, the City began the project by releasing a Request for Proposal that asks prospective participants to offer solutions, in terms of both the technology and business model to be used.

As stated in the RFP…

The City of Benicia has earmarked $750,000 for investment in the Project.

… More

Pinnacles broadband upgrade recommended for CASF funding

29 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, pinnacles, public policy, regional consortia

Pinnacles’ wide and open vistas are beautiful to see, difficult to serve.

With only a couple hundred subscribers spread over an area of California larger than Alameda County, Pinnacles Telephone Company has to do a big job with tiny resources. Even so, it has consistently worked to modernise its plant in southern and eastern San Benito County over the years, replacing copper links with fiber and offering Internet service, via both DSL and fixed wireless connections.… More

Competitive ADSL upgrade subsidies recommended for California's Mendocino County

27 September 2013 by Steve Blum
boonville, broadband, casf, cpuc, public policy, willitsonline

DSL upgrades installed by a competitive local exchange carrier in two Mendocino county towns will be largely paid for by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), if the California Public Utilities Commission approves draft resolutions released yesterday. With AT&T and Verizon quietly shutting down DSL service in rural areas of California, these types of projects might be a way to avoid forcing residents to rely on the costly wireless service preferred by the incumbents.

Both projects were proposed by WillitsOnline.… More

Surprisingly, UN broadband report advocates free speech and competitive markets

25 September 2013 by Steve Blum
internet freedom, itu, public policy, un

Best interests. Common good. Benign intentions. And all that.

The United Nations, in particular its education, science and cultural organisation (UNESCO), has often been criticised for kowtowing to authoritarian, repressive and socialist regimes when media, markets and speech are on the table. At best, it tends to offer up meaningless generalities that offend no one.

So it was a pleasant surprise to read The State Of Broadband 2013: Universalizing Broadband, a report prepared by two UN offshoots, the International Telecommunications Union and UNESCO.… More

Sheer tenacity primes Boron FTTH for California broadband subsidy

24 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, escrbc, ftth, public policy, race telecommunications

Boron upgrades from twenty mules to a gigabit.

On its fourth try, Race Telecommunications seems set to get public grant backing to build a fiber-to-the-home system in the small Mojave desert town of Boron. California Public Utilities Commission staff have released a draft resolution that, if approved by commissioners, would spend up to $3.4 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to pay 60% of the cost of building a fiber optic network to serve about 900 customers in the Boron area, plus cover the cost of any state or federal income tax on the grant.… More