public policy – Page 21 – Steve Blum's Blog

Charter is first major cable company to apply for California broadband subsidies, but on its own terms

3 May 2019 by Steve Blum
casf, charter, cpuc, public policy

Four more broadband infrastructure grant proposals, filed by Charter Communications, surfaced yesterday. That brings the number of pending applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) construction subsidies to 13, which total out to $27.6 million. Cruzio and Frontier Communications also submitted applications on Wednesday, and the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative filed last Saturday.

Charter is asking for $1.7 million to build out to the 467 homes in the four project areas. Per household costs range from a $1,500 to $14,000.… More

California broadband subsidy grants trickle in at the deadline

2 May 2019 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, cruzio, frontiercommunications, public policy

There was no last minute rush yesterday as the window closed for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant applications. Only two companies submitted a total of three project proposals. It’s possible that other applications were submitted but not publicly distributed as required, but for now three, plus five from Saturday, are what we have. I’ll take a deeper dive into all of them later, here’s the short version for now:

Frontier submitted two applications, an $11.8 million proposal to extend service to 146 homes in the Lassen and Modoc County communities of Alturas, Ravendale and Standish, and a $1.7 million proposal to reach 235 homes in and/or around Taft in Kern County.… More

Don’t expect fast rural broadband from AT&T or Frontier, lobbyists tell CPUC

1 May 2019 by Steve Blum
att, connect america fund, cpuc, frontiercommunications, public policy

Judging from presentations made by AT&T and Frontier Communications lobbyists at a California Public Utilities Commission workshop on Monday, the companies have no plans for significant upgrades to rural broadband service, comparable to urban improvements, despite taxpayer subsidies. Which doesn’t bode well for a $2 trillion infrastructure spending deal announced yesterday in Washington, D.C.

Rural broadband infrastructure was one of the few specific items that came out of a meeting yesterday between president Donald Trump, house speaker Nancy Pelosi and senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer.… More

Plumas and Lassen County broadband projects proposed for California subsidies

30 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab1665, casf, cpuc, plumas sierra, public policy

Applications for broadband infrastructure subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) are due tomorrow, but the Plumas-Sierra Electric Co-op (PSEC) wasn’t in a mood to wait. It submitted five project proposals on Saturday, totalling $12 million in grant requests.

PSEC serves Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties in northeastern California, and is one of three electrical service cooperatives in the state. It branched out into broadband service several years ago and has received both state and federal grants to build out its network.… More

AT&T, Comcast blamed for stonewalling burnt out Paradise residents, as CPUC approves broadband grant pilot

26 April 2019 by Steve Blum
att, casf, comcast, cpuc, public policy

The California Public Utilities Commission decided to be more generous with broadband construction subsidies for low income home owners and tenants yesterday, but also took aim at AT&T, Comcast and other big telecoms companies that refuse to take advantage of state broadband subsidies or cooperate with communities that need service. Commissioners voted to raise the proposed limit of $5,300 on line extension program grants to $9,300 per household, as they unanimously approved implementation plans for the $5 million pilot project, paid for by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

Court says appeal of FCC local pole ownership preemption will continue

25 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

The ninth circuit federal appeals court ruled that challenges to last year’s Federal Communications Commission’s wireless and wireline preemption orders will move forward. The FCC will have to deliver its administrative record to the court next month, and the initial exchange of arguments from both sides will begin in June and run through September, according to an earlier ruling that two appellate justices confirmed yesterday.

VoIP regulation promised by California lawmakers after AT&T-backed bill boomerangs

25 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab1366, broadband, public policy, SB1161, voip

Once again, a higher power interrupted the ongoing love affair between AT&T, Comcast and friends, and the California assembly’s primary telecommunications policy committee. As with the last time, the central issue is voice over Internet protocol service, with major labor unions – particularly, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) – opposing an attempt to exempt VoIP and other “IP enabled services” from oversight by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Assembly bill 1366 would extend a 2012 law that bans the CPUC from regulating IP-delivered services.… More

Comcast tells CPUC it must say yes to rural cherrypicking because it can’t say no

23 April 2019 by Steve Blum
comcast, cpuc, ponderosa telephone, public policy, rlec, rural broadband

Comcast took its best shot at explaining why it should be allowed to jump the queue and start competing against Ponderosa Telephone before the California Public Utilities Commission decides what the future will be for small, rural telephone companies. The answer: because the developer wants us and the Federal Communications Commission says we can.

The dispute centers on Tesoro Viejo, an upscale master planned community under construction in the foothills of Madera County. Comcast claims the developers offered Tesoro Viejo as a cherry ripe for picking, and it wants to oblige them.… More

Local challenges to FCC streetlight preemption order move ahead

22 April 2019 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, pole attachment, public policy, small cells

A federal appeals court commissioner has, for now, set a schedule that sorts out the various challenges to last year’s Federal Communications Commission decisions that preempted local ownership of streetlights and similar infrastructure, and put tight restrictions on how local governments manage public right of ways. Last week Peter Shaw, a commissioner for the ninth circuit federal appeals court in San Francisco, met with attorneys for local agencies and associations that are challenging various aspects of the order, and with lawyers for mobile carriers that are pretending to be upset with the FCC’s decisions, but are actually jumping in on its side.… More

Pai promises $20 billion for rural broadband, but offers little hope for meaningful change

17 April 2019 by Steve Blum
connect america fund, fcc, public policy, rural broadband

It makes for good headlines for a slow Friday at the white house, but so far that’s about all that’s resulted from a $20 billion pledge to support rural broadband development. Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai joined president Donald Trump to hype 5G plans and spectrum auctions, and tossed in a new rural broadband initiative at the end.

Sorta.

Pai’s “Rural Digital Opportunity Fund” is just the next reboot of the long standing Connect America Fund (CAF) subsidy program, that similarly poured billions of dollars into rural broadband projects, according to a story by Jon Brodkin in Ars Technica…

The new program will be part of the Universal Service Fund (USF), and it will be similar to an existing USF program that began during the Obama administration.

… More