regional consortia

Broadband grades depend on copper and glass

Examples of how the grading was done.
The grading system I developed to rate and compare the broadband infrastructure available to communities east of San Francisco – Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties – focuses on primary, consumer wireline networks because those are the base upon which all service is built…

Even wireless systems must connect to wireline networks at some point, usually directly after the first “hop” from a subscriber. Consequently, the level of broadband connectivity in a region is primarily determined by the quality and extent of wireline facilities.

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Cities matter to broadband investors

19 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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Just looking the same isn’t enough

The quality of your broadband service depends on whether or not you live in an incorporated city. A study I recently completed for the East Bay Broadband Consortium – East Bay Broadband Report Card – found that broadband infrastructure is generally worse in unincorporated communities than in adjacent and economically similar cities.
Western Contra Costa County is an economically disadvantaged area, on the whole. The major city – Richmond – has a high crime and poverty rates, as do several of the unincorporated communities that surround it.… More

CPUC gets enthusiastic support for Salinas Valley broadband project

Once upon a time, Silicon Valley looked pretty much the same.

Community leaders from California’s central coast have weighed in on a grant application in front of the California Public Utilities Commission that would pay for a large portion of a 91-mile fiber optic backbone for the region. The project, submitted by Sunesys, LLC would provide disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley with the kind of broadband infrastructure Silicon Valley takes for granted. Not surprisingly, there is tremendous local support for CPUC president Michael Peevey’s proposal to raise the allowable percentage of the construction costs that can be subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund.… More

East Bay Broadband Report Card published by Tellus Venture Associates confirms benefits of competition


Download the full report.

I’ve published the final report on regional broadband resources, prepared for the East Bay Broadband Consortium. The East Bay Broadband Report Card gives a community-by-community assessment of core broadband infrastructure in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay.

The top line conclusions are…

The best consumer-grade broadband service is in central Contra Costa County, in the City of Concord (A-). It was the only one of the forty cities studied that rated an “A” level grade.

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Eastern Sierra consortium presents plans for building broadband out from Digital 395


Click for the full presentation

With the Digital 395 fiber optic backbone complete – running more than 500 miles from from Reno down the eastern side of California to Barstow – the focus in the region is on hooking up last mile broadband projects and extending middle connectivity to areas it doesn’t reach.

Julie Langou, the project manager for the Eastern Sierra Connect Regional Broadband Consortium, presented a plan for building out from the Digital 395 fiber route at the annual meeting of regional broadband consortia in Sacramento earlier this week.… More

Rural broadband appeals flood into the FCC


Round up twice the usual number of suspects.

There’s no lack of interest in the FCC’s rural broadband experiment. By 5:00 p.m. California time, more than 500 expressions of interest had been filed electronically with the FCC and posted on its website (h/t to The Baller Herbst List for pointing me to the link). The total appeared to be climbing, and I’m guessing that the FCC will be accepting letters at least until midnight Midway Island time, if not well into the weekend.… More

California broadband priorities by the numbers

6 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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It’s hard enough just with apples.

Measuring where broadband needs are and setting priorities for meeting them is an objective, quantitative process for many regional broadband planners in California, while others focus on qualitative assessments. Representatives from fourteen regional broadband consortia met for two days in Sacramento earlier this week, largely to talk about how the California Public Utilities Commission should set priorities for spending subsidy money on broadband infrastructure projects in the state.

There was no single approach presented that works everywhere.… More

Open and early application window considered for California broadband grants

4 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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At the ready.

The next round of applications for broadband infrastructure construction subsidies from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) might be accepted on a rolling first come, first served basis, as soon as this summer. That was one of the options discussed this morning by California Public Utilities Commission staff at a statewide meeting of regional broadband consortia in Sacramento.

The CPUC is working on new rules for CASF grants and loans, to allow independent ISPs and local governments to participate in the program, as approved by the state legislature last year.… More

Testing students tests broadband in California

3 March 2014 by Steve Blum
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More complicated than sending a note home to mother.

The first step in identifying broadband availability gaps in California is defining how much and where bandwidth is needed. Education is a major driver of bandwidth demand, particularly as new methods for measuring how well California’s children are being taught come into effect. That initiative – the so-called Smarter Balance Assessment – replaces pencil and paper tests with online computers. But the initial guidelines drawn up by education officials for estimating the broadband speeds necessary are too simplistic, according to California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval.… More

Salinas Valley towns top regional broadband priority list

25 February 2014 by Steve Blum
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Heat map of broadband desert.

The latest rev of a regional broadband priority analysis for the Central Coast Broadband Consortium shows that Salinas Valley communities would see the greatest benefit from broadband infrastructure development, and be more likely to support viable projects.

These preliminary results add weight to the argument for building a fiber optic line through these towns and connecting them to Santa Cruz.

The top three communities by county and regionally are…

Monterey County: 1.

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