sandoval

CPUC loses activist edge as Sandoval, Florio depart

16 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission lost its most consistently activist members yesterday. Commissioners Catherine Sandoval and Mike Florio announced that they would be leaving when their terms expire at the end of the month. Both were appointed six years ago as governor Jerry Brown took office. Brown did not reappoint them to a second term, though.

Sandoval is the acknowledged telecoms expert among commissioners. She teaches telecoms law at Santa Clara University and was a staffer at the Federal Commission.… More

Commissioner Catherine Sandoval off CPUC

15 December 2016 by Steve Blum
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Commissioner Catherine Sandoval will not be on the California Public Utilities Commission next year. Her term expires at the end of the month, and she announced during today’s CPUC meeting that she would be returning to full time work as a law professor at Santa Clara University in January. In her farewell, she spoke about the work she and other commissioners have done to extend telecoms service to some of the remotest areas of California.

How much of the net neutrality job will go to state regulators?

20 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Whether or not the FCC decides to regulate broadband service as a common carrier utility, new net neutrality rules will be imposed, successfully or not. State utility regulators from across the country met in San Francisco this week. The California Public Utilities Commission hosted a conference on Internet regulation, and net neutrality in particular, chaired by commissioner Catherine Sandoval, yesterday afternoon.

A national panel of economics and law professors discussed where state regulators fit in.… More

Speech isn't free when ISPs can set prices based on content

30 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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FedEx doesn’t charge based on what a document says. Neither should Comcast or AT&T.

California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval has argued – and voted – in favor of regulating broadband infrastructure companies as common carriers, in much the same way as telephone companies, but with a “light touch”. She made her case in testimony at a congressional hearing in Sacramento in September, and later polished it and submitted it to the FCC for consideration in its network neutrality deliberations.… More

With no BMOC, expect a different CPUC next year

13 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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With the departure of Michael Peevey as president of the California Public Utilities Commission after 12 years on the job, the style and, almost certainly, the substance of its work will change significantly. The direction and speed of that change depends on who the governor appoints to take his place.

Judging by the other four commissioners – all Brown appointees – the new honcho is unlikely to be an ex-utility executive like Peevey. Two of the current members – Mike Florio and Carla Peterman – are alumni of TURN, which is arguably the state’s most influential utility consumer advocacy group.… More