CPUC approves rules for SB 1040 money

Do you ever wonder about all of those extra fees and charges on your telephone bill? One of those, CASF (California Advanced Services Fund) is a 100 million dollar funding mechanism to extend high speed internet to unserved and under-served areas across the state. Last year, the California Senate passed SB 1040, which authorizes the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to collect an additional $125 million from all of us for the same purpose.

Today, the rules governing how that money will be allocated were approved by the PUC, which means that soon regional groups will be able to get money to do studies and draw up plans on how to connect more homes and businesses to high speed internet.

U-Verse: Knight In Shining Armor?

Well, I just got a call from the AT&T Executive Office Appeals and Escalation Team in San Diego, and I finally got an answer about if and when U-Verse will be coming to my 1.5 Mb/s neighborhood in the heart of the capital of the 8th largest economy in the world.

December.

Hey, at least it's this year. Yes, after three written complaints to the CPUC and two to the FCC, I can now say that the issue is closed for now. Or is it?

I was in San Francisco yesterday, and some friends of mine who are in the same 1.5 Mb/s doldrums I'm in say that their problem isn't AT&T being unwilling to bring U-Verse to their doorstep; instead, it's the NIMBY neighbors who don't want another ugly box on the street. These are the same people with an average of 3 computers, 2 iPhones, and an iPad.

Back here in Sacto, I have friends who have U-Verse who say it's no great shakes. The problem, apparently, is still lack of bandwidth back to the AT&T central office. It's like taking an Autobahn-type on-ramp to an I-5 made of dirt.

NY Times: Calif. Latinos Rank Low on Digital Divide

Hard to believe that in the heart of Silicon Valley, even, that there is a digital divide. According to an article by the Bay Citizen in today's New York Times, 1 in 5 adults don't use the internet and 30% lack home broadband access. For Latinos, 50% lack home broadband access.

Bringing The Community Together over internet access: Nevada City

Rural America and under-served urban areas, this is where it starts. When SpiralNet CEO John Paul and Nevada City / Grass Valley leaders decided to apply for the Google Fiber for Communities initiative, they mobilized the local population in a way that could be a model for other communities. While they didn't win the Google bid, they achieved a higher level of community awareness about the importance of internet access for personal and economic growth. Having gone through this mobilization process, Nevada City /Grass Valley now has a critical support base that can be relied on for future efforts.

We traveled up to Nevada City yesterday to interview John Paul and get a better understanding of how community organizing is crucial to closing the "digital divide" of internet access.

See Nevada City / Grass Valley's Google bid on YouTube at Googlebits for 95959.

Nevada City and Grass Valley are home to a number of world-class video broadcasting equipment manufacturers, the largest of which is Grass Valley Group.

Slate: FCC Needs More Fixes, Fewer Excuses

The FCC can get upset sometimes. Especially when it spends $350 million on a map that has wrong information in it and then gets called out for it.

In a recent follow up to his May 18 article in Slate, "Map to Nowhere," which said that the FCC's $350 million broadband map of the United States was basically useless because it relied on ISP-provided data rather than user data on true internet speeds, Sascha Meinrath of New America Foundation counters the FCC's criticism that Meinrath missed the point that this is the largest, most detailed broadband map ever created. Apparently, the FCC wants to have it both ways: the map includes maximum internet speeds as advertised by ISPs, by census block, but the FCC also has a disclaimer that says they have no responsibility for the accuracy of the information, which is probably wise because the data are mostly wrong.
This is one of the issues we will be exploring in the documentary, "Broadband Blindness."

FRITATTA & Fresh Berries

Yummy! Check out this amazing brunch Dan put together using local vegetables and fruits from the local farmer's market. See how to make it in the forthcoming first episode of "Well Fit Sacramento."

server migration complete, site up and running

Half the battle was researching new hosting providers and deciding on one. With so many bad reviews out there on so many different companies, it's hard to figure out which reviews are real and which are part of the gray reputation/quasi-advertising market.

toast site down temporarily for server maintenance

We're in the process of switching hosting providers today to a more reliable company. The site should be switched up and running once it has propagated. Sorry for the downtime!

blip tv provides showcase for small, independent video series

An article in today's business section of the New York Times about Blip TV gives some examples of small, new video production companies who are producing series solely for the internet. Further proof that traditional TV viewership is evolving - some might say declining - as people in their 20s and 30s increasingly find no convincing reason to pay for cable TV, because there's very little worth watching.

Trailer for Broadband Blindness

Broadband Blindness (trailer v2) from Robert Osborn on Vimeo.