Business Wants Cal. to Stand Aside on Broadband When Not Helping

The draft proposes: (1) That Cal. make spreading broadband a priority. (2) The creation of a broadband task force. (3) That govt. lead by example with adoption of advanced services and provision of public services through them. (4) Standardizing local right of way processes, limiting fees and providing effective dispute resolution. (5) Streamlining environmental quality requirements and making them consistent for all providers. (6) Streamlining PUC certification of new carriers deploying broadband facilities. (7) Amending state law to exempt broadband projects from PUC approval requirements. (8) Changing state law to allow competitive entry into a cable franchise area without having to serve the whole area. (9) Encouraging broadband over power line (BPL) by eliminating regulatory requirements. (10) Recognizing VoIP is interstate, reforming funding of Universal Service to compensate for VoIP’s impact, and making IP- voice providers eligible to receive grants for serving targeted customers. (11) Removing tariff requirements for bundled offerings. (12) Aggressively seeking federal funds. (13) Helping “lower-use communities” through tax incentives, grants, loan guarantees and public-private partnerships.

States need coherent broadband policies and Cal. should designate a lead agency and emulate Mich., whose comprehensive program includes right-of-way reform and public loans for broadband investment, said TechNet Dir. Jim Hawley. He said the PUC should streamline its own service authorization processes and support the FCC on federal jurisdiction over VoIP. In driving toward ubiquitous broadband, Cal. also should pursue “demand aggregation strategies” exemplified by Berkshire Connect in Mass., whereby a 55-business consortium succeeded in bringing in broadband at a big discount, Hawley said.

The PUC should reconsider prior efforts to regulate VoIP, said Intel senior fellow Kevin Kahn, who runs the company’s communications technology lab. It would be fundamentally wrong to regulate VoIP as “just another way to do POTS,” he said, referring to plain old telephone service. Instead, VoIP should be considered “the base case for a complete new suite of services,” starting with integrated communications, ad hoc conferencing and chat, and call redirection. Concerning social obligations, the technology offers opportunities to do much better on 911 information and disability access than traditional voice, Kahn said. “Extreme positions on unbundling” requirements will discourage the provider investments needed, he said. A national framework for intercarrier compensation is needed, and universal service should be tied to a customer’s number, Kahn said. Wireless is the best hope for preventing cable-telco duopoly, he said; Intel isn’t so sure about BPL.

To promote BPL, the PUC should clarify and ease requirements for electric companies to offer service and shouldn’t prescribe business models, since different utilities will want different structures, said CFO Kevin Kushman of BPL company Current Communications. Most Cal. utilities haven’t jumped in because they're still dealing with the fallout of the state energy crisis and have unjustified concerns about capital investments and regulatory entanglements, he said. Current Communications emphasizes that BPL doesn’t require utilities to make such investments and that the internal capabilities the technology offers can be even more valuable than the chance to offer broadband service, Kushman said.

Wireless broadband provider NextWeb wants the Cal. PUC to standardize rules on roof access for antennas, so they're no longer subject to the vagaries of individual zoning authorities and property management policies, said CEO Graham Barnes. He said residential broadband isn’t profitable in Cal. without add-on sales such as VoIP.

The PUC’s proposed broadband task force needs more explicit goals and target dates, and inclusive membership involving representatives of the disabled, said Disability Rights Advocates managing attorney Melissa Kasnitz. Substituting e-govt. for offices and phone service would raise “a crucial concern for people who do not have Internet access, and they must not be left behind,” she said. Libraries, schools and other community centers can’t offer them all adequate online access, and they must be accessible physically to everyone, Kasnitz added. Even with access, help is needed for those who don’t understand the most basic Internet terminology, such as “URL” or “double click,” she said. Kasnitz and advocates for poor, minority and rural people said govt. financing to give everyone a real chance to have broadband.