Calif. Assembly Proposes Keeping 6/1 Mbps Standard
A fight is brewing in the Assembly over areas eligible for broadband grants under the California Advanced Services Fund. Monday, the chamber erased the complete contents of AB-570 about local government bonds and inserted CASF language that conflicts with the…
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Senate-passed SB-1130 (see 2006260069). The Senate bill would raise the minimum standard for a served area to 25 Mbps symmetrical, but the Assembly bill maintains current 6/1 Mbps minimum. It would change the law by allowing funding for high-poverty areas where at least half residents are designated low income by the U.S. Census American Community Survey. In eligible areas, it would fund speeds at 25/3 Mbps -- up from 10/1 Mbps now. The revised AB-570 amounts to a Frontier Communications “bailout,” because it would mean areas now served by Frontier DSL would remain ineligible for funding, Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon told us Tuesday. EFF supports the fiber-focused SB-1130, he said. By preferring low-cost providers that can provide 25/3 Mbps, the proposed law could lead to even more DSL rollout, he said. Falcon expects a hearing on both bills in late July in the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee. SB-1130 opponent the California Cable and Telecommunications Association is reviewing AB-570, said CCTA President Carolyn McIntyre. Frontier declined comment.