UPLC PowerLine - April 16, 2008

In a decision adopted last month, the FCC banned carriers from entering into exclusive contracts to provide telecommunications services in residential apartment buildings and prohibited enforcement of existing contracts which contain exclusivity provisions. The FCC found that prohibiting such contracts serves the public interest and promotes competition. The Commission concluded that "opening the door to competitive telecommunications services will help provide consumers with increased access to and choice of such providers," and that it "provides regulatory parity between telecommunications and video service providers in the increasingly competitive market for bundled services." In 2007, the Commission banned exclusive deals for video services in residential apartment buildings, and in 2000, the Commission prohibited exclusive contracts for telecommunications services in commercial multi-tenant environments.

Rural and municipal broadband needs help. That was the message in Washington during two separate events over the last month. At a briefing organized by the agriculture interest group, National Grange, advocates for rural broadband legislation called for continued rural broadband development funding in the farm bill. From cattle farmers to libraries, "[t]here's broad interest," in rural broadband, said Grange Executive Director, Leroy Watson. The American Library Association supports rural broadband legislation, citing long lines for terminals in rural libraries. Meanwhile, farmers need broadband to check commodity prices and sell livestock via online auctions, according to the U.S. Cattlemen Association. Two stand-alone bills (S-1190 and HR-3919) promoting rural broadband were introduced last year, and were included as part of the farm bill. Advocates for the bills believe riding the farm bill will help get the broadband provisions enacted. Failing that, advocates will push other stand-alone bills, such as HR-5682 and HR-3627, which also are designed to promote rural broadband.

Meanwhile, municipal broadband proponents reassessed ways to promote deployment during a conference hosted by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisors (NATOA), which represents communications oversight within local government jurisdictions. The consensus among the panelists was that Municipal Wi-Fi is dead or on life-support, but that WiMAX and other technologies could make municipal broadband viable. However, panelists cited continued opposition from incumbent providers against competition from municipal entrants, which has derailed a community broadband bill introduced by House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman, Ed Market (D-MA). They also cited concerns on Wall Street about uncertain business plans and tighter credit markets. Jim Baller, who represents many municipalities, also decried the lack of a national broadband strategy. He said that "[w]e compete with the Chinas and the Brazils and the other low-cost countries that are taking our manufacturing;" and to compete, the U.S. must roll out fast fiber connections nationwide.

The California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee passed an amended version of a Smart Grid bill (SB-1438), which now requires the PUC, the State Energy Commission and the ISO to develop a definition of "Smart Grid" by January 15, 2009. The definition must “achieve certain goals and to develop standards and protocols for the deployment of smart grid technologies and services that will improve overall efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of electrical system operations, planning, and maintenance.” Under the bill, utilities would be required to develop and submit by June 30, 2010 a Smart Grid deployment plan to the PUC for approval and recovery of "reasonable costs of deploying smart grid technologies and services from ratepayers." The bill would authorize Smart Grid technologies and services to be deployed in “an incremental manner"; and would require the PUC in consultation with the Energy Commission, the ISO, and the utilities, at each step of deployment, to "evaluate the impact of deployment on major initiatives and policies."

According to the Dallas Morning News, Current Communications has enabled nearly 130,000 homes in part of Old East Dallas to receive BPL Internet access from DirecTV, which has just begun marketing to about half the homes. Current has been installing new advanced meters that enable customers to get BPL; but the roll out has been delayed indefinitely while Current waits for upgraded devices to be designed, approved and mass produced. Meanwhile, Current is in discussions with other potential partners to offer service in the Dallas area.

Packages now range from a 1.5 Mb connection that costs $20 a month to an 8 Mb connection that costs $35 a month. Special deals can push costs down to as little as $10 a month. DirecTV says those prices beat anything its competitors sell in the same area; and BPL offers additional features such as synchronous speeds that are ideal for sharing photos and movies. "The other advantage of BPL is the ease of installation. You just plug your modem directly into any power outlet," said Devin Gray, vice president of broadband for DirecTV. "If you want to move the modem from one room to another, you just pull it out of one plug and stick it into the next."

Ambient Corporation announced this month that Duke Energy agreed to pay $10.7 million for Ambient Smart Grid equipment and technology to be deployed over portions of Duke’s electric power distribution grid. In addition, the terms of the contract require that Ambient and Duke "will both exert commercially reasonable efforts including, without limitation, the dedication of appropriate staff, facilities and equipment as well as access to facilities and sites to carry out the Deployment." In addition to the equipment to be supplied by Ambient, the company will be providing engineering and technical support as needed to design, support and assist in the completion of the deployment.