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A core tenet of the 1996 Telecom Act was requiring that incumbent ISPs let competitors access their networks in the quest to improve competition. Especially since high costs and incumbent dirty tricks often makes building your own nationwide network all but impossible (go ask Google Fiber, Sonic, or any of a dozen other smaller ISPs). But over the years the industry's biggest ISPs have slowly but surely dismantled most of the line-sharing aspects of the Act, and are now taking aim at the last remnants in a move that could harm smaller ISPs that rely on them as they try to build their own networks. US Telecom, an AT&T-backed lobbying group, has petitioned the government to escape their obligations under Section 251 of the Act, which requires them to provide wholesale access to unbundled network elements (UNEs)--which offer a means of competitive entry for smaller competitors."These outdated rules distort competition and investment decisions," the lobbying organization said in a blog post. "When outdated and overly restrictive regulations are rolled back, innovation and investment thrives," the group claimed. "And for over two decades, the broadband industry has transformed how the world communicates under a light-touch regulatory structure that spurred over one and a half trillion dollars in private investment." Consumer groups and ISPs that still use those lines find big telecom lobby's claims laughable. "Sonic is fully engaged in the process of building fiber to customers in a number of markets around Northern California, but this represents a serious impediment to our ability to deploy fiber," says Sonic CEO Dane Jasper of the group's petition. "The 1996 Telecommunications Act created competition in the telephone and broadband marketplace by requiring incumbents to unbundle essential last mile facilities, primarily copper wires that go to premises," Jasper says. "Serving customers on these facilities is an essential step toward fiber deployment, which Sonic is actively engaged in." The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is similarly unimpressed by the proposal, in a blog post arguing that "should the FCC grant the petition, the growing monopolization of high-speed broadband above 25 Mbps where more than half of Americans have only one choice will likely become worse." "While copper wire infrastructure may strike people as the infrastructure of yesterday, its existence and the legal rights to access it remain essential for competitive entry into the high-speed broadband market," the EFF notes. "This is because it is one of the only remaining ways a new company can gain customers to then leverage to finance fiber optic deployment." "Until the FCC really digs into why the US market has a monopoly choice for more than half of Americans, it should reject efforts by incumbents to gloss over these important questions rather than take US Telecom’s word that it will all just work out," said the group. "Otherwise, it might very well embark on a path where we go from more than half of Americans having one choice for high-speed broadband to where only the markets that have Verizon FIOS, Google Fiber, or a community broadband deployment as the only markets with more than one choice."A core tenet of the 1996 Telecom Act was requiring that incumbent ISPs let competitors access their networks in the quest to improve competition. Especially since high costs and incumbent dirty tricks often makes building your own nationwide network all but impossible (go ask Google Fiber). A coalition of smaller ISPs is joining the legal fight to preserve net neutrality. INCOMPAS is an industry trade association representing many of the country’s smaller telcos, including independent California ISP Sonic. Independent California ISP Sonic says the company has again dramatically expanded the company's gigabit fiber footprint. According to a Sonic announcement, the company has expanded gigabit availability in the East Bay to include key areas across Berkeley and Albany, including parts of El Cerrito, Kensington and Oakland in what Sonic says is its "largest fiber expansion to date." Users in these markets will have access to uncapped Gigabit Fiber broadband plus international home phone service starting at $40 per month (plus assorted fees, of course). The Electronic Freedom Foundation this week released their "Who Has Your Back?" scorecard, which rates company privacy practices and how far companies are willing to go when the government comes asking for your personal information. While ISPs like Sonic and Credo, and companies like Adobe, Dropbox, Lyft and Pinterest all received stellar marks from the EFF for their privacy policies, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and T-Mobile all received among the lowest marks of all the companies' tracked. Independent California ISP Sonic says the company continues to expand gigabit availability throughout San Francisco. While Google Fiber got oodles of attention for connecting a few San Fran apartment complexes last year, Sonic quietly spent its time actually deploying fiber to a notable portion of the city. We've long noted how broadband usage caps on fixed-line networks are little more than glorified rate hikes on uncompetitive markets. Caps serve all manner of purpose for the ISP, including not only letting carriers charge more money for the same service, while letting ISPs simultaneously hinder and cash in on streaming video alternatives. Yesterday Google Fiber stole headlines with its announcement that it would be offering gigabit broadband to a few apartment buildings in San Francisco...some day. While the announcement was extremely light on details regarding price, full scope, and availability (read: virtually none), it overshadowed the launch of a significantly larger and cheaper San Francisco gigabit fiber deployment by independent ISP Sonic, one of the only viable survivors of the CLEC/ILEC wars of years past. According to a blog post by Sonic CEO Dane Jasper, Sonic's now offering uncapped gigabit fiber -- plus unlimited phone service -- for $40 a month, notably less than Google Fiber's $70 price point. Back in May the FCC announced that it was adopting new rules governing robocalls, or unwanted marketing pitches over the phone. The FCC's new rules (pdf) make it easier for consumers to opt out of marketing pitches via phone or SMS. The EFF has released their annual report on which companies have your back when it comes to privacy issues. The report ranks companies based on whether they adhere to standard industry voluntary best practices, transparently inform their users about government data demands, disclose data retention policies, disclose government content-removal requests, and oppose government-mandated security weaknesses (read: backdoors). Overall, the report notes that companies are showing improvement across the board -- just not in telecom. "Perhaps invigorated by the ongoing debates around government surveillance and in response to growing public attention around these issues, more and more companies are voluntarily speaking out about government data requests and giving users tools to fight back," notes the group. The report only ranks five ISPs: AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Sonic.net. Brentwood, California residents are now enjoying gigabit speeds thanks to a city partnership with Sonic.net. According to the San Jose Mercury News (hat tip to Community Broadband Networks) Sonic is using city fiber conduit to offer $40 a month ($60 after taxes and fees) gigabit service to around 8,000 city residents. ArchivesSpotlight SONIC Listing page Post review of SONIC Forum Sonic Most Popular |