A streaming TV exemption from the state video franchise law passed Friday in Illinois. Another bill could pass soon in Nevada. The Texas House State Affairs Committee heard testimony on a Senate-passed bill Thursday. Several states have enacted or are considering bills to clarify that streaming and satellite TV providers aren’t required to pay local fees, following lawsuits by municipalities in various states against Hulu, Netflix and others.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
"We're all kind of progressives on broadband now,” said Brookings senior fellow Blair Levin at the think tank’s livestreamed event Thursday. Levin said COVID-19 did more to persuade policymakers about high-speed internet’s importance than the national broadband plan he oversaw while at the FCC. Now Democratic and Republican governors alike are aggressive about expanding service, he said. Inflation and workforce issues mean the government may not connect as many people as it could have when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was made law, said Levin: From an economic perspective, it may end up looking like the government wasted two years waiting for the FCC’s map.
California appropriators advanced several telecom and internet bills at livestreamed meetings Thursday. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted unanimously for AB-1065, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to get support from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant and federal funding accounts. But it held back AB-1461, which would have permanently required the California Public Utilities Commission to allocate $1 billion each to urban and rural counties from the CASF federal funding account. Current law requires that split only until June 30. With Republicans voting no, the committee passed AB-41, which aims to tighten digital equity requirements in the state’s video franchise law (see 2304200044). Republicans didn’t vote at all on two other approved bills: AB-296 on 911 public education and AB-414 to establish a digital equity bill of rights for Californians. The committee decided not to advance AB-276, which would have prohibited anyone under 21 from using a mobile device while driving, even hands free. It also held back AB-1276, which would have required a University of California at Davis Health study on 911 call and dispatch data. Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 7-0 for SB-60 to require social media platforms to remove posts on illegal drug sales and SB-74 to prohibit high-risk social media apps that are at least partly owned by an entity or "country of concern." The panel also unanimously supported SB-318 to require the California Department of Social Services to develop and run a grant program for 211 support services, which some counties still lack. The committee voted 5-2 for SB-362, which would transfer a data broker registry to the California Privacy Protection Agency from the state justice department and create a global deletion system. The Senate panel held back SB-754, which would have banned the California Public Utilities Commission from incorporating broadband revenue in calculations for rate regulating small telcos. SB-860, which sought to increase broadband adoption by requiring more state outreach on available subsidies, also failed to advance. All the approved bills may go to the floor.
A California bill aimed at streamlining broadband permitting at the local level advanced to the Assembly floor Wednesday. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted unanimously at a livestreamed meeting for AB-965, which would allow simultaneous processing of multiple broadband permit applications for similar project sites under a single permit, and require local governments to decide applications within a “presumptively reasonable time." Assemblymember Juan Carillo (D), the bill’s sponsor, said localities “will still maintain full control.” The bill would force localities to make a decision, said Dan Schweizer, Crown Castle director-external affairs. "Many local jurisdictions continue to process broadband permits one at a time, limit permit batching or have the permits go through several different departments at various times, which unnecessarily delays an already bureaucratic process." The bill means Californians will get coverage in “months instead of years,” he said. Other supporters include CTIA, USTelecom, Frontier Communications, Consolidated Communications and the California Broadband and Video Association. California city and county groups oppose the bill, which they say will make it more profitable to build in dense markets but won’t spur deployment in unserved areas, noted a committee analysis released Monday.
The California Public Utilities Commission could shut out many wireless providers from participating in a proposed state LifeLine pilot if it proceeds with proposed rules, the National Lifeline Association (NaLA) warned. The CPUC received comments Tuesday on a proposed decision to approve two pilot programs to stack California LifeLine and federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) benefits (docket R.20-02-008). Verizon cautioned the CPUC to allow “reasonable network management.”
The Nebraska Public Service Commission reviewed challenges to applications for federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund grants Tuesday. Commissioners voted 5-0 for the order in docket CPF-1 at a livestreamed meeting. The commission upheld two and denied four Windstream challenges to Allo Communications projects, while upholding three challenges by Allo to Windstream applications. The PSC upheld three of 10 challenges by Windstream and one by Zito Midwest to Nextlink Internet applications. The agency upheld three of five Windstream challenges, while denying one Nextlink challenge, to Pinpoint Communications projects. The PSC denied three challenges by Nextlink and one by Midstates Data to Lumen projects. It upheld one of three Windstream challenges to Charter Communications projects. The PSC upheld one Windstream challenge to a Vyve Broadband project and denied one Nextlink challenge to a Stealth Broadband application. Also, the PSC said one application by Cox, one by Windstream and six by Great Plains Communications were withdrawn or incomplete and therefore not eligible for funding. Also at the meeting, Nebraska PSC members voted 5-0 for an order to release a 2023 schedule and application materials for the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program. Applications will be accepted June 16-26. The program provides up to $20 million annually for broadband networks with at least 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds.
A Delaware House panel advanced a privacy bill based on Connecticut’s comprehensive law. The Technology and Telecommunications Committee at Tuesday's livestreamed hearing voted 6-0, with two members absent, to send HB-154 by Chair Krista Griffith (D) to the Appropriations Committee. While supporting parts of the bill, industry and consumer groups recommended some changes.
The California Privacy Protection Agency is bracing for the imminent introduction of an “even less privacy-protective” U.S. privacy bill than the version it opposed last year, said Maureen Mahoney, deputy director-policy and legislation, at a CPPA board virtual meeting Monday. The board also received updates on advancing California bills, an agency strategic plan and next steps for its 2020 California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rulemaking.
A proposed Texas House constitutional amendment on creating a state broadband fund will go to the Senate floor, but senators are making changes that would require House agreement. The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously at a livestreamed hearing Monday on substitutes to HJR-125 and on an accompanying bill (HB-9) that passed the House by wide margins last month (see 2304270056). Substitute text wasn’t immediately available Monday. Sen. Robert Nichols (R) supported the bills but said he wants to work with sponsors on adding language to require a local matching requirement. “People treat money better when they have a little skin in the game,” said Nichols, saying even a 10% local match would help. AT&T supports the proposal to create a "comprehensive funding mechanism that takes a holistic approach,” David Tate, retired vice president-legal affairs, testified at the hearing. State funding now is important, with Texas not due to receive federal money until 2025 from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said Texas Cable Association President Walt Baum. But the Taxpayers Protection Alliance thinks making residents pay for a $5 billion fund is a “waste of money and fiscally irresponsible.” Texas 9-1-1 Alliance Chairman Chip VanSteenberg supports the bill including funding for next-generation 911. The existing 50-cent 911 surcharge on phone bills hasn’t kept up with rising costs, he said.
Tennessee is the eighth state with a consumer privacy law. Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed the comprehensive bill HB-1181/SB-73 Thursday. The state House and Senate passed it unanimously last month (see 2304210060). The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) praised the bill Friday. Consumer Reports sees room for improvement.