Adam Bender

A state appeals court upheld a 2021 California Public Utilities Commission decision to adopt imputation of net positive retail broadband internet access service revenue of 10 small LECs and their ISP affiliates when calculating California High Cost Fund A (CHCF-A) support. The CPUC adopted the order April 15, 2021, and denied the LECs’ rehearing request Aug. 19 that year. The telcos sought court review of the two decisions in September 2021. In a Dec. 20 unpublished opinion, the 5th District California Court of Appeals rejected the 10 RLECs’ argument that broadband imputation isn't authorized by state law, exceeds the CPUC's authority, is preempted by federal law and is an unconstitutional taking. On the federal preemption issue, the CPUC is right that broadband imputation doesn't directly "impose economic or public utility type regulation on the ISP affiliates,” Justice Donald Franson wrote (case F083339). “It does not directly impose any requirement on their rates and practices, prohibit discrimination, impose tariffing requirements, impose accounting requirements, restrict entry or exist from the ISP business, impose interconnection obligation, or require unbundling or network access.” The CPUC "correctly found that broadband imputation does not impose price controls on ISP affiliates and does not impose any additional regulations affecting their operations." The court disagrees with telcos' argument that broadband imputation's indirect effects result in economic or utility-style regulation of ISPs, Franson added. On the constitutional claim, Franson wrote, “A subsidy is not private property and, therefore, the reduction of the subsidy does not constitute the taking of private property of the telephone companies or the ISP affiliates.” Justices Bert Levy and Kathleen Meehan concurred.

Revised Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) draft rules make some proposed requirements easier and others harder for data controllers, business privacy attorneys wrote last week. The Colorado attorney general’s office is seeking comments by Jan. 18 on revised draft rules released Wednesday. “Some changes will be heralded by privacy advocates, while others will make implementation easier for businesses,” said McDermott Will attorneys.

The telecom industry bashed a California examination of AT&T and Frontier Communications wireline networks, in comments received Wednesday by the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC reports, which found copper service-quality problems, certainly shouldn’t be used as a reason to apply metrics to the entire industry including VoIP and wireless, said many companies in docket R.22-03-016. Consumer and worker advocates disagreed, urging the CPUC to tighten and expand its service-quality oversight over communications.

A Connecticut telecom regulator admonished an industry working group on pole attachments before voting with colleagues to adopt an order meant to reduce the state’s backlog of double poles (docket 21-07-29). At a virtual meeting Wednesday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) voted 3-0 for the plan to require a single-visit transfer (SVT) pilot program and tighten timelines for dealing with double poles (see 2212070065). PURA Chairman Marissa Paslick Gillett wished the order went further but said she has “cautious optimism that this will move the ball forward.”

The Wyoming Public Service Commission will keep a state surcharge for telecom relay services at four cents per access line, commissioners agreed 3-0 at a partially virtual Tuesday meeting. The commission adopted an order in docket 90000-172-XO-21 that will take effect Jan. 1. “We are on track to continue to draw down the cash reserve balance and hit the target … of 10 times the average monthly expenditures by the end of next year,” said TRS program consultant Lori Ceilinski. Revenue increased this year due to an increase in access lines, “which has been a little bit surprising to us” because they had been steadily declining for many years, she said. Expenditures that dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic “are coming back up,” she said.

NTIA hears states’ concerns about an imminent deadline to challenge inaccuracies in the FCC’s national broadband map, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said Tuesday. Challenges are due Jan. 13 to the first-draft map that will be used to determine broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) support allocations beyond the minimum $100 million each state will receive. “We will be keenly interested in the coming days to hear … from states about their needs, and we’ll be evaluating it,” said Davidson on a virtual call announcing nearly $9 million planning funds for California, including about $5 million for BEAD and $4 million for digital equity.

California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rules could take effect in April or later, said California Privacy Protection Agency Executive Director Ashkan Soltani at the agency board’s virtual meeting Friday. The law itself takes effect Jan. 1. Board member Alastair Mactaggart raised concerns about the process’ estimated length. "It's urgent that we get this stuff out to the community as soon as possible,” he said.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will likely vote Monday on proposed changes to inmate calling service (ICS) rules, including lowered rate caps, New Mexico PRC Associate General Counsel Russell Fisk told us Thursday. At a virtual meeting Wednesday, Fisk described at length a draft order that would reduce an existing cap of 15 cents per minute on intrastate rates to 12 cents for state prisons and 14 cents for large local jails (docket 20-00170-UT). Commissioners decided to hold off voting Wednesday. The FCC sent letters in 2020 to about half the states asking them to update ICS rules, but not to New Mexico because its rule was already “pretty good,” with existing rate caps close to what the FCC was considering, Fisk said. The PRC still decided to update its rules to account for recent technological changes since its inmate calling rules were made a decade ago, he said. The PRC might need to act again in one to two years in response to expected further FCC changes, he said. Reducing the intrastate rate cap to 12 cents will help the state “keep pace” with recent FCC rule changes, said New Mexico PRC staff in Sept. 30 comments (see 2210030053). The state attorney general’s office supported lowering rates, while ICS provider ViaPath said its rates already were below the existing cap. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) must soon choose three commissioners to replace the current five elected commissioners Jan. 1. New Mexicans voted on Nov. 5, 2020, to switch to a governor-appointed commission (see 2011040043). “We anticipate an announcement from the governor’s office soon,” a PRC spokesperson emailed Wednesday. The nominating committee OK'd nine candidates Dec. 2 for the governor’s consideration. The governor’s office didn’t comment.

Two federal judges noted recent Georgia political developments as they pushed back on arguments that the Georgia Public Service Commission election violates 1965 Voting Rights Act Section 2 protections against racial discrimination. The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral argument Thursday on Georgia’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that electing PSC members for specific districts on a statewide, at-large basis illegally dilutes Black residents' votes (see 2210200035). The Supreme Court in August postponed Nov. 8-scheduled Georgia PSC elections, reversing the 11th Circuit's 2-1 decision to reverse the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is preparing for the NTIA broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, after receiving planning funds, Chair Dan Watermeier (R) told state senators Tuesday. The Nebraska Senate Transportation and Telecommunications Committee heard updates on state broadband and 911 upgrade efforts at a livestreamed hearing. Earlier that day, PSC commissioners opened a docket to administer Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) broadband support through the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program (NBBP).