The Colorado Public Utilities Commission could post revised draft rule changes on emergency service network reliability next month. At a partially virtual hearing Thursday, Administrative Law Judge Conor Farley ordered a July 15 report on ongoing workshops to find consensus on changes meant to improve basic emergency service (BES) network reliability and set a tariff-based mechanism for funding network improvements. Farley said he hopes the report will include final redlined rules reflecting an agreement among parties in docket 22R-0122T. If it does, the ALJ plans to seek written comments by July 22 and replies by July 29, then take oral comments at a hearing Aug. 5 at 11:30 a.m. MDT, he said. If no consensus is reached by July 15, staff should file a status report that day, with next steps to be discussed at the Aug. 5 hearing, he said. Under proposed rules in a March NPRM, BES providers would have to submit a network reliability improvement plan and seek PUC certification every 10 years. “Requiring recertification is intended to better enable periodic reviews such that the Commission, customers, and other stakeholders can better ensure that a [provider] remains accountable in maintaining and updating its services to support statewide emergency service networks,” it said. The Colorado PUC convened three workshops last month on “foundational concepts,” said State 911 Program Manager Daryl Branson in a Monday filing. The group met again earlier this week to start digging into possible revisions to the draft rules, with a goal of finishing them by July 18, Branson said at Thursday’s hearing. Workshops are expected to continue through July 12, said the filing: Participants have included Lumen, Intrado, CTIA, Colorado Council of Authorities, Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) and the state utility consumer advocate.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should consider revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, said the state Commerce Department in Wednesday reply comments in docket M-21-133. ETC designation is needed for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Minnesota Commerce, which didn’t make a recommendation in initial comments last week (see 2206020046), said now that the “collective concerns raised by the petitioners, rural organizations, counties, and townships … provide compelling reasons for the Commission to open an investigation.” The PUC should launch an expedited proceeding that includes discovery and cross-examination of expert witnesses, the department said. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said it continues to recommend a proceeding. LTD disagreed, saying "It would be unfair, and violate the principle of competitive neutrality, if the expanded ETC designation granted to [LTD] last year is singled out for re-examination or revocation when other Minnesota RDOF ETCs, who made the same commitments as LTD, are not subject to the same scrutiny.” Any compliance or oversight requirements “should apply to all ETCs” and should be addressed in the PUC’s docket CI-21-86 on ETC designation authority “on a timeline and in a manner that does not jeopardize LTD’s eligibility for RDOF funding,” it said. Initial comments showed widespread, deep concerns, which are "fully justified,” replied the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Minnesota Rural Electric Association, which originally asked for the proceeding. “Unless LTD delivers on its promises, over 160,000 Minnesota residents could be denied the benefit of federal support for broadband deployment." Chippewa County wants an expedited proceeding because it has been unable to communicate with LTD Broadband and "its residents have lost faith” that LTD can fulfill its promises, the county said. "The RDOF Award and LTD's ETC designation puts Chippewa County at a significant disadvantage for economic growth and vitality."
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted 5-0 Wednesday to update and readopt telecom service rules that were set to expire July 20. Staff sought to respond to technological changes and customer concerns since the rules were last readopted seven years ago, said New Jersey BPU Cable Television and Telecommunications Director Lawanda Gilbert at the livestreamed meeting. Noting “numerous” calls for improved standards, Commissioner Mary-Anna Holden praised updated telecom service rules as “long overdue.” Changes include deleting or revising obsolete definitions, strengthening requirements for carriers to provide complete listings of all rates, terms and conditions on their websites, and ensuring companies give timely notification to customers about changes requiring rescheduling or cancellations of service calls, Gilbert said. Updated rules will modify service-quality standards to require reporting at a more granular level, require submission of annual maintenance plans for poles and wires, and require customer account adjustments within two billing cycles when there are outages, she said. Another change extends the scope of the board's existing mass-migration rules to apply when a carrier withdraws service from the entire customer base within the state without providing a replacement service, she said. Industry had commented in docket TX21040718 that the competitive market makes tightening the board’s rules unnecessary, Gilbert noted. “However, Staff believes measures such as these are needed to address matters that are continually the subject of customer complaints that we receive, including service quality issues and reports of plants in disrepair.” The BPU in March updated cable service-quality rules (see 2203090025).
California greenlit a much-awaited privacy rulemaking when the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) agreed at a meeting livestreamed Wednesday to consider California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) draft rules. Proposed regulations tilt heavily toward consumers and could raise business compliance costs, said privacy lawyers.
New York state could soon have the nation’s first digital electronics right-to-repair law, after the legislature passed on a bipartisan basis a proposal (S-4104/A-7006) Friday to require OEMs to provide parts, tools and repair documentation to consumers and independent repair shops. Advocates celebrated their first state victory on an electronics repair bill after years of trying to overcome tech industry lobbying against the legislation.
Blue state New York could soon join red states Texas and Florida in seeking to regulate social media companies. Despite opposition by tech and civil liberties groups, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is expected to sign a measure, passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the Assembly, to require social platforms to provide reporting mechanisms for hateful conduct. Also, the Assembly was expected to vote later Thursday on a Senate-passed measure that could make New York the first state with a digital right-to-repair law.
Minnesota’s attorney general supported revisiting LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. So did some local governments and consumer and municipal broadband advocates, in comments due Wednesday in docket M-21-133 at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. LTD urged the PUC to reject the request by Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) to revoke the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s ETC status (see 2205170058).
The Supreme Court’s slim margin blocking Texas from enforcing a social media law surprised some court watchers. The action via a 5-4 emergency ruling Tuesday in NetChoice v. Paxton barred the law from being enforced while under consideration by the lower courts. Questions remain about where justices would stand in a case on the law’s merits, with Tuesday’s opinion shedding light only on three dissenting members’ views, said observers in interviews.
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) draft rules are “now mostly complete,” said California Privacy Protection Agency Executive Director Ashkan Soltani at a CPPA board meeting livestreamed Thursday. CPRA is set to take effect Jan. 1 despite rulemaking delays (see 2202280040). California privacy rulemaking authority formally transferred to the CPPA from the state attorney general April 21 pursuant to the 2020 law, which succeeded 2018’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). On May 5, the California Office of Administrative Law approved transfer of CCPA regulations to the privacy agency. The renumbered rules “represent the beginning of the Agency’s rulemaking role,” the CPPA said Monday. As part of a pre-rulemaking process, the privacy agency held stakeholder and informational sessions and received written comments (see 2205040043, 2203300064 and 2203290062). The CPPA meeting continued after our deadline.
The California Public Utilities Commission will accept applications for various broadband funding programs starting in the next two months, said Commissioner Darcie Houck at a partially virtual California Broadband Council meeting Wednesday. The CPUC expects to accept grant applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) adoption, consortiums and housing accounts and the $50 million Local Agency Technical Assistance program in June or July, said Houck. The CPUC expects to accept proposals for the $2 billion last-mile federal funding account in July, she said. The agency aims to release a straw proposal for the $750 million Loan Loss Reserve Fund in August, with comments and workshops to follow, the commissioner said. The CPUC plans to release a proposal to update CASF infrastructure account rules by the end of Q2 this year, she said. Houck is “very aware” $2 billion won’t be enough for the last-mile program but hopes the state will soon get much more from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, she said. The CPUC is developing a framework to define essential broadband service affordability standards, said Communications Division Director Rob Osborn: Expect a proposed decision coming in June or July. More granular broadband data, based on location rather than census block, is due June 1 and the commission hopes to publish it by year-end, he said. California’s State Transportation Agency and Transportation Department (CalTrans) aim by Dec. 31 to complete a dig smart policy that would allow for collocation of underground conduits, said CalTrans Broadband Coordinator Elizabeth Dooher.