An Oklahoma proposal to switch to connections-based USF contribution needs further study, state Attorney General Mike Hunter (R) told the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC). The commission posted findings of fact Monday and conclusions of law received Friday in docket OSF 201900316 about the state USF administrator’s recommendation to adopt a connections-based method to stabilize the fund (see 2008110047). The plan might have merit but “lacks significant evidence in several important areas, including the outcome of such a transition in other states and the possible shift of burdens between customer types and locations,” the AG said. The proposal’s estimated funding requirement includes unsubstantiated expenses “derived from private conversations between the Administrator and representatives of telecommunications companies,” he said. “These projections include alleged expenses that are not known and measurable.” If the commission still decides to move ahead, the AG suggested "a blended methodology” where connections-based contribution would apply to only 20%-25% for the first year in a “gradual” transition. The legislature’s “oversight and involvement is necessary to adequately reform the OUSF,” he noted. A coalition including the OUSF administrator, Windstream, CenturyLink and many rural LECs urged OCC Administrative Law Judge Dustin Murer to recommend the connections-based mechanism as lawful, fair and equitable and in the public interest. CTIA disagreed, saying supporters failed to show that the connections method won't violate state or federal law, that it won't hurt poor or unemployed people, or that the state USF is unstable.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted 5-0 Wednesday to clear Windstream’s bankruptcy reorganization. Commissioners cleared the item in docket TM20060388 without discussion as part of the board’s consent agenda at a livestreamed virtual meeting. The proposed transaction won’t negatively affect rates nor the company's providing safe and adequate service, the agency said in the order. The board relaxed a state notification rule last month for the transaction due to COVID-19 (see 2007160027). Windstream “received approvals in more than half of the states where we filed applications to date,” a spokesperson said. New Jersey OK “keeps us on track to emerge from restructuring later this summer stronger than ever to expand broadband to rural America and help businesses succeed in the digital transformation.” Another telco in bankruptcy, Frontier Communications, notified the California Public Utilities Commission Tuesday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York postponed considering whether to approve the carrier’s plan that day. “Frontier is conferring with the Bankruptcy Court and expects the confirmation hearing date to be set later this week," Cooper White attorney Patrick Rosvall wrote in an email to the A.20-05-010 service list. Frontier had planned to submit the plan to the CPUC Friday and will propose a new date when it learns more from the court.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai declared “massive victory” Wednesday as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals mostly upheld the agency’s 2018 wireless infrastructure orders on small cells and local moratoria. Industry also applauded the court for rejecting local government claims that the FCC inappropriately preempted their authority in the federal agency’s effort to streamline 5G deployment. The 9th Circuit fully upheld the agency’s one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) order.
More state commissions are eyeing contribution and other USF changes. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission may vote later this year on a USF administrator recommendation to switch to a connections-based mechanism. The Texas Public Utility Commission asked legislators to consider USF contribution changes next year. Oregon, New Mexico and Nebraska commissions are also reviewing state USF.
New York City Public Design Commission members critiqued aesthetics of the Department of Information Technology’s (DoITT) 5G deployment plan. The committee voted 6-0, with one abstaining, to largely approve the plan, at Monday's livestreamed virtual meeting. The authority rejected installing facilities on certain types of poles, among other conditions. President Signe Nielsen, abstaining over objections about the matter’s handling, said she had concerns about how small cells looked on three or four pole types. Some “look ridiculous,” agreed Commissioner Laurie Hawkinson. Commissioner Ethel Sheffer favored customizing designs, especially since some have historic significance and are part of the “fabric of the neighborhood's design.” Commissioner Manuel Miranda asked if installations could be clearly labeled. DoITT directed industry to collaboratively design a uniform, minimally obtrusive attachment, said Brett Sikoff, the agency's liaison to the commission. In cities where deployments were unregulated, "a lot of this equipment is unshrouded and ... haphazardly put on poles," he said. Different designs for different poles could be more obtrusive and confuse residents, he said. The city’s involvement means more equitable deployment, Sikoff stressed. Commenters raised health concerns about RF emissions, comparing emissions to “second-hand smoke” and facilities to cluster bombs. Some commissioners voiced uncertainty about health risks, noting science is outside their purview. The FCC governs RF safety, Sikoff said. “We can only enforce the rules.” Some commissioners said they heard complaints about not enough outreach. Sikoff said it was sufficient and DoITT addressed concerns.
Responding to a spate of reported 911 dispatching issues, a Washington, D.C., auditor might conduct a long-awaited probe of the Office of Unified Communications next year. Alleged OUC incidents -- including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place -- could show a systemic problem, said a neighborhood commissioner and firefighter union president in interviews last week.
The Georgia Public Service Commission launched a rulemaking to set the rate electric cooperatives can charge telecom companies for broadband pole attachments. Commissioners unanimously adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking in docket 43423 at a special hearing Thursday. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) Wednesday signed a broadband law requiring the commission to set rates, fees, terms, conditions and specifications in any pole attachment agreement between a communications provider and an electric membership corporation, based on what’s reasonable, nondiscriminatory and commercially reasonable. The law requires the commission to publish the rates and other items by Jan. 1; they would apply starting July 1. Under the NPRM, comments are due Aug. 20, with a hearing possible Aug. 27; the PSC may consider adopting rules Sept. 8.
The California Public Utilities Commission conditionally opened 13 small LEC markets to cable and wireline competitors. Commissioners voted 5-0 for the proposed decision despite concerns raised by rural incumbents and would-be competitors (see 2007280058 and 2008040051). Federal and state law requires the commission to allow competition in the markets that cover 17 counties in hard-to-serve parts, said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves at the agency’s livestreamed virtual meeting Thursday. She noted it’s “ironic” that the carriers that want to compete “often are some of the major barriers to competition elsewhere.” Conditions for possible entrants are nondiscriminatory and competitively neutral, she said. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen said the decision “strikes the right balance by advancing competition,” with “many safeguards to ensure fairness, to ensure the quality of service and to safeguard consumer rights.” It gives wireline companies the same opportunity as wireless providers to compete with RLECs in the 13 markets, said Commissioner Liane Randolph. CPUC President Marybel Batjer called the decision “a cautious step forward.” The item focuses on voice amid a pandemic that shows people need the internet, so the commission should tackle that issue next, she said. Earlier in the meeting, members unanimously cleared a California Advanced Services Fund proposal as part of its consent agenda. The decision closes docket R.12-10-012 and authorizes staff to set application windows and timelines for broadband infrastructure account and allow staff to use state operations funds to provide technical assistance for tribes (see 2007060047). CASF “needs many more reforms statutorily,” said Guzman Aceves. The program’s 6/1 Mbps broadband standard is insufficient, but even under that many tribes are unserved, she said.
DOJ urged a federal court to stop California from enforcing its net neutrality law to “avoid ongoing, irreparable harm to the United States and its interests.” DOJ filed an amended complaint and motion (both in Pacer) for preliminary injunction Wednesday in resumed litigation at the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California (see 2008030043). The department argued the state law is preempted under the Constitution’s supremacy clause and fails a conflict preemption test. “California has imposed stringent regulation on interstate broadband communications in a way that directly contradicts" the FCC's "validly adopted regulatory scheme" and the Communications Act principle “that the Federal Government -- not individual States -- has exclusive regulatory authority over interstate communications," it said in case 2:18-cv-02660. California is trying to overwrite FCC policy for the nation, the department argued. ISPs “cannot apply two separate and conflicting legal frameworks to Internet communications -- one for California and one for everywhere else. This impossibility means that California’s rules effectively are the only ones that matter.” ISP associations that sued California over the same law filed their own motion and amended complaint (in Pacer) Wednesday. The California law "is preempted under principles of field, express, and conflict preemption," said ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom, saying their members "would be irreparably harmed if subjected to that unconstitutional law during the pendency of this litigation." A California Justice Department spokesperson said, "We are reviewing the complaint and look forward to defending California’s state net neutrality protections."
The California Assembly Communications Committee voted 9-3 for increasing the state broadband standard to 25 Mbps up and down. The committee voted 9-2 to clear SB-431 requiring 72 hours backup power like the California Public Utilities Commission required last month (see 2007160065). At a Monday hearing livestreamed from Sacramento, Vice Chair Jay Obernolte raised concerns that SB-1130 would require a “massive additional source of revenue.” The Republican also opposed “putting our thumb on the scale” in favor of fiber and questioned the need for symmetrical speeds because he claimed most consumers need fast downloads only. Sponsor Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D) said the bill would also support hybrid-technology networks, so cable companies could meet the standards. Cable providers claimed no existing provider in California could meet 25/25. Charter offers 940/35 Mbps speeds but its “entire service territory would be considered unserved because we do not offer a service tier package of 25/25,” said Senior Director-Government Affairs West Kara Bush. Gonzalez aide George Soares told us later that statement was false because the bill doesn’t require speeds to be symmetrical, just that each the download and upload components are higher than 25 Mbps. Charter doesn't "believe the language is clear," a spokesperson responded. The CPUC has 52 pending California Advanced Services Fund applications, meaning there won’t be any money left to fund SB-1130, said California Cable and Telecommunication Association President Carolyn McIntyre. She and Bush warned that open-access rules would violate federal law. There was confusion over what speeds the bill actually required when sponsor Gonzalez misstated that her bill defines a served area as having 25/3 Mbps. She later corrected that the bill was changed last week to 25 symmetrical (see 2007280043). Wireless providers are addressing resiliency without rules proposed by SB-431 on backup power and have valid concerns that rules will get in the way, said Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R). Sen. Mike McGuire (D) said the sponsors accommodated industry in several ways, including by making a network-wide requirement rather than applying rules to all cell sites. Industry didn’t get everything it wants but saw “significant movement toward them,” said Chair Miguel Santiago (D). The bills go next to the Appropriations Committee.