California state lawmakers plan to probe Verizon slowing Santa Clara County firefighters’ service, at a hearing Friday, State Capitol offices said Thursday. At a Wednesday hearing, Assembly Communications Committee members advanced two net neutrality bills after discussing the throttling of public-safety service during the state's largest wildfire (see 1808220059). A lobbyist repeated the carrier’s defense that it was a customer service mistake that has nothing to do with net neutrality.
Santa Clara County, California, disagreed with Verizon that throttling service to firefighters doesn't relate to net neutrality. Verizon throttled the service during the Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest fire in state history, reported County Fire Chief Anthony Bowden in a sworn statement that was an addendum to state and local governments’ net neutrality brief Monday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1808210010). “In the midst of our response to the Mendocino Complex Fire, County Fire discovered the data connection for [Office of Emergency Services] OES 5262 was being throttled by Verizon, and data rates had been reduced to 1/200, or less, than the previous speeds,” Bowden wrote. “These reduced speeds severely interfered with the OES 5262's ability to function effectively.” When Bowden’s IT staff contacted Verizon, the carrier confirmed the throttling, “but, rather than restoring us to an essential data transfer speed, they indicated that County Fire would have to switch to a new data plan at more than twice the cost, and they would only remove throttling after we contacted the Department that handles billing and switched to the new data plan.” Verizon reportedly said it was a customer service mistake to throttle service to public safety -- and it doesn’t usually -- and the situation has nothing to do with net neutrality or the D.C. Circuit case. Santa Clara County counsel James Williams responded: “Verizon’s throttling has everything to do with net neutrality -- it shows that the ISPs will act in their economic interests, even at the expense of public safety. That is exactly what the Trump Administration’s repeal of Net Neutrality allows and encourages.”
New Mexico is the third state to decide carriers should contribute by connection count to state USF rather than by percentage of revenue, following Utah and Nebraska. The Public Regulation Commission voted 4-0 at their livestreamed Wednesday meeting to switch to a $1.17-per-connection monthly surcharge Oct. 1, and 4-0 to open a docket to revise the amount for 2019. Commissioners rejected exceptions suggested by CTIA and others. As Oklahoma also weighs state USF changes, big carriers warned the state commission not to regulate broadband or re-regulate competitive services.
State and local governments and a broad coalition of pro-net neutrality groups and companies said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should overturn the FCC's "internet freedom" order, approved 3-2 last year, which itself overrode net neutrality rules approved just two years earlier. In the opening volley of a major test of Chairman Ajit Pai’s commission decisions, government petitioners said (in Pacer) the D.C. Circuit should find the FCC had no authority to pre-empt state and local police powers and reject the FCC order as an “arbitrary and capricious” departure from 15 years of FCC policy.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) unveiled a $10 million grant program for 911 response and emergency dispatch, but FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly (R) questioned why the state continues to divert state 911 fee revenue. The New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) will award grants this year and next to counties, the governor’s office said Monday. "It is critical that first responders have access to the services and technology they need to respond to situations where every second counts," Cuomo said. DHSES Commissioner Roger Parrino said the money will fund next-generation 911 and text-to-911. O’Rielly said it’s “great that New York will provide some new money to counties to operate and maintain their 9-1-1 call centers, but the grant is pittance compared to the many millions New York siphons off from collected 9-1-1 fees.” The FCC has flagged New York as a 911 fee diverter every year since the agency’s 2009 report to Congress. New York didn’t report to the FCC in 2016, the last year for which figures have been released, but the commission said the state diverted 42 percent ($77.3 million) in 2015 (see 1804230042). Congress is weighing a bill to discourage states from the practice (see 1808170023). Cuomo's office didn't comment Monday about diversion.
The federal indictment of Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., won’t set back growing momentum to end 911 fee diversion, with House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Leonard Lance, R-N.J., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., ready to keep Collins’ 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) moving, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in an interview. Increasing national attention by Congress and the FCC is putting pressure on states to stop using 911 funds for unrelated purposes, lawmakers and other officials told us.
The Massachusetts House looks unlikely to take up a net neutrality bill that the state Senate passed unanimously last month (see 1807190052), Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem (D) staff attorney Sarah Chase told us Wednesday. The legislature is in informal session, which means it would take only one objector to stop passage of SB-2610, Chase emailed. “If the bill does not go through in an informal session in the House this fall, Senator Creem will refile it in January for the next legislative session.” California lawmakers seek to pass a state net neutrality bill by Aug. 31 (see 1808080034).
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission aims to vote next week to change state USF contribution to a connections-based mechanism starting Oct. 1, Commissioner Patrick Lyons said at a livestreamed Wednesday hearing. Lyons plans to release a recommended decision by Thursday, to be considered by the full commission at its open meeting Wednesday. “We’re expediting this because we’re short on money for the" USF, Lyons said. State USF auditor GVNW Consulting's Blake Young recommended a $1.34 per connection charge for the remainder of 2018 and a $1.11 charge in 2019 to fully fund USF those years. The current revenue-based surcharge was about 6.1 percent in 2018, up from about 5 percent the year before. CTIA counsel Jeff Albright opposed changing from a revenue-based mechanism, saying it’s a “regressive tax” that shifts the cost burden to those who can less afford it. Making the change Oct. 1 may be too soon for some CTIA members, he said. New Mexico Exchange Carrier Group President Steve Metts supported the shift to connections as easier to administer and more sustainable than the revenue-based mechanism. He said his members likely can switch by Oct. 1. CenturyLink attorney Tim Goodwin supported changing to connections but said it would be better to implement the change Jan. 1 to avoid problems. Nebraska last week decided to move to a $1.75 per-connection fee in January for residential lines, but temporarily keeping the revenue-based system for business lines (see 1808080022). Utah in January became the first state to switch to connections from revenue (see 1807160062).
Comprehensive review of Alaska USF will start by June 30, 2021, under an order adopted Thursday by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in docket R-18-001. Commissioners voted unanimously for a proposed Alaska USF revamp that’s based on a plan by the Alaska Telephone Association (see 1805300054). The revised rules, which cap the revenue-based USF surcharge at 10 percent, would sunset after June 30, 2023. The RCA started working through details of the plan Wednesday (see 1808080022). “My main priority is to kill the existing construct as soon as possible,” said Commissioner Robert Pickett, who led RCA’s work on the matter. “Quite frankly, the existing construct is just so far out of whack with the reality of the telecommunications industry in this state, it’s unbelievable.” Pickett won’t be on the commission in 2021, “but I would hope that the commission and the industry at that point in time will take a clear-eyed look at what is actually happening, particularly in rural Alaska.” Addressing contribution is key if AUSF still exists after 2023, he said.
Pennsylvania state lawmakers accused local governments of employing scare tactics to stymie state small-cells legislation. At a sometimes prickly hearing Thursday, the Pennsylvania House Consumer Affairs Committee weighed a bill (HB-2564) to streamline 5G small-cells deployment by writing state rules for local governments. It’s Pennsylvania legislators' second attempt at such a bill, and they pledged more amendments ahead to address local concerns. Wireless Industry officials supported amending the bill to give localities more control over height limits. Local government groups said they're cooperative but urged committee members to reject or adjust proposed state requirements.