The telecom industry applauded Texas voters Thursday for supporting a constitutional amendment to create a $1.5 billion broadband infrastructure fund. More than 69% of voters supported Proposition No. 8 (HJR-125) in Tuesday’s election. The state will distribute the money over two years under measures the legislature approved earlier this year (see 2306120035 and 2305300057). AT&T is happy to see Texas voters “prioritize broadband expansion and closing the digital divide by passing Prop 8,” said AT&T Texas President Leslie Ward. Passage means there will be “a constitutionally dedicated funding source for broadband expansion, emergency services and next-generation 911,” Texas Telephone Association Executive Director Mark Seale wrote in an email. Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative, Inc., supported the measure during the legislative session and is "glad to see these funds being made available to enhance broadband, infrastructure and availability in Texas," said TSTCI Board President Allen Hyer. Meanwhile, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brent Bailey (R) told us Thursday there was no change in his uncalled race against De’Keither Stamps (D), a state rep (see 2311080040). With more than 95% of the vote in, Stamps leads 50.5% to 49.5%. Stamps didn’t comment.
The California Public Utilities Commission granted Verizon one more year to comply with a condition in the CPUC’s Verizon/Tracfone OK to migrate Tracfone customers to its network, the carrier reported to the email service list for docket A.20-11-001 Wednesday. Verizon now has until Nov. 22, 2024. CPUC Executive Director Rachel Peterson in July had denied the carrier's request “on the grounds" it was “ambiguous and failed to identify any strategy changes that the company might pursue to ensure a successful customer migration process,” she said in a letter. But a revised Verizon request filed Sept. 28 “remedies the deficiencies in its prior request and demonstrates good cause,” she said. “Verizon identified additional measures it is implementing to achieve the customer migration … including ‘concierge’ live customer service support, instructional videos, and leveraging the TracFone Rewards program.” A CPUC administrative law judge last week delayed a related proceeding on an Oct. 6 petition by Center for Accessible Technology to modify the CPUC Verizon/Tracfone approval because Verizon, CforAT and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) said they were nearing a settlement (see 2311060015 and 2311030008). “Delays are not neutral,” emailed Ashley Salas, TURN telecommunication regulatory and policy attorney. “The extension means some of TracFone’s consumers will not receive any benefits from the merger for another year.”
State Rep. De’Keither Stamps (D) appeared to have the edge Wednesday in a rematch with Mississippi Public Service Commission incumbent Brent Bailey (R). But Bailey, who narrowly defeated Stamps for the same seat in 2019, hadn’t conceded as of Wednesday afternoon. The New York Times showed Stamps leading 50.5% to 49.5%. Bailey continues to monitor results, the commissioner said in a statement. “While we are hopeful that there could be a favorable tranche of vote numbers to come in and swing the results, we are also realists. But we are going to hang in there until every last vote is vetted, counted and appropriately certified.” The Republican added, “The fight is not over. The fight will likely never be over.” Stamps didn't comment. Each candidate told us before the election that he wanted to ensure all their citizens have internet access (see 2311010043). Developer Nelson Carr (R) and State Rep. Chris Brown (R) will also join the PSC after running uncontested. Carr defeated incumbent Dane Maxwell (R) in the primary. If the results hold, Stamps would be the lone Democrat on the three-member body. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) defeated Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who was formerly NARUC president and a Mississippi PSC member. Reeves won 51.6% of the vote, Presley 47%. That’s despite Presley getting 79% of the vote in Hinds County, which includes Jackson, Mississippi. Reeves signed off on an executive branch broadband office in 2022 (see 2204150013). Earlier this year, the Republican approved a bill to transfer robocall enforcement authority to the state AG office from the PSC (see 2303230027). Stamps co-sponsored both bills as a state representative.
New Hampshire legislators addressed the state DOJ’s concerns about not having enough resources to enforce a comprehensive consumer data privacy bill, a department spokesperson said Wednesday. The state legislature’s House Judiciary Committee voted 17-3 that day to amend and advance SB-255 to the floor. With the changes, "uniformly, everyone is a little unhappy, and so I consider that a success,” state Rep. Marjorie Smith (D) told the committee at a livestreamed meeting Wednesday.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission adopted a multitude of telecom orders at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday. In mostly unanimous votes, commissioners adopted policies on broadband funding, state USF, dark fiber leasing rates and rip and replace. Looking ahead, Commissioner Kevin Stocker (R) asked about tightening resiliency requirements after hearing a report on October communications outages.
The Utah Public Service Commission should OK a settlement that would approve Dish Wireless’ application for eligible telecom carrier designation, officials for Utah’s Division of Public Utilities and Office of Consumer Services said at a virtual hearing Friday. Approval would let Dish provide Lifeline service in Utah. In the Oct. 13 settlement (docket 23-2641-01), Dish agreed to additional requirements including to make a Utah-specific fact sheet for consumers to know what service they will receive, comply with all applicable Utah customer protection requirements, report to the division on any plan changes, and pay USF and emergency fees, said Ronald Slusher, DPU utilities technical analyst. Approval would lead to a just and reasonable result and is in the public interest, said Alex Ware, OCS utility analyst. Administrative Law Judge John Delaney said the PSC will “issue an order in due course.” A Utah PSC spokesperson emailed, “The PSC will consider the settlement stipulation and issue a written order at a later date.”
Louisiana means to keep its lead among states in broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) planning, even with a change in governors, said ConnectLa Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar in an interview. Louisiana last month picked Jeff Landry, now the state's attorney general, flipping to red a Democratic seat held by term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards. Ahead of more elections across the country Tuesday, Mississippi Public Service Commission candidates told us they want to ensure all their citizens have internet access.
Industry sought some edits to a sweeping update to state telecom rules under consideration at the Texas Public Utility Commission. The PUC received comments Friday to Sept. 26 proposed changes to Texas Chapter 26 substantive telecommunications rules (docket 54589). The Texas Telephone Association (TTA) commended the PUC’s "Herculean effort in crafting proposed changes to the entire chapter on telephone regulations all at once."
Frontier Communications agreed to spend $100 million on its Pennsylvania network through 2026 under a settlement agreement. Under the Wednesday pact with state consumer and small-business advocates, Frontier will also give bill credits to customers with service problems prospectively and retroactively. The proposed settlement to resolve a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission probe “will improve the quality of service for Frontier Commonwealth customers and will require it to invest in its network, be more responsive to customer trouble reports, and provide certain refunds and credits,” said the state's Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) in a statement of reasons.
California gave $400 million to Lumen to deploy open-access fiber by 2027 as part of the state's planned middle-mile network, the carrier said Wednesday. The California Department of Technology (CDT) broadband award is “great” for Californians and Lumen stakeholders alike, said CEO Kate Johnson. California’s $6 billion broadband bill in 2021 charged CDT with building a 10,000-mile middle-mile network. CDT now has about 83% of the network under contract for construction and leases, Mark Monroe, Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative deputy director, said at a California Broadband Council meeting Wednesday. The CDT official responded to concerns, such as by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, that the state may no longer reach all areas that were promised. “Every segment throughout California is important," stressed Monroe. A phased approach to construction created confusion that segments had been reprioritized, he said. But work on a corridor running through Oakland never stopped, with preconstruction work expected to be completed next year and construction to immediately follow, he said. Monroe apologized for the temporary disappearance from CDT’s map of planned segments in Los Angeles’ Gateway Cities region, including Compton. Blaming a geographic information system glitch, Monroe said CDT republished the map less than 24 hours after realizing its error. “These areas remain a priority,” with preconstruction work expected to finish by December 2024. CDT will try to be more transparent about map changes that can occur when the department decides to use parallel routes “to provide quicker service through leasing,” added Monroe. Also, he noted that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has committed to adding middle-mile funding in the state budget. Meanwhile, the California Public Utilities Commission saw more interest for its new federal funding account for last-mile projects than the CPUC has ever seen for one of its grant programs, Commissioner Darcie Houck told the council. In the first cycle that closed Sept. 29, the agency received 483 grant requests for $4.6 billion. A 28-day challenge process began Monday; applicants will get 28 days to respond to objections. Houck said the CPUC may adopt rules for the $750 million broadband loan loss reserve program at its Nov. 2 meeting. It received comments on a proposed decision earlier this month (see 2310190042). The agency aims to take applications in Q1 2024 and make awards in Q2, she said. Also, the commissioner said to expect proposed revisions to the California Advanced Services Fund public housing program by year-end.