HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Aiming to resolve claims about poor service in Pennsylvania, Frontier Communications plans to file a proposed settlement with state consumer and small-business advocates Wednesday, the parties said at a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission hearing here Tuesday. If that schedule holds, comments would be due Dec. 11, with responses from parties due Dec. 26, said PUC Administrative Law Judge John Coogan.
Utah’s consumer advocate opposed relieving Lumen’s CenturyLink of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations for new customers (see 2306230006). The Utah Public Service Commission received testimony Thursday in docket 23-049-01. “Until there is proper protection for customers without competitive choice, CenturyLink’s petition cannot be found to be in the public interest,” said Alyson Anderson, Utah Office of Consumer Services utility analyst. Anderson agrees with the carrier that “many customers have chosen competing services that are comparable in terms and price,” but she said she’s “concerned there may be pockets of customers or even individual customers within a ‘competitive’ wire center that do not have access to the competitive options available to the wire center as a whole.” Anderson said the PSC should consider requiring plans for maintaining existing telecom infrastructure and service quality. Other commenters also raised concerns. Some areas likely have effective competition, but Utah’s Division of Public Utilities “needs more information to identify areas where an exemption is warranted and areas where the public interest may still require a COLR obligation,” said Ronald Slusher, utility technical consultant. “Mere wire center market share data is not detailed enough to determine where effective competition exists in CenturyLink’s service areas.” The Utah PSC should retain CenturyLink COLR obligations “for much of its service area,” said JSI Director-Economics and Policy Douglas Meredith, a consultant testifying for the Utah Rural Telecom Association. In any area where the commission grants relinquishment, it should require another carrier to have COLR obligations, he said. CenturyLink hasn’t shown effective competition everywhere, said Meredith: It cites fixed wireless and satellite providers but gives “no evidence showing that these services are offered at comparable prices, terms, quality, and conditions as its voice services.”
It’s time for Massachusetts to pass a data privacy bill, agreed multiple legislators at a Joint Advanced Information Technology Committee hearing Thursday. But state lawmakers must decide between two proposals -- one (H-83/S-25) based on Congress’ American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) and another (H-60) that’s more like laws in states including Connecticut and Virginia.
Rework proposed rules for a $750 million broadband program to “meaningfully prioritize unserved communities,” the California Broadband and Video Association (CalBroadband) urged the California Public Utilities Commission in comments Wednesday. The California Public Utilities Commission could vote Nov. 2 on a proposed decision for the broadband loan loss reserve fund (BLLRF). The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) applauded proposed rules.
A state broadband bill passed the Wisconsin legislature, disappointing the wireless industry. The Senate and Assembly each passed SB-325 Tuesday, despite wireless industry concerns about the bill limiting future funding to fiber-only projects (see 2309290046). It will go to Gov. Tony Evers (D) for approval. “Fixed wireless is the fastest growing form of broadband in the [U.S.] so allowing wireless broadband solutions to compete for state broadband funds will only benefit consumers and accelerate the expansion of connectivity,” a Wireless Infrastructure Association spokesperson said Wednesday. The bill is a departure from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's historically tech-neutral approach to broadband grants, said Wireless ISP Association State Advocacy Manager Steve Schwerbel. "The Wisconsin Legislature has taken an unfortunate and disappointing step away from this success, passing legislation designed to put its thumb on the scale in favor of certain technologies over others. This will push the PSC to ignore quicker-to-deploy, more cost-effective projects that offer the same speed and reliability to customers who need broadband access today." Also, Wisconsin senators voted 30-2 Tuesday for SB-371, which would create a grant program at the Department of Military Affairs for ILECs to reimburse next-generation 911 costs. It will go to the Assembly.
T-Mobile faced tough questions Tuesday from a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on the carrier’s argument that states must align with the FCC’s revenue-based USF contribution mechanism. The court heard T-Mobile and subsidiaries’ challenge to a U.S. District Court for Northern California March 31 decision not to block the California Public Utilities Commission’s April 1 change to a connections-based method.
Veto of a bill meant to bolster digital equity in California’s video franchise law disappointed Assemblymember Chris Holden (D), the AB-41 sponsor said in a statement Wednesday. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) quashed that and a separate bill adding wireless eligibility for broadband grants earlier this week (see 2310110067). “California can be an innovator in creating digital equity,” and Holden will continue the work with colleagues and Newsom, he said. Broadband must be affordable and reliable in rural and urban areas, he added.
Defining project areas “is not for the faint of heart,” Washington State Broadband Office Director Mark Vasconi said. The office met virtually Thursday to start considering various ways to define them for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. “We have not made any decisions around what the form of project areas are going to look like,” said Vasconi. The state faces a “compressed time frame,” he noted. BEAD “has been characterized as a marathon, but I will tell you it’s a marathon with … timed sprints in the process.” The office probably will release a draft of volume two of Washington’s initial proposal in early November and seek comments for 30 days, he said. NTIA Federal Program Officer Tracey Blackburn said project areas are one aspect of BEAD planning that’s critical to get right. “This is a really hard one,” she said. “There are many different ways to think about doing this and there's no one right answer.”
The North Dakota Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny LTD Broadband’s application to be designated an eligible telecom carrier (docket PU-21-168). It’s another setback for the company that sought FCC reversal of its denied Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form application (see 2302160069). LTD didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to decide at its Nov. 16 meeting whether to resume proceedings on revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and whether to grant Minnesota Telecom Association and the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s motion to suspend LTD’s ETC designation in the meantime, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The PUC planned to decide last month but pulled the item due to a commissioner’s personal reasons (see 2309190068).
"Nothing in telecommunications regulation is ever easy,” said Regulatory Commission of Alaska Commissioner Robert Pickett Wednesday as he and four colleagues agreed to hit reboot on a proceeding to implement the state’s 2019 telecom deregulation law, SB-83. Commissioners agreed to close docket R-19-002 and open a yet-to-be-numbered fresh docket. The RCA had filed rules in 2021 but the Department of Law disapproved them and sought major changes, Pickett said. Commissioners agreed Wednesday to ask the department for permission to seek comment for 45 days on that disapproval memo. Pickett said legislation will probably be needed in the long run since the department’s memo puts the commission in a difficult position: "It will force us into a bit of sham regulation in certain areas."