NTIA gave Wyoming approval to collect more than $347 million in broadband equity, access and deployment funds Thursday. The agency approved volume 2 of the state’s initial proposal, granting it access to Federal Internet for All funds. NTIA has approved BEAD initial plans for 30 states plus three territories and the District of Columbia. Twenty states and two territories have volume 2 initial proposals pending approval. NTIA expects it will review most of these by September (see 2408010053).

States may not be able to use money from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program to fund areas where an entity has defaulted on rural digital opportunities fund (RDOF) commitments, three state broadband directors said during a panel Wednesday at Mountain Connect in Denver. Should a company default on RDOF after NTIA has approved a jurisdiction’s dataset of available locations resulting from that state's or territory’s challenge process, “our hands are … tied” and BEAD can't fund that area, Sarah Baska, Georgia broadband director, said. “If we have remaining funds after we go through all the awards, we were told we cannot use those funds to … go back and rebid those areas.” Remaining money can be used only for nondeployment expenses, Baska added. Virginia interprets NTIA’s policy the same way, according to Chandler Vaughan, associate director of that state’s broadband office. “If we certify our challenge results with NTIA on Sept. 1 and there is an RDOF default on Sept. 2, we cannot get to that location under the BEAD program. No exceptions.” Arkansas State Broadband Office Director Glen Howie said NTIA should be aware of this concern. “Once our map is locked, our map is locked” and the state can’t do anything about defaults that occur afterward, he said. “It’s critically important that the federal government” understands that if there are defaults on any broadband program, “they have to be on the hook to find a new awardee,” said Howie. “That’s the only way that this thing will work.” At Mountain Connect this week, state broadband directors reported progress meeting BEAD requirements as they prepare to distribute $42.5 billion across the U.S. next year (see 2408070029 and 2408060048).

The California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday handed down a $200,000 fine against T-Mobile’s MetroPCS for universal service violations. Administrative Law Judge Robert Mason in June recommended the amount, which translates to $100,000 per violation (see 2406250054). The CPUC’s enforcement division had sought a $10 million fine, finding that the carrier insufficiently responded to a Sept. 27, 2021, data request (see 2209230032). The proceeding is now closed, the order said.

NTIA gave Wisconsin approval to collect more than $1 billion in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) funds Tuesday. The federal agency approved volume 2 of the state’s initial proposal, granting it access to Federal Internet for All funds. NTIA has approved BEAD initial plans for 29 states, plus three territories and the District of Columbia. Twenty-three states and territories have submitted volume 2 initial proposals and the NTIA expects to review most of them by next month (see 2408010053).

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved a Verizon Wireless proposal to install small-cell wireless facilities on a utility pole within the public right-of-way. A final decision was posted Wednesday. The pole is located in New Canaan. Verizon’s Cellco “is undertaking the project to provide customers and emergency service providers with enhanced and more reliable wireless, voice and data services, in the vicinity of the Facilities,” the regulator said: “The Authority finds that the Facilities are in the public interest because they increase the capacity of the existing telecommunications system and do not represent a threat to public health and safety.”

AT&T filed a motion July 31 to discontinue service in Alaskan communities, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska said in a public notice Monday. The application indicates the proposed discontinuance would affect 500 residential and 1,400 business customers and cover 42 townships on Alaska's west coast. AT&T filed a motion for expedited consideration, seeking approval by Nov. 30. Comments are due Sept. 4.

NTIA gave Arizona approval to collect $993 million in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) funds Monday. The federal agency approved volume 2 of the state’s initial proposal. NTIA has approved entire initial plans for 28 states plus three territories and the District of Columbia. The agency approved five plans last week and expects to review most by next month (see 2408010053).

Charter Communications and Hawaiian Telcom joined a $4 billion settlement with Hawaii to resolve lawsuits related to last year’s Maui wildfires, Gov. Josh Green (D) said Friday. Under proposed terms of the agreement, which “remains subject to final documentation and court approval,” the telecom companies and five other defendants will compensate about 2,200 parties who filed lawsuits, the governor’s office said. The agreement is the result of four months of mediation. Green said his goal “was to expedite the agreement and to avoid protracted and painful lawsuits so as many resources as possible would go to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible.” Charter declined to comment Monday. Hawaiian Telcom didn’t comment.

NTIA gave Missouri and Tennessee the go-ahead to collect a combined $2.5 billion in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) funds Friday. The federal agency approved volume 2 of each state’s initial plan. NTIA allocated about $1.7 billion to Missouri and $813 million to Tennessee. NTIA has approved entire initial plans for 27 states plus three territories and the District of Columbia. The agency approved five plans last week and expects to review most by next month (see 2408010053). Meanwhile, Kentucky opened a portal to apply for broadband grants from the state’s $1.1 billion BEAD allocation, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Friday. Potential applicants can register now. A prequalification phase will run Aug. 14 to Sept. 13, in which the state will collect managerial, technical and operational information. Kentucky expects to start accepting applications in November, Beshear's office said.

Electric pole owners raised labor shortage and other concerns with Kentucky Public Service Commission changes to state pole attachment rules that are meant to spur broadband. The PSC received comments Wednesday on emergency amendments that the agency filed May 31 with the Legislative Research Commission. The PSC previously received comments May 21 on a draft in docket 2023-00416 (see 2405220040). The PSC's "use of inflexible timeframes for make-ready requirements -- rather than continuing to rely on commonsense good cause provisions -- will only compound the problems posed by [a] national worker shortage,” a group of electric cooperatives warned. Someday, the current "trickle of applications will likely be replaced by a deluge that will stretch the Cooperatives’ staff and resources, frustrating pole owners and attachers alike,” they added. Duke Energy questioned the PSC’s plan that would allow an attacher with multiple applications to choose the order a utility should review them. Prioritizing a new application would reset the review period of an older application currently under review, under the change. But Duke said "the need to track priorities and reset timelines of individual applications will create confusion, inefficiencies, and an unreasonable administrative burden for the utility.” The electric co-ops also raised concerns about that change. “Giving attachers the ability to reprioritize their applications at their discretion -- which can just as easily be done internally by attachers before submitting applications to pole owners -- only complicates the challenge of obtaining the right number of contractors at the right times.” In addition, the PSC rules lack "adequate enforcement of timely payment,” the co-ops said. “The staggering amount of outstanding payments due to pole owners from broadband providers looms over this entire proceeding.”