Lumen disagreed with a local 911 authority on whether the Colorado Public Utilities Commission should be required to investigate all “apparent” outages of basic emergency services (BES). Separately, the Colorado PUC opened a rulemaking on incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS). Current state rules on 911 outages say that PUC staff “shall commence an informal investigation regarding each apparent basic emergency service outage meeting criteria established by the 9-1-1 Advisory Task Force.” The PUC should change “shall” to “may,” Lumen commented Wednesday in docket 23R-0577T. Making it optional wouldn’t reduce the commission’s oversight authority, the carrier argued. “It would simply allow the Commission the discretion to initiate an investigation.” Use of the word “apparent” in the current rule “sweeps within its scope occurrences that are not in fact BES outages yet grants the Commission no discretion,” said Lumen: That’s inefficient at best, the company said, stressing it’s not saying the commission shouldn’t investigate BES outages but instead is saying a probe might not always be warranted. “For example, a fiber cut by a third party that results in an interruption of BES services should not always require an investigation.” However, the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority argued that the commission “would be delinquent if it did not require investigation of apparent outages of [BES] to identify means of avoiding future outages and better mitigating or more expeditiously remediating future outages which do occur.” Also, the Boulder authority noted that “apparent outages subject to investigation are only those meeting criteria of the 9-1-1 Advisory Task Force,” which considers factors such as when an outage affects multiple public safety answering points, lasts more than four hours or repeats in the same area over a short period of time. Meanwhile, the Colorado PUC sought comments by May 31 and replies by June 14 on an NPRM to change to change IPCS rules in response to two recent state laws. A 2021 law included requirements for reports and testing, while a 2023 law expanded the definition of covered communications services to include video calls, email and messaging, said the Monday notice.
Iowa extended a sunset on the state's small-cells law by a decade until July 1, 2035. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed HF-2175 on Wednesday. Missouri is considering a five-year extension of a similar law preempting local governments on right-of-way access to try to streamline 5G infrastructure deployment.
Digital equity and 911 bills passed the Hawaii State Legislature on Wednesday. The House and Senate voted unanimously for the bills after a conference committee reached consensus on final versions. The digital equity bill (HB-2359) would require the state to implement a grant program by Jan. 1. The 911 bill (HB-2339) would remove the term “enhanced” from state 911 law so that Hawaii can fund future emergency-number technologies. The bills next need sign-off from Gov. Josh Green (D).
Vermont should expand mobile wireless coverage, the state’s Public Service department said in the final draft of a proposed 10-year plan released Tuesday. The department plans three public hearings on the draft this month and will present it to the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee June 21. With an influx of federal money from the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Capital Projects Fund and American Rescue Plan Act, Vermont “is in the process of facilitating approximately $670.8 million in broadband grants, which will result in every on-grid Vermonter having access to 100/100 megabits per second (Mbps) service by January 2029,” the draft plan said. While fiber broadband is expanding quickly, mobile broadband hasn’t “meaningfully increased in coverage,” though speeds have increased, said the draft: Prioritizing small wireless facilities would be the cheapest way to expand mobile broadband. The draft would suggest a $2 million-$3 million pilot grant program for small-cell deployments. In addition, noting the end of the federal affordable connectivity program, the draft plan recommends “a state-run subsidy program to provide $67 per month to low-income Vermonters for both a wireline and wireless broadband subscription. Also, Vermont should prioritize workforce development, strengthening emergency communications systems and ensuring that BEAD fiber deployments are resilient and redundant,” the draft said.
The California Public Utilities Commission won’t shorten time to respond to consumer advocates’ petition to modify state LifeLine rules in light of the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) ending. Comments will be due May 23, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Robyn Purchia ruled Tuesday. The California Broadband & Video Association (CalBroadband) had opposed fast comments on multiple petitions by The Utility Reform Network and the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office (see 2404240063, 2404230020 and 2404150062). “We are persuaded by the due process concerns raised by CalBroadband,” said Purchia said in docket R.20-02-008.
A Colorado bill about broadband in multiunit buildings passed the Senate in a 26-9 vote Tuesday. The bill (HB-1334) would prohibit owners of multiunit buildings from denying broadband providers access to install high-speed internet. The House passed the bill on March 25 (see 2403260040) but must vote again on Senate changes. Also Tuesday, the House concurred with Senate amendments to bills on digital right-to-repair (HB-1121) and election deepfake disclosures (HB-1147), meaning the measures can go to Gov. Jared Polis (D).
Providers see no need to continue a Massachusetts probe into incarcerated people’s calling services (IPCS), they said in reply comments Tuesday at the Department of Telecommunications and Cable (docket 11-16). The state made IPCS calls free last year (see 2308090063), “resolving any rate-related issues that Petitioners originally claimed justified initiation of the investigation,” said Securus. “Petitioners’ unverified equipment availability concerns and related complaints seek to raise new issues that do not warrant continuation of this proceeding.” ViaPath agreed that the free calls law means the proceeding should end. However, in March 27 comments, petitioners -- who identified themselves as recipients of collect calls from prisoners -- flagged continuing problems with prison communications after the 2023 law. “Concerns remain that the infrastructure provided by [IPCS] providers must be sufficient to account for increased calling volume with free calls." For example, the group hasn’t verified that calling-enabled tablets are available everywhere, petitioners said. Also, some have complained about the quality of Wi-Fi and headphones provided with Securus tablets, it said.
Social media companies would be barred from collecting data on Louisiana minors under 18 for targeted ads, under a bill passed unanimously by the state House on Tuesday. Members voted 101-0 for HB-577, sending it to the state Senate. The bill covers any social media platform with more than one million users globally that operates in Louisiana.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission awarded $680,000 in precision agriculture grants on Tuesday, the PSC said. The 11 funded projects must be completed by April 30, 2025. A state law provides $1 million annually for precision agriculture projects. Unawarded grant dollars carry over to the next cycle, the PSC said.
NetChoice urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) to veto a bill requiring age-verification for social media use. In a Monday letter, the tech industry group predicted that HB-1891 “would ultimately be struck down in court as unconstitutional.” But Lee has supported the bill, which would require parental consent for kids younger than 18 on social networks. The legislature approved HB-1891 earlier this month (see 2404160019).