State and local governments should consider broadband access as they assess affordable housing and community development needs, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD added the broadband requirement to its Consolidated Plan with a rule to be in Friday's Federal Register. The plan outlines priorities for funding by HUD’s formula block grant programs. “States and localities that submit a Consolidated Plan [must] describe the broadband access in housing occupied by low- and moderate-income households,” said the notice. If low-income residents in the communities lack such access, it said, "States and jurisdictions must consider providing broadband access to these residents in their decisions on how to invest HUD funds.” The digital divide remains a problem, many say (see 1612130066).

San Francisco landlords of multi-dwelling units may not interfere with tenants’ choice of ISPs, under an ordinance adopted Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. The board voted 11-0 to pass the measure, which got support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (see 1612080013). In a blog post Wednesday, EFF said such local measures may become increasingly important if the Trump administration reverses net neutrality rules. “In absence of rules protecting users, fair competition can go a long way to deter practices like site blocking and censorship,” wrote EFF activist Elliot Harmon. “If the FCC’s Open Internet Order doesn’t survive the transition -- or if it simply goes unenforced -- then one way that cities can help mitigate the damage is through local laws like this one. Similarly, if the FCC fails to adequately protect Internet users’ privacy, then subscribers will be able to choose ISPs that stand up for their rights.”

New York State officials said their broadband program is "technology neutral and open to wireline, fixed wireless, and satellite broadband providers." They continued to push for an expedited FCC waiver to augment a New York broadband reverse auction with money from federal Connect America Fund Phase II subsidy support slated for use in a commission auction (see 1610130047). Rules for the next phase of the New York broadband auction "will specifically allow satellite providers to participate," said a filing posted Thursday by Empire State Development (ESD) in docket 10-90 on a meeting with Wireline Bureau officials. ViaSat and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association last week voiced concern the New York eligibility rules could exclude "cost-effective" technologies from the state program (see 1612080058). "Broadband services providing 100 Mbps or greater download speeds are preferred in the auction, but only if bids for such services are cost reasonable," said ESD. "Broadband services providing 25 Mbps or greater are eligible for the auction in areas where cost-reasonable 100 Mbps services are unavailable. In such cases, New York will award funding to the bidder with the lowest cost of service in the State regardless of technology." The filing said New York officials also discussed with satellite providers their possible participation in the state program. ViaSat and WISPA made their arguments this week, this time to an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

Government agencies should partner with tech companies and nonprofits to create online tools connecting low-income people to public and philanthropic programs to which they're eligible, the Progressive Policy Institute said. PPI and Hunger Free America released a report proposing what it called Health, Opportunity and Personal Empowerment (Hope) accounts at a Tuesday event in New York City. “The only thing low-income people have less of than money, is time," Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg said in a news release. "The new HOPE technology partnership would streamline multiple government and nonprofit safety net programs all into one user-friendly device, allowing low income individuals to fill out one application, rather than wait in line for hours at up multiple government and nonprofit assistance offices.” NYC Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks supported the report at Tuesday’s event, PPI said.

Vermont may conclude interconnected VoIP is a telecom service and not information under federal law. Public Service Board Hearing Officer George Young recommended the finding in a proposed decision in docket 7316 we obtained Tuesday. Comments are due Dec. 23 on the proposed decision, which isn’t final and may be modified by the board, Young wrote in a cover letter. The board has been examining whether fixed VoIP is an information or telecom service since 2013, when the Vermont Supreme Court remanded the board’s past VoIP decision, and PSB Member Sarah Hofmann last month hinted a decision was imminent (see 1611150014). The proceeding focuses on how Comcast’s fixed VoIP service meets that definition under federal law. The board previously ruled interconnected VoIP is a telecom service rather than information, arguing federal law doesn't pre-empt state regulation due to the ability to divide interstate and intrastate traffic. The company appealed the regulators’ decision. The court agreed with its appeal, but remanded to the board on the classification question. "Notwithstanding the differences in the manner in which calls are transmitted, from the consumer's perspective, there is no perceived difference between the VoIP service and traditional landline service,” said the proposed decision dated Friday. The customer uses the same phone, plugs into the same outlets and has the same voice communication experience, it said. Comcast markets its VoIP service as a substitute for the switched landline service, it said. The proposed decision cites in part the FCC net neutrality order, including an FCC finding that a provider is a common carrier “by virtue of its functions.” It also cited a 1998 FCC report to Congress in which the commission reached the tentative conclusion that "phone-to-phone" IP telephony is telecom service. And it referred to the Supreme Court Brand X decision saying an entity may not avoid Title II regulation of a telecom service by bundling it with an information service. Despite the precedent, some uncertainty remains, it said: "The FCC still has not definitively classified VoIP services as telecommunications services or information services." The proposed decision didn’t resolve how the board should regulate providers of VoIP services pursuant to state law authority. That question will be answered in a second phase of the investigation, it said. A PSB spokeswoman declined comment. Comcast didn't comment.

Charter and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission fired more shots at each other’s motions for summary judgment before Jan. 9 oral argument in federal court on whether the PUC may regulate the cable operator's VoIP service as a telecom service (see 1611250026). Charter’s complaint alleged the PUC overstepped its authority by imposing on VoIP services state regulations for traditional phone services. The case began in March 2013, when the company transferred 100,000 Minnesota customers to an affiliate that provided VoIP phone service that wasn't certified by the PUC. The agency said interconnected VoIP is a telecom service subject to state regulation, but the operator and the Voice on the Net Coalition said it’s an information service subject only to FCC regulation. In a Friday reply (in Pacer), the PUC urged the court to grant its motion and dismiss all of Charter’s claims with prejudice. Charter replied (in Pacer) that the court should grant the company’s motion against the PUC and follow four other federal courts that held interconnected VoIP is an information service.

Verizon will postpone planned disconnections of copper service in Maryland through Feb. 15, the company said. Verizon wants to cooperate with Maryland PSC staff “to complete its network transformation process as transparently and smoothly as possible,” said a Friday letter to the state commission. Last month, the telco opposed an investigation sought by the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, with the company saying it violated no FCC rules when it sent copper retirement notices to Maryland consumers (see 1611230049).

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell lost the election for U.S. Senate to Republican John Kennedy, in a run-off Saturday. Kennedy replaces retiring Sen. David Vitter, Republican chairman of the Small Business Committee and member of the Judiciary Committee. Campbell's term on the PSC expires Dec. 31, 2020, and the commissioner hasn't said he will depart sooner, a PSC spokesman said. Meanwhile in Ohio, the Public Utilities Commission nominating council seeks new commissioners to fill vacancies on the five-member body, the state agency said in a Sunday news release. One is for an unexpired term ending April 10, 2020, and the other is for a five-year term that starts April 11. Gov. John Kasich (R) chose Howard Petricoff in June for the first slot, but after the state Senate appeared unlikely to confirm him, Petricoff announced his resignation Dec. 2. Under the Ohio process, applications are due to the nominating council Jan. 12, and the council on Jan. 26 will interview candidates and select four names to submit to Kasich. The Republican governor then has 30 days to appoint names from the list or request more names. The state Senate must confirmed the governor’s appointments.

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Richard Mroz will preside over a probe into Verizon copper service quality, the BPU said Monday. The investigation responds to a complaint by Cumberland County and 16 southern New Jersey municipalities that was supported by the Division of Rate Counsel (see 1609290064). Talks among the parties haven’t led to a settlement, the board said. Mroz will rule on motions, issue a procedural schedule and preside over any hearings, it said.

Vermont Department of Public Service staff supported doubling time allowed to FairPoint Communications for addressing service issues, if the company compensates customers for more than money lost during the outage. DPS staff responded Thursday to a FairPoint petition for the Vermont Public Service Board to relax reporting rules (see 1608080030). The current metric requires the telco to make repairs in 24 hours, a goal the carrier said it has difficulty meeting. FairPoint opposes compensating customers at more than a pro-rata rate, but DPS Consumer Affairs Director Carol Flint testified that “increasing the bill credit above a simple proration is meant to provide meaningful compensation to FairPoint’s captive consumers who experience lengthy outages.” DPS Telecommunications and Connectivity Director James Porter agreed in separate testimony. "While FairPoint correctly states that competitors have not entered the market in the most rural and hard to serve areas, that is not the fault of the customer who lives there,” he said. “FairPoint does retain a monopoly -- albeit not of FairPoint’s choosing -- over its captive customers and accordingly the Department views the enhanced bill credits for those captive customers as a necessary component of FairPoint’s request to change to a ‘Cleared in 48’ metric.” The phone company Monday said it agreed to a $1.5 billion acquisition by Consolidated Communications (see 1612060041).