DOJ urged a federal court not to acquit former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza. Last month, La Schiazza asked the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois to toss bribery and racketeering charges against him after a trial ended in a hung jury (see 2409300022). “In his effort to satisfy his nearly insurmountable burden, defendant ignores, mischaracterizes, and unfairly slants the abundant incriminating evidence that would easily allow a reasonable jury to conclude that the government established the essential elements of each charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt,” DOJ wrote Monday in case 22-CR-520. It added that the court may not independently weigh trial evidence and decide the government failed to meet its burden. “The law requires the Court to view the totality of the trial evidence in the light most favorable to the government, not the defendant, draw all reasonable inferences in the government’s favor, and grant his motion only if it finds the record was so devoid of evidence that a reasonable jury could not have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” To show a violation of the Travel Act, the government need not “prove a corrupt state of mind, much less prove the completion of the underlying bribery offense,” DOJ added. La Schiazza was accused two years ago of authorizing monthly payments totaling $22,500 to a close ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D). Madigan then pushed through legislation that La Schiazza backed, making it easier for AT&T to terminate its costly carrier of last resort obligation. That obligation required the company to continue providing landline services to Illinois residents, according to an indictment.

New Jersey started its challenge process for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the state's Board of Public Utilities said Monday. The Office of Broadband Connectivity opened a portal where ISPs, nonprofits and local and tribal governments may challenge whether specific locations are unserved or underserved with high-speed internet, the board said. Eligible challengers must register on the portal before Nov. 4, which is the first day when challenges will be accepted. The broadband office will accept challenges for 30 days, followed by ISP rebuttals for another 30 days. After that, the OBC will have 30 days to make final determinations. Board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said residents should participate by asking a nonprofit or local government to submit challenges for them.

North Carolina needs more help from cellphone and internet companies in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Attorney General Josh Stein (D) said Monday. Stein, who is running for governor, asked companies to provide unlimited, high-speed service to people in western North Carolina at no cost for at least two billing cycles. Additionally, Stein asked companies to reimburse customers for charges when they couldn’t use their phones. “I appreciate that many cell and internet providers have been hard at work to restore services in the mountains, and many communities are back online,” said Stein. “But the people of western North Carolina need more help.” Cable companies Comcast and Charter Communications gave free access to Wi-Fi access points during the hurricane, while T-Mobile provided unlimited talk, text and data in many affected areas (see 2409270058).

Verizon formally asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. California and many other states will review the deal, which was announced last month (see 2409050010). The companies also filed an application at the FCC last week (see 2410160049). “Verizon possesses the financial standing and expertise necessary to optimize Frontier’s networks,” the companies said in their Friday application at the CPUC. “By leveraging its significant financial strength, capital resources, and unparalleled technology, tools, and training, Verizon will build on Frontier’s post-bankruptcy efforts since April 2021 to deliver better service, increase value, and offer more choice to current Frontier customers.” The transaction’s benefits “will be achieved with no offsetting public interest harm, as Verizon and Frontier do not materially compete and have no plans to do so,” they added.

The District of Columbia’s universal service surcharge will be 0.25% in 2025, up from 0.2% in 2024, said the D.C. Public Service Commission in an order Friday. The 2025 budget for the D.C. universal service trust fund will be $446,000.

California, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Washington collected and distributed more than $110 million in 988 fees in 2023 for 988 Lifeline purposes, according to the FCC's latest annual 988 fee accountability report to Congress. The reports are required under the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act. Published in Friday's Daily Digest, the report said collection and distribution of 988 fees will be more prevalent in coming years. Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon reported establishing a funding mechanism but did not collect or impose 988 fees, while Maryland and Vermont recently passed legislation establishing fee-based funding mechanisms to support 988.

Citing "unanticipated and exorbitant inflationary effects of network construction," Cable One is dropping out of the rural deployment opportunity fund program in Idaho, while Fidelity Cablevision is doing the same in Missouri, according to nearly identical docket 20-34 letters Friday. Cable One -- authorized to receive $3,225,684 in RDOF support over 10 years for 863 locations in Idaho -- said it has made "significant investment" in the state, but "the planned RDOF deployment in Idaho is no longer viable due to unforeseeable costs that have increased dramatically since the conclusion of the RDOF auction." Fidelity -- authorized to receive a total of $37,979 in RDOF support over 10 years for 39 locations in Missouri -- used identical language about its planned Missouri deployment. Both said the requested blanket amnesty relief that the FCC declined would have solved those inflationary pressures. In July, the FCC Wireline Bureau said no one had shown a need for widespread relief from RDOF and Connect America Fund Phase II default penalties, and thus it wasn't providing a blanket amnesty.

The California Public Utilities Commission cleared about $41 million in last-mile broadband grants during its livestreamed meeting Thursday. Commissioners voted 5-0 for two draft resolutions comprising the seventh round of awards from the CPUC’s federal funding account. Under one resolution (T-17852), the state will award $18 million to seven projects expected to bring broadband to 2,763 unserved locations in San Luis Obispo County. The awardees were Astound ($6.8 million), Surfnet ($6.4 million) and the city of San Luis Obispo ($4.9 million). Under the second resolution (T-17850), the CPUC will award $23 million total to Comcast ($17 million) and AT&T ($6 million) for projects in Madera and Napa counties, respectively. The CPUC expects the companies to connect 2,843 unserved locations with the funding. CPUC President Alice Reynolds applauded her agency for quickly distributing federal broadband funds. “We're making multi-generational internet infrastructure investments in these communities.” The CPUC delayed votes on proposals regulating VoIP and allowing people without social security numbers to apply for state LifeLine support (see 2410150033). The telecom industry has condemned the VoIP plan and sought more review (see 2410160044 and 2410110040).

Maine will start subsidizing the cost of SpaceX Starlink internet service hardware under its new Working Internet ASAP (WIA) program, the Maine Connectivity Authority said Thursday. The effort targets the 1.5% of rural homes and businesses in Maine that lack internet access. The state agency will coordinate bulk purchases of hardware and service from SpaceX's Starlink, which was chosen through a competitive request for proposals. The agency said the WIA program will come atop $350 million for broadband infrastructure via NTIA's broadband equity access and deployment (BEAD) program to serve the state's locations that have slow and unreliable service. Eligible homes and businesses can apply starting in November for subsidized Starlink hardware.

AT&T will receive a refund of $2.26 million for Utah Universal Service Fund (UUSF) overpayments, the Utah Public Service Commission said in an order Wednesday (docket 24-087-02). The PSC approved a settlement between AT&T and the Utah Division of Public Utilities. Under the agreement, AT&T “will implement certain policies and procedures governing its future conduct and the reporting of its monthly number of access lines subject to the UUSF charge,” the PSC said. The carrier will receive its refund in monthly installments starting in February, subject to the company meeting specific obligations, the commission said. For two years, AT&T erroneously assessed a higher UUSF surcharge than the PSC required (see 2407110030 and 2405280028).