Colorado’s challenge process starts Monday for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the state broadband office said Thursday in an email newsletter. Colorado received NTIA approval for volume 1 of its initial plan Wednesday, allowing the office to move forward with challenges, the state office said. The state revised its first draft of volume 1 to receive NTIA approval, it said. “These changes include the removal of a number of the proposed ‘Modifications to Reflect Data Not Present in the National Broadband Map.’ As a result, the only modification made to the data is the DSL Modification.” The broadband office plans to publish the approved version in “coming days.”

Colorado will spend about $113 million on broadband using federal cash from the U.S. Capital Projects Fund (CPF), Gov. Jared Polis (D) and the state broadband office said Wednesday. The state expects to connect about 19,000 homes and businesses, including many in Colorado's south and southwest regions, the broadband office said. Big winners include Clearnetworx ($25.3 million), Maverix Broadband ($25.2 million), the Southern Colorado Economic Development District ($12.5 million) and Fort Collins’ municipal broadband network ($10.8 million).

Kansas will designate “broadband ready” cities that address possible deployment barriers at the local level, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said Thursday. Communities seeking the certification must adopt a local law that, at minimum, designates a single point of contact, commits to responding to applications in 30 days, limits filing fees to meet state law requirements, requires a move to electronic filing and prohibits discrimination in permitting procedures.

Verizon could soon finalize a possible settlement with The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) related to migrating TracFone customers still using non-Verizon networks, the carrier said Wednesday at the California Public Utilities Commission. “The parties have an agreement in principle on most terms and are close to resolving the remaining terms,” Verizon emailed Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola. The email was shared with the service list in docket A.20-11-001. While Verizon said the deal could be done in two weeks, it asked Glegola for 30 days -- until Feb. 7 -- to conclude the settlement. Verizon said CforAT and TURN support the extension. In another docket, A.23-09-006, Frontier Communications told the CPUC that it doesn’t necessarily oppose Blue Casa’s application to relinquish its eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and discontinue local exchange and interexchange services in AT&T and Frontier territory. But the commission should impose “reasonable conditions on Blue Casa to ensure a fair and reasonable mass migration, including setting a reasonable timeframe for any required mass migration and Blue Casa’s proposed market exit,” Frontier wrote Wednesday. “Frontier estimates that approximately eight to ten weeks from the date of the Commission’s approval of the Application would be needed to migrate the 639 Blue Casa customers that are in Frontier’s service area.” Also, the CPUC should condition the exit on Blue Casa paying its outstanding balance to Frontier and reimbursing “Frontier’s reasonable costs for implementing any forced mass migration.” Also Wednesday, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Patricia Miles set a preconference hearing for Jan. 22 on Consolidated Communications' transfer of indirect ownership and control of its California and enterprise subsidiaries to Condor Holdings. Consolidated and Condor sought New Hampshire approval last week (see 2401020037).

Kansas lawmakers might scrap a state 911 audit during the session that opens Monday. The House and Senate Legislative Post Audit committees prefiled similar bills Tuesday (SB-330 and HB-2483). Those bills would eliminate a five-year audit that checks if public safety answering points are appropriately using 911 funding, whether they have enough money, and the status of 911 service implementation. The first audit was required in 2018.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission granted Terracom’s application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, the PUC said Wednesday. Doing business as Maxsip Tel, Terracom may receive reimbursement from the Idaho Telephone Service Assistance Program, said the PUC.order (docket TRA-T-23-01). The company sought ETC designation to allow it to provide Lifeline service.

Kentucky state representatives and senators will consider different comprehensive data privacy bills during the 2024 legislative session, which opened Tuesday. On day one Rep. Phillip Pratt (R) introduced the 22-page HB-24, while Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R) floated SB-15, a 31-page piece of legislation. The House bill would apply to businesses that process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers annually, while the number in the Senate version is 50,000. Both bills would also apply to companies that process data of at least 25,000 consumers while deriving more than 50% of gross revenue from selling personal data. Among the differences, SB-15 would allow consumers to use global privacy controls to opt out, such as through a browser plugin or setting. Both bills allow enforcement solely by the state attorney general, with a 30-day right to cure and no private right of action. In addition, both would take effect Jan. 1, 2026. Going into 2024, 13 states had comprehensive privacy laws.

Missouri legislators introduced a flurry of telecom and internet bills before their 2024 session started Wednesday. Rep. Chad Perkins (R) pitched HB-1995 to delete the Jan. 1, 2025, sunset date for the state’s 2018 small-cells law (see 1806040050), which preempted local governments on right of way in an effort to streamline 5G infrastructure deployment. Rep. Ben Keathley (R) offered HB-2057, clarifying that streaming content is exempted from paying video franchise fees. Two other bills would relieve broadband’s tax obligations. HB-2142 by Rep. Ben Baker (R) would provide a tax deduction for broadband grant funds for 2022 and later tax years. HB-2168 by Rep. Aaron McMullen (R) would provide sales and use-tax exemptions for machinery and equipment that provides broadband, starting Jan. 1, 2025. Another Baker bill would ban Missouri government employees from using or downloading on a state-owned device "any social media application that is owned, in whole or in part, by the Chinese government or any company that shares its user’s data with the Chinese Communist Party.” HB-2141, which would cover TikTok, wouldn’t "apply to military or law enforcement agencies when doing so is in keeping with the fulfillment of their duties." Rep. Josh Hurlbert (R) seeks to ban TikTok on school district-owned devices and district-provided internet access. In addition, the bill would halt use of the specified social media application(s) to "promote any district school, school-sponsored club, extracurricular organization, or athletic team." HB-2157 would also require social media companies to verify users' ages and restrict minors from opening accounts without parental consent. Moreover, it would restrict them from using "a practice, design, or feature" that they know, or reasonably should know, "causes a Missouri minor account holder to have an addiction to the social media platform." The bill includes a private right of action and state attorney general enforcement. It would also require school districts to develop internet safety policies.

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission should OK Consolidated Communications' transfer of indirect ownership and control of its northern New England and Maine subsidiaries to Condor Holdings, a subsidiary of private equity firm Searchlight, Condor and Consolidated said last week in a petition at the PUC (docket DT 23-103). The subsidiaries would continue to own their respective New Hampshire franchise, works and system after the deal is complete, it said. The agreement wouldn't “involve the transfer of the [Consolidated subsidiaries] to a new utility but instead is structured as a change of ownership at the holding company level and will not affect any of the operations or legal identities of the [subsidiaries].”

The Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) on Friday unveiled its decisions on an initial round of funding from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. BEAM asked for public comments or objections through Jan. 22. The office proposed awards of more than $112 million to 66,328 “eligible locations” throughout the state.