The California Public Utilities Commission might waive penalties from a condition in the CPUC’s November 2021 decision that approved Verizon buying Tracfone. The condition required that Verizon migrate all Tracfone wireless customers to the Verizon network within two years. The CPUC plans to vote Nov. 7 on draft resolution T-17849 to waive the penalty that would amount to $60,000 per day. “Verizon and TracFone have engaged in concerted efforts using a robust outreach plan, incentives, and strategies … to migrate customers in compliance with” the condition, the draft said. “The Commission understands that it is the consumer's choice not to migrate to the Verizon network. Customers who choose not to migrate despite repeated efforts to inform them of the opportunity to do so and not lose service will receive ample notice 60 days, 30 days, and 7 days before their service ends.” Consumer advocates have been fighting with Verizon over customer migration delays (see 2402230055).

West Virginia cable companies and utilities must use email and text messages when notifying customers about planned and unplanned outages, the West Virginia Public Service Commission said Friday. Also, the PSC asked the companies to seek updated contact information from customers. The directive follows a PSC investigation into outage notifications (see 2407310043).

Don’t make wireless carriers become carriers of last resort (COLR), CTIA said in comments posted Thursday at the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC received comments this week about updating COLR obligations (see 2410020037). Directing wireless companies to involuntarily be COLRs “would be inconsistent with the competitive marketplace in which wireless providers operate,” said the wireless industry association. The “classical elements of COLR policy are ill-adapted to, or … prohibited in, the wireless marketplace,” added CTIA: Under federal law, no state may regulate wireless rates or market entry.

Tech industry groups urged South Dakota lawmakers to hit the brakes on a possible age-verification bill. The legislature’s Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access is weighing proposals (one, two and three) requiring age verification of children when accessing apps from app stores. “If enacted, such proposals would almost assuredly violate South Dakotans’ First Amendment rights, weaken their privacy, and fail to keep kids safe online,” NetChoice wrote Wednesday. Industry is litigating age-verification measures in several other states. “Implementing such a measure in South Dakota would likely meet the same fight and lead to costly legal challenges without providing any real benefits to the state's residents,” NetChoice added. Requiring companies to verify ages and parental consent “raise[s] significant privacy concerns,” the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote to the study committee earlier this week. “The proposed act suggests imposing a government-mandated requirement that conflicts with data minimization principles ingrained in standard federal and international privacy and data protection compliance practices,” said CCIA. The association added, “Age verification solely at the device operating system or application store level overlooks access to websites via desktop or other devices.”

The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed an 811 measure that would reauthorize the state’s call-before-you-dig law. Senators voted 48-0 for SB-1237 on Tuesday. The House Consumer Protection Committee sent a similar measure (HB-2189) to the floor on Monday (see 2409300010). The House voted narrowly to amend the bill and recommitted it to the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Appropriations panel cleared HB-2189 and the House voted 120-82 to pass the bill.

Kansas plans that it will open applications Oct. 21 for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said Monday. It will close the window for seeking funding on Dec. 5, Kelly's office said. NTIA allocated $451.7 million to Kansas.

Comments will be due Oct. 10 on how California will treat VoIP providers going forward, the California Public Utilities Commission said. Replies will be due Oct. 15. Administrative Law Judge Camille Watts-Zagha extended the deadlines by one week in a Friday ruling (docket R.22-08-008). The CPUC’s proposed decision would say that interconnected VoIP providers are telephone corporations subject to the same laws and rules as other wireline and wireless telcos (see 2409130046).

The California Public Utilities Commission seeks comments by Oct. 29 on a staff proposal recommending a permanent intrastate rate cap for debit, prepaid and collect calls for incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS), said a ruling by Administrative Law Judge Robert Haga in docket R.20-10-002. The proposal would also make permanent the current cap on ancillary fees. In addition, staff recommended a process for periodic adjustments and a way for providers to seek changes “specific to their circumstances.” Replies will be due Nov. 19.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued judgments on a variety of telecom, privacy and social media bills before the legislative session ended Monday. The governor signed AB-2765, which requires that the California Public Utilities Commission report on inspections that ensure companies comply with resiliency plans. But Newsom vetoed AB-1826 to update the state’s 2006 video franchise law, the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act. It would have increased DIVCA fines for service-quality problems and sought increased participation from the public and its advocates in the franchise renewal process. Newsom had also vetoed a 2023 version of the bill (see 2310120008). “Unfortunately, this bill, like its predecessor, falls short of addressing the broader challenges we face in closing the Digital Divide,” said Newsom in his veto message. On privacy, Newsom approved AB-1008, which clarifies that personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) can exist in different formats. Also, he signed SB-1223, which amends the CCPA to include “neural data” as a type of sensitive personal information. The governor signed AB-1282, which orders a study on mental health risks of social media for children. And he approved SB-1283, which will require that schools adopt limits or bans on student use of smartphones to keep kids off social platforms when on campus. Also, Newsom signed AB-2481, which will create a mechanism for people who report threatening content on social networks. And he approved SB-1504, which tightens a cyberbullying law that requires social platforms to have reporting mechanisms. But Newsom vetoed AB-1949, which sets stricter limits on sharing children’s personal data under the CCPA. “This bill would fundamentally alter the structure of the CCPA to require businesses, at the point of collection, to distinguish between consumers who are adults and minors,” he said in a veto statement. “I am concerned that making such a significant change to the CCPA would have unanticipated and potentially adverse effects on how businesses and consumers interact with each other, with unclear effects on children's privacy.”

Lumen’s CenturyLink asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to reconsider an order finding that the telecom company violated Minnesota service quality rules. Earlier this year, the Minnesota PUC decided that the company must quickly rehabilitate its network statewide (see 2406200036). The company on Friday filed a petition for rehearing, reconsideration and clarification (docket C-20-432). Lumen said the order contained legal errors and the record did not support many of its findings. However, the carrier said it “appreciates” service quality concerns about plain old telephone services and proposed an improvement plan. Adopting the plan, rather than leaving in place the order, “would allow all parties and the Commission to move forward to ensure the provision of safe and adequate telephone service in Minnesota, while also furthering the State’s ambitious broadband service goals.”