The North Dakota Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny LTD Broadband’s application to be designated an eligible telecom carrier (docket PU-21-168). It’s another setback for the company that sought FCC reversal of its denied Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form application (see 2302160069). LTD didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to decide at its Nov. 16 meeting whether to resume proceedings on revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and whether to grant Minnesota Telecom Association and the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s motion to suspend LTD’s ETC designation in the meantime, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The PUC planned to decide last month but pulled the item due to a commissioner’s personal reasons (see 2309190068).

The Texas Public Utility Commission granted a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. Dish will be a Lifeline-only ETC in all non-rural deregulated exchanges of AT&T and Frontier Communications and several rural ILEC exchanges, said a Texas PUC order Tuesday in docket 54475. Commission staff last month recommended granting the application (see 2309200060). Dish won a similar approval in Nebraska last week (see 2310030043).

"Nothing in telecommunications regulation is ever easy,” said Regulatory Commission of Alaska Commissioner Robert Pickett Wednesday as he and four colleagues agreed to hit reboot on a proceeding to implement the state’s 2019 telecom deregulation law, SB-83. Commissioners agreed to close docket R-19-002 and open a yet-to-be-numbered fresh docket. The RCA had filed rules in 2021 but the Department of Law disapproved them and sought major changes, Pickett said. Commissioners agreed Wednesday to ask the department for permission to seek comment for 45 days on that disapproval memo. Pickett said legislation will probably be needed in the long run since the department’s memo puts the commission in a difficult position: "It will force us into a bit of sham regulation in certain areas."

Illinois is interested in funding “blended” broadband projects that bring service to both unserved and underserved areas, said the state’s broadband office director, Matt Schmit, on a Broadband.Money webinar Friday. Illinois is required to connect unserved areas lacking service with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds -- and must mind how far it can stretch federal dollars -- but the state hopes to upgrade many underserved places that have less than 100/20 Mbps, he said. Internet service providing 25 Mbps downloads and 3 Mbps uploads, the speeds used for the federal definition of unserved, is “wildly insufficient” in 2023, Schmit said. States will likely start sending NTIA final proposals for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program in spring 2025, predicted Schmit: Illinois aims to file its final BEAD plan in April that year.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is seeking comment on a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation in areas where underlying provider AT&T has service, the RCA said in a Thursday notice in docket U-23-049. Dish is seeking ETC designation only to receive Lifeline service, the agency said. Comments are due Nov. 6.

Cable companies want two additional weeks to object to applications for federal broadband funding at the California Public Utilities Commission, said the California Broadband & Video Association (CalBroadband) Thursday. That would give companies 28 days total to object after the CPUC posts applications for the California Advanced Services Fund federal funding account (FFA), it said in docket R.20-08-021. The additional time is needed due to CPUC staff eliminating a requirement for application summaries, “the detailed information that must be provided to support an objection,” an expected high number of applications and “fairness and due process considerations,” CalBroadband said.

State broadband leaders should work with 811 call centers to avoid digging issues when deploying networks, said a Google Fiber open letter posted Wednesday by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. State 811 centers require utility companies to mark assets before excavation projects occur through a “locates” process, but the “current locates system is not designed to handle the vast amount of new project work anticipated in the next few years,” wrote Google Fiber. “It will be imperative to limit unnecessary locates as well as ensure locators are given additional time to prepare. We recommend updating the existing locates process to accommodate the increased construction activity and improving practices and processes to protect communities and maintain public safety.” Also, Google recommended state broadband leaders seek to streamline permitting processes, including by setting up one place online to submit permits and urging localities to choose a single point of contact to coordinate all approvals. States should restrict ISPs that have received public funding from the ability to make exclusive marketing agreements at multifamily buildings, it said. Designate a state liaison to coordinate with cities on broadband buildout, keep localities up to date on fresh deployment methods like microtrenching, and set up a state-county-city task force to share best practices, suggested the ISP.

Dish Wireless will be designated as an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) in Nebraska. The Public Service Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday for the order in docket NUSF-137. Nebraska commissioners voted 3-2 after a closed session to censure Commissioners Christian Mirch (R) and Kevin Stocker (R), the PSC said. The vote followed an independent investigation into alleged misconduct, the agency said. “We shouldn’t need a code of conduct to tell us that as elected officials we are accountable for our actions,” said Chair Dan Watermeier (R). “It is my expectation that by voting to censure, we are sending the message that as Commissioners we hold ourselves to the highest of standards and will not tolerate this kind of behavior.” Mirch and Stocker voted no. The PSC didn’t disclose the alleged misconduct. Mirch and Stocker in a statement denied misconduct allegations and slammed the other three commissioners’ decision: “Instead of waiting to obtain an official opinion on a matter of public concern from the Nebraska Attorney General, the Commission acted beyond its statutory authority, without just cause, and without having the benefit of a complete investigation.” The PSC should instead be investigating lengthy telephone and broadband outages, said the commissioners, calling the censure vote a “diversion.” The commission majority “remains largely silent” on recent statewide 911 outages (see 2309120046), they added.

T-Mobile data on California’s foster youth pilot program “was so flawed that Program youth and their social workers and caregivers may have been provided with wrong phone numbers and device information,” iFoster CEO Serita Cox told the California Public Utilities Commission in a Monday letter. “The T-Mobile data problem not only impacts the Program’s integrity, but has real life impacts on the foster youth who rely on their devices for their safety and vital communications.” T-Mobile recently reported data discrepancies with the pilot (see 2309130016). Due to the problems, iFoster will withdraw several active participant usage reports from February through August, said Cox. The nonprofit will put new orders on hold until it talks more with T-Mobile; validated applications received after Sept. 25 will be waitlisted, she said. “iFoster is frankly unsure when it can provide replacement Usage Reports, given the serious data issues from T-Mobile but iFoster will continue to work closely with T-Mobile to obtain accurate data to re-file its Usage Reports and keep the Commission staff updated.” The CPUC received comments last week on making the foster youth pilot a permanent part of the state LifeLine program (see 2309270021).

Wisconsin shouldn’t exclude wireless from state broadband funding, said the Wireless Infrastructure Association and other wireless industry groups in a Thursday letter to the state legislature’s Senate Utilities Committee. They opposed SB-325, which would limit future funding to fiber-only projects. “While fiber will be a critical component of every state broadband program, it is not the only technology capable of bridging the digital divide and comes with its own set of tradeoffs,” said the wireless groups: Adopt rules that allow the most applicants to compete for funds. Joining WIA on the letter was CTIA, Competitive Carriers Association, NATE, the Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association.