The West Virginia Public Service Commission should approve a 911 pact between Frontier Communications and the state’s Morgan County, the company and county said Thursday. To resolve the county’s complaint, Frontier agreed to “various acts regarding redundant or diverse 9-1-1 circuits or their alternatives between the Berkeley Springs and Paw Paw exchanges,” said the joint petition in docket 22-0686-T-C.
Pennsylvania Sen. Gene Yaw (R) supports a regional hearing on a service quality complaint by state consumer and small business advocates (see 2301310016). Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission administrative law judges plan a prehearing conference April 11. About 300 customer complaints to state representatives describe “serious and persistent service problems experienced with Frontier’s telephone and broadband service availability … and raise fundamental safety concerns for the affected customers,” Yaw wrote to the commission Wednesday. “Without access to these basic communication services, these Pennsylvanians have been unable to correspond via phone or computer with family members, physicians, and emergency services, etc. This is not acceptable by any standard.”
The California Public Utilities Commission approved an overlay for Los Angeles area codes 213 and 323, as part of a unanimous vote on the CPUC’s consent agenda Thursday. The new code is expected to be implemented in nine months, said the proposed decision in docket A.22-08-009 (see 2302100033). In the same vote, the CPUC approved about $2.1 million in local agency technical assistance grants for four applicants (Resolution T-17781). The CPUC awarded $3.2 million last January and $5.76 million in December through the same program (see 2301130040).
The Arizona Corporation Commission will wait to change or repeal state USF, said a 5-0 decision released Thursday in docket T-00000A-20-0336. Staff recommended last month waiting for a Frontier Communications rate case coming Aug. 30 (see 2302070057).
The New Mexico legislature passed a bill to clarify that illegal cramming includes only unauthorized charges for non-telecom services. The House voted 58-0 Tuesday for SB-83. The Senate passed the bill earlier by a 26-11 vote. Also Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced to the floor the House-passed HB-160 to allow the state transportation commission to waive right-of-way fees for installing infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas. The committee also cleared for floor vote the Senate-passed SB-41 to require ILECs with at least 50,000 customers to be regulated the same as rural ILECs under New Mexico’s Rural Telecommunications Act.
The Hawaii Senate Energy Committee voted 4-0 Tuesday for HB-1408 to establish a digital equity program and HB-963 to appropriate at least $33 million in state matching funds for the federal broadband, equity, access and deployment program in FY 2023-24. HB-963 also would appropriate at least $95 million received from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for BEAD. The same day in Maryland, the House Ways and Means Committee sent a broadband tax incentives bill (HB-551) to the floor.
The Dallas City Council approved an agreement for the Dallas Innovation Alliance to administer its digital navigators program as a subrecipient of American Rescue Plan Act funding. The program will focus on affordability, access, devices and digital skills, said a Wednesday news release. “Getting all Dallas residents fully engaged in the opportunities that today’s digital world provides is complex and requires each of us to play a part across infrastructure, access, skills and on-the-ground engagement,” said Dallas Innovation Alliance co-founder-Executive Director Jennifer Sanders.
The Arkansas legislature passed a bill to clarify that streaming and satellite video services don't have to pay franchise fees. The Senate voted 35-0 Tuesday for HB-1338 after the House voted 95-1 earlier this month (see 2303070078). The bill needs a signature from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R).
Arizona Senate majority and minority caucuses supported an anti-robocalls bill on the unanimous consent agenda Tuesday. The House unanimously passed HB-2498 last month, which is meant to fight automated calls and texts (see 2303090030).
Michigan received 154 applications totaling about $2.3 billion in project costs and requesting about $1.3 billion in grants under the state’s Realizing Opportunities with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) program, said the Michigan High-Speed Internet (MIHI) Office in an update Wednesday. The application window closed Tuesday. Applications proposed connecting nearly 380,000 homes, MIHI said. “The team is working diligently to cure each application for completeness and begin the review and scoring process. … Considering the number of applications, the staggering grant funds requested and the detail to which our staff and the ROBIN Steering Committee review each application, this process could take some time.”