The California Public Utilities Commission again delayed voting on a controversial draft decision on low-income subsidies. Verizon and subsidiary Tracfone said last week the proposal in docket R.20-02-008 would undermine an “all of government” effort to make connectivity affordable (see 2209090047). CPUC members planned to vote at Thursday’s meeting but Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, seeking “further review,” held it until the Oct. 6 meeting, according to a final hold list released Wednesday. Shiroma held the same item for the same reason last month (see 2208230008). Also, the state commission withdrew an item from Thursday’s agenda to approve Starlink’s application for a certificate of public convenience (CPCN) and eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation (docket A.21-03-009). Administrative Law Judge Seaneen Wilson issued a new draft Tuesday that would grant the CPCN but deny the ETC, which the company needs for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. The CPUC could vote Oct. 20 on the fresh plan. The FCC rejected Starlink’s long-form application for RDOF support, and the company seeks FCC reconsideration, noted the CPUC draft. “Since it is unclear the length of time needed for rehearing, we deny the request for ETC designation at this time and encourage Starlink to reapply upon final approval from the FCC.” Wednesday in docket R.22-03-016, ALJ Thomas Glegola extended comments by one week on a report on network outages and the information the FCC requires in its automated reporting management information system. Comments are now due Oct. 10, replies Oct. 24, Glegola said in a ruling circulated to the docket’s email service list. AT&T and Frontier Communications sought a 30-day extension (see 2209080035).

The state Supreme Court will hear the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' appeal of a lower court’s ruling for Altice against the state’s cable TV prorating law, according to grants of certification filed Tuesday in docket 086408. The NJBPU appeal challenges a 2021 state Appellate Division decision that the Cable Act preempts the prorating rule (see 2110180018). In February, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a related case that the prorating issue shouldn’t be federally preempted and state courts rather than federal ones should decide the matter (see 2202250059).

A coalition of consumer advocates asked Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a bill amending the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant review process to include a 180-day "shot clock" for reviewing applications (see 2209070053). The bill is "unnecessary" and "detrimental to underserved communities," said more than two dozen organizations, including The Utility Reform Network, Access Humboldt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Center for Accessible Technology, Public Citizen and LA Tech, in a letter Friday. The California Public Utilities Commission "may feel obligated to approve an application that has not undergone sufficient vetting, or to deny the application simply because a few more days of assessment is needed," the groups said: "Either option could result in underserved communities once again being ignored by CASF applications."

The California Public Utilities Commission should withdraw or substantially change a draft decision on low-income subsidies that would undermine an “all of government” effort to make connectivity affordable, Verizon said Friday in docket R.20-02-008. The CPUC plans to vote Thursday on the proposal to reduce California LifeLine subsidies when total federal monthly support applied to a LifeLine plan is more than $9.25. The commission originally planned to vote Aug. 25, but Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma held the item for further review (see 2208230008). The proposal “risks serious harm” to those “who can least afford it,” said Verizon, saying it raised “serious concerns” in ex parte letters sent Aug. 22 to all five CPUC members. Data analysis by Verizon’s Tracfone found that many legacy emergency broadband benefit (EBB) customers “use well in excess of the LifeLine program supported standard 6 GB plan,” Verizon said. “These data directly contradict the main reason that the Proposed Decision cites for denying consumers the ability to combine all available subsidies … for the purpose of receiving unlimited wireless connectivity.” The draft “relies on a flawed analysis by CPUC Staff asserting that LifeLine customers don’t need unlimited wireless connectivity because they only used an average of less than 2 GB of data per month in a three-month period before the EBB was even available.”

Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq condemned political attacks against the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and Gov. Tony Evers (D) after a state auditor raised concerns with how the state handled broadband grants funded by federal dollars. Wisconsin Republicans said Wednesday that an alleged failure “to adequately and accurately track the millions of dollars they allocated for broadband service” shows Evers’ "ineptitude as a leader of our state.” Valcq responded in a Thursday statement, “It’s unfortunate that some would choose to take political potshots in this election season when we should be working together to get everyone connected with this very successful and transparent program.” Evers didn’t comment. The Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau said in a Sept. 1 report the agency “should improve its administration of broadband expansion grant programs, including by establishing comprehensive written program policies and improving how it reviews and awards grants, reimburses telecommunication providers, and oversees the programs.” The PSC awarded $5.4 million and later reimbursed $4.9 million to telecom providers using Cares Act funding, but the agency didn’t establish written program policies for administering funds and "almost all of the documents that providers submitted in support of their reimbursement requests did not indicate the amounts they had actually paid to construct the projects,” said the auditor: The PSC also didn’t write program rules for $99.9 million awarded under the American Rescue Plan Act “and did not consistently adhere to its grant application instructions when deciding which projects to fund.” Valcq said Thursday that after reviewing 400 documents, “the audit did not find any errors, unallowable expenses, or items purchased outside of the performance period.” It “recognized the robust internal controls our programs have in place to assess and prevent any misuse of funds,” she said. “All the projects that received reimbursement funding were completed as expected and agreed to.” In an Aug. 25 letter attached to the report, Valcq disagreed that reimbursement requests submitted by grant recipients didn’t show actual costs. “All reimbursed amounts were properly supported, per the grant agreement and federal guidance.” The PSC will better document its monitoring activities and establish written policies and report by Nov. 15 to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on efforts to address audit recommendations, she said.

A federal judge set a Nov. 29 oral argument in Maryland digital ad tax litigation (case 1:21-cv-00410-LKG). The 2 p.m. virtual hearing will be on defendant Maryland and plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s supplemental cross-motions for summary judgment, said Judge Lydia Griggsby of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Maryland argued last month there's significant state interest in precluding businesses from passing on the tax’s cost to consumers, but the chamber said the pass-through ban is unconstitutional (see 2208120053).

Colorado 911 stakeholders finished revising draft rule changes on emergency service network reliability, State 911 Program Manager Daryl Branson reported Tuesday to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. “The workshop participants were able to resolve all issues of major disagreement.” They made significant changes “to nearly every section of the proposed rules, although most of the basic concepts were retained, including” creating a rule that basic emergency service providers file a BES network reliability improvement plan with the PUC and that the commission set a tariff amount to fund the plan, said Branson: Changes included the addition of a BES outage investigation process. Colorado PUC Administrative Law Judge Conor Farley said last month comments on the revised draft rules will be due Sept. 19, with replies due Sept. 30 and an Oct. 13 public comment hearing to follow (see 2208050048).

The Utility Reform Network urged Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a broadband bill to update the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant review process. The legislature last month passed AB-2749, which would set a 180-day shot clock for the California Public Utilities Commission to decide CASF applications. TURN Executive Director Mark Toney told us he sent a letter Wednesday seeking Newsom's veto and a coalition of opponents including TURN plans to send a separate veto request later this week. Groups including American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge, Center for Accessible Technology and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance joined an earlier coalition letter asking legislators not to pass the bill. Toney is verifying that they all will join the veto letter but hasn’t heard any group has changed its position, he said. USTelecom earlier urged Newsom to sign AB-2749; previous bill opponents Electronic Frontier Foundation and Rural County Representatives of California became neutral on the bill before it passed (see 2208290020). AB-2749 “is unnecessary, adopts a broken ‘shot clock’ detrimental to underserved communities, and undermines a recent CPUC decision,” Toney wrote in the TURN letter: The shot clock “could lead to either rushed or incomplete reviews of applications.” When the CPUC made program rules, the agency rejected AT&T’s call for a shot clock, Toney told us: Giving the carrier a “second bite at the apple” would be a “real abomination of the process.” Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign, the TURN official said. AT&T didn’t comment.

National industry groups plan monthly webinars for states about the NTIA’s broadband equity, access and development (BEAD) program starting next week, the Fiber Broadband Association said Wednesday. The hosting associations are ACA Connects, the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, FBA, Incompas, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, NCTA, NTCA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association. The first 30-minute webinar is on supply chain and will be Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. “Our primary goal is to make it as easy and efficient as possible to navigate through the BEAD program’s requirements and potential deployment challenges,” the associations said.

Cable broadband is available to more than half the addresses in every county of New York state, showed a New York Department of Public Service analysis released Tuesday. The report, required by a 2021 state law, breaks down broadband availability by technology. Fiber availability varies widely, covering about 99% of addresses in Nassau and Richmond counties but less than 3% of addresses in Saratoga (2.2%), Sullivan (0.5%), Niagara (0.2%) and Orleans (0%) counties. Nearly 22% of Hamilton County and more than 17% of Cattaraugus County addresses can get only satellite. The department noted “the vast majority of address points in New York are served by more than one technology type.”