The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission set a prehearing conference Wednesday in its proceeding on whether it should revoke LTD Broadband’s previously granted ETC status. The teleconference will be at 10 a.m. CDT, said a Thursday order in docket 22-221. The Minnesota PUC so far hasn’t changed plans to hold the proceeding even though the FCC earlier this month rejected LTD’s long-form application for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund support (see 2208110011 and 2208100050).

Idaho Transportation Department staff presented possible dig-once rules to the Idaho Transportation Board at a partially virtual meeting Thursday. No action was taken. The department plans a public hearing next month and another written comment round on the draft rules (see page 139), said Ramon Hobdey-Sanchez, the department’s governmental affairs project manager. Idaho enacted a law requiring the dig-once policy earlier this year.

Brightspeed plans to expand fiber to 10,000 customers in three Kansas counties by the end of 2023, and reach another 45,000 state customers in coming years, the company said Tuesday. Brightspeed’s network is in 20 states and includes ILEC assets that Apollo bought from Lumen (see 2206290041). Brightspeed earlier detailed fiber plans in several other states (see 2208160010).

Low-income and community advocates supported consumer groups' petition to require low-cost broadband plans for all Californians. The California Public Utilities Commission received responses Wednesday to an amended petition in docket R.20-02-008. As they did earlier this month on the original petition (see 2208020033), ISPs warned that the state could risk losing broadband funding if the CPUC modified an April decision on rules for the state’s $2 billion last-mile federal funding account (FFA). Granting the petition "would ensure that the families who need access to affordable and reliable internet the most would finally be able to receive it without having to choose between paying their bills, grocery shopping or paying their internet bill,” said Alliance for a Better Community, a social justice nonprofit. “It would also aid in ending preferential treatment for high income broadband users over the needs of low-income users." LA-Tech.org, a nonprofit that helps low-income people find tech internships, also supported the change: "Low Income communities could be priced out of reliable broadband internet, depriving them of equitable access to health services and remote job opportunities.” If the CPUC fails to protect affordability, “the state risks funding high-speed broadband infrastructure projects that do not result in affordable service for unserved and underserved communities,” said the Institute for Local Self-Reliance: Reject any provider arguments to “wait to study the problem or collect data.” USTelecom countered that the “amended petition is procedurally improper” because it “fails to demonstrate new facts, materially changed circumstances, or misconceptions of law or fact.” Contrary to the public interest, the consumer groups' proposed changes would delay FFA implementation and discourage participation, which would make it harder for the state to use federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, the industry group said.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should have hearings in its Lumen service-quality investigation, said Minnesota Commerce and Attorney General offices and Communications Workers of America in a Tuesday letter in docket C-20-432. The three intervenors said, after eight months of settlement talks with Lumen’s CenturyLink with no resolution, they “have concerns with the pace and scope of the discussion and believe other action may be appropriate.” Intervenors “are concerned that consumers may be experiencing problems with CenturyLink’s service that are beyond the scope of the originally filed complaint,” they added. The PUC should have at least six hearings in different parts of the state to collect comments from consumers, local officials and others about service-quality problems, intervenors said. The PUC paused the probe in December to allow for settlement talks (see 2112150049). Lumen has “been working cooperatively" with the intervenors to resolve their concerns, said a spokesperson."We are disappointed that they have moved in this direction."

The Nebraska Public Service Commission will seek comments on implementing the Precision Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Act, which was enacted in April. Commissioners voted 5-0 for the item in docket BEAD-1, at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday. Comments will be due Sept. 30, with replies due Oct. 28.

Frontier Communications sought rehearing of an Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) decision requiring it to invest in redundancy after a 911 outage. The commission’s July 27 decision responded to a June 11 outage caused by gunfire (see 2206290010). Commissioners issued the order without giving Frontier due process or following administrative rules, said the carrier: The order is “unlawful, unreasonable, and unsupported by substantial evidence.” The ACC should vacate the order and work with Frontier “to develop a remedy plan that will accomplish, rather than undermine, the Commission’s legitimate goal of ensuring safe and reliable 911 access for the people of Arizona,” the carrier said Tuesday in docket T-20680A-21-0198. Requiring the carrier to invest in redundancy and diversity will likely result in a $78 monthly surcharge for customers, which is more than three times the average customers’ monthly bill in the affected area, said the company: “Frontier’s customers would likely drop their services in droves” if that happened.

State attorneys general have more than a century of experience in antitrust enforcement, but the model of state AG engagement is changing due to tech issues such as data protection and privacy, Nebraska AG Doug Peterson said Monday at Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado. Colorado AG Phil Weiser said states in recent years have become more active in tech regulation since the federal government has been less able to act. He said states, starting with tobacco issues in the 1990s, have built the capacity to work on a multi-state basis, while Congress is decreasingly able to deal with issues like privacy rights. "The states are where the action is," he said. Peterson said, unlike the multistate complaint against Microsoft that ultimately ended with a settlement negotiated by DOJ, the states in their Google suit have acted to maintain independence, such as retaining their own experts. Weiser said enforcement of Colorado's privacy law will focus on willfully noncompliant actors. He said if federal privacy legislation preempts Colorado's, that wouldn't be a problem as long as state AG's have the power to enforce the federal law, akin to the power they have to enforce Dodd-Frank. Peterson said privacy legislation hasn't been passed in Nebraska, but it's not from lack of interest or concern by lawmakers. He said the state might take the approach of watching how approaches such as Colorado's play out at the state level.

The California Public Utilities Commission may extend until March 31 a statutory deadline for a proceeding to update state USF contribution (docket 21-03-002). Administrative Law Judge Hazyln Fortune is expected to issue a proposed decision in the proceeding soon, said a draft released Monday. Meanwhile, the CPUC and T-Mobile’s MetroPCS proposed a March 1 start date for bench trial in state USF litigation at U.S. District Court in San Francisco. MetroPCS sued the CPUC in 2017 to challenge California assessing USF payments for prepaid phone service. In a related investigation, the CPUC is seeking up to $230 million in fines against Metro for failing to remit the state USF payments (see 2204250049). MetroPCS thinks the trial could take three days, but the CPUC estimates four days, the parties told the court Friday.

Dish Network filed an emergency motion for temporary restraining order against Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Friday at the California Public Utilities Commission, in a dispute affecting the wireless entrant’s ability to power 5G facilities (see 2208040016). Dish’s motion in docket C.22-08-002 also seeks an order to show cause why the CPUC shouldn’t issue a preliminary injunction. Dish sought “injunctive relief and emergency treatment to stop the irreparable harm that will result from PG&E’s unapproved material revision to its electric service tariff,” including cancelling some pending power applications “and substantial delay approving future applications.” Dish filed a separate motion to shorten time for PG&E to respond to the emergency motion. The Wireless Infrastructure Association asked to join the proceeding Thursday. Changes to how PG&E sells power to communications facilities “will have a significant negative impact on the entire wireless services industry,” WIA said. “PG&E’s new requirements and policies -- which were imposed without advice letter or Commission approval -- are unjust and unreasonable, and were adopted in violation of the Public Utilities Code and the Commission’s Rules.”