Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) issued an executive directive telling her state's departments and agencies to take advantage of resources to be provided by the recently passed Chips and Science Act (see 2207280060). Tuesday’s directive said state bodies should designate a person to facilitate interdepartmental coordination and outreach with the private sector, higher education and others, and to do workforce development geared toward the semiconductor industry. “The ongoing chip crisis is having a stark impact on Michigan,” said Whitmer. “We need to move fast.”

Florida’s landline count dropped to 1.2 million in 2021, a nearly 17% decline from 2020, the Florida Public Service Commission said Tuesday. Residential landlines dropped 19.1%, while business landlines decreased 15.4%, said the PSC’s report. Frontier Communications residential lines declined 22.9% from 2020 to 2021, and AT&T lines fell by 19.2% and Lumen lines declined 19%. The continuing trend of customers migrating to VoIP and wireless services isn’t surprising, said Florida PSC Chairman Andrew Fay: “The telecommunications industry offers consumers ‘new and improved’ technology options on a regular basis.”

West Virginia Public Service Commission staff recommended clearing a petition to transfer T-Mobile wireless prepaid customers to Dish Network. Neither party will have “undue advantage over the other” and the deal “will not adversely affect the public in West Virginia,” PSC staff wrote Friday in case 22-0636-G-P.

Minnesota's Commerce Department sought bids for a technical expert to assess whether LTD Broadband has technical, managerial and financial ability to meet its federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund obligations. The department seeks proposals by Aug. 22, under a request for proposals released Monday. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission agreed unanimously last month to open a proceeding on whether it should revoke LTD’s previously granted eligible telecom carrier designation (see 2207140047).

The Texas Public Utility Commission would allow Lumen’s CenturyLink to deregulate 20 exchanges under a proposed decision Friday in docket 53611-7. The draft tracks with a staff recommendation (see 2207110066).

Frontier Communications will spend $15 million to enhance Wisconsin infrastructure over four years under an agreement with the state’s Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) and Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Frontier will also pay the state $90,000 to resolve a probe about advertised internet speed and landline service quality, Wisconsin DOJ said Thursday. Frontier committed to improving internet speed disclosures and giving consumers the ability to opt out when they don’t get speeds they thought they purchased. Wisconsin had been part of an FTC lawsuit against Frontier until the court dismissed Wisconsin and several other states (see 2110120052). “Wisconsin consumers deserve honest advertising and reliable services related to their internet speeds and telephone services,” said DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski. Frontier didn’t comment Friday.

The California Public Utilities Commission is readying a state budget for $5 million in planning funds from NTIA for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, CPUC Communications Division Director Rob Osborn told the California Broadband Council at a Friday virtual meeting. States must submit their planning budgets by Aug. 15. The $5 million is meant to cover costs required to create BEAD five-year action plans. The CPUC submitted its letter of intent to participate in BEAD July 1, Osborn said. All states and territories filed letters by the July 18 deadline (see 2207130047). Osborn believes California is in a “pretty strong position” compared with other states because of all its work on its $6 billion Broadband for All effort, he said. The California Department of Technology submitted its digital equity planning grant application July 11 and expects the state will receive funding in late September or early October, said Scott Adams, CDT deputy director-broadband and digital literacy: The state would then have one year to develop a digital equity plan.

The cable industry is incorrect that applying affordability metrics in California Advanced Services Fund is inconsistent with CASF statutory directions, said the California Public Utilities Commission in a revised draft order Thursday in docket R.18-07-006. Responding to concerns raised by the California Cable and Telecommunications Association, the new draft said “consideration of affordability impacts is consistent with the stated goal of Pub. Util. Code Section 281 ‘to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies…’” The CPUC previously rejected CTIA’s argument that affordability metrics apply only to rate-regulated communications services, the draft said. Communications companies have resisted California affordability metrics (see 2207110030). The CPUC plans to vote on the proposed decision Aug. 4 after delaying the item that had first been scheduled for July 14. Meanwhile in docket R.20-023-008, Verizon’s Tracfone slammed a proposed decision to reduce California LifeLine subsidies when total federal monthly support applied to a LifeLine plan is more than $9.25. Other companies also raised concerns with the item that could get a vote Aug. 25 (see 2207280059). The CPUC draft “limits consumer choice and harms consumer affordability in a manner that is contrary to the” Moore Universal Telephone Service Act, a 2021 California law, said the wireless Lifeline provider: The draft “would prohibit low-income consumers from maximizing the full breadth of federal and state Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and LifeLine support that carriers would use to help design unlimited wireless connectivity offerings at no cost.”

The National Lifeline Association condemned a proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce California LifeLine subsidies when total federal monthly support applied to a LifeLine plan is more than $9.25. The CPUC may vote on the proposal at its Aug. 25 meeting (see 2207070048). The CPUC should reject the draft “and instead adopt an order that respects and empowers those needing vital broadband access by enabling them to combine California LifeLine, federal Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) benefits so that they may choose more robust service plans that are only made affordable through the combination of these benefits,” NaLA commented Wednesday in docket R.20-02-008. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires ACP providers to let households apply ACP to any internet service offered by providers, said the association: Under the draft, an ACP discount couldn’t be applied to a wireless service. CalTel and other small RLECs raised concerns that the proposal “overlooks the circumstances of rural providers.” The proposal’s “categorical exclusion of the [specific service amount] from plans that receive $25.48 in federal support is unsupported by the record and contrary to public policy,” they said. The CPUC proposal got support from The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology, which jointly commented that the draft “discourages a profit windfall but facilitates robust plans for LifeLine subscribers.” The proposal doesn’t affect providers’ ability to comply with the FCC’s ACP order, the consumer groups said.

Frontier Communications still hasn’t filed “an adequate preventative maintenance plan” for its Minnesota network, the state Commerce Department said in a Tuesday letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in docket 18-122. Frontier no longer must report service outage restoration times because it met the state metric for the first two quarters of this year, Commerce said. But it must continue reporting on the number of customer trouble reports until it satisfies that metric for two consecutive quarters, it said. Minnesota requires service to be restored within 24 hours in at least 95% of outages; customer trouble reports must not exceed 6.5% of telephone lines in any single exchange in two consecutive months. Frontier didn’t comment.