Cable and phone companies that attach equipment to poles sought rehearing of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Oct. 21 pole attachment data order. The unanimous CPUC order (D.20-07-004) required pole owners to include detailed information about electric and communications attachments (see 2110210054 and 2108230009). Compliance under the decision’s time frame is “unworkable,” said Charter Communications, Cox, Verizon and XO Communications Monday. Findings of fact and the record don’t support the two-phased time frame that gives 12 months for the first submission, they said: Attachers need at least 36 months for full compliance and want one phase only. The companies would support the commission requiring data to be submitted first in high fire-threat districts, they said.

The “sky’s the limit” on how many more broadband dollars California can get beyond a minimum $100 million the state is to receive under the recently enacted infrastructure law, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said at a California Forward webinar Tuesday. The infrastructure law’s $65 billion for broadband includes $42.45 billion for NTIA grants to states under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (see 2111240021). President Joe Biden signed the law but not checks, said Padilla. To get its “fair share,” California must be “proactive” as NTIA defines programs to make sure projects and applications are ready, he said. California is “ahead of the game” because it already invested much money over many years, he said: The state knows well which areas remain unserved and underserved and about how much it will cost to bring them high speeds. How much money each state gets beyond $100 million is based on a formula in the law, and exact amounts won’t be known until FCC maps come out, possibly in early summer 2022, said NTIA acting Administrator Evelyn Remaley. NTIA plans listening sessions and to seek comments as it develops its notice of funding availability, she said. California is "ready and willing" to work with the federal government, said Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) directed state government bodies to collaborate with the legislature to prepare for the federal infrastructure law’s broadband funding, her office said Monday. The executive directive asked agencies to put Michigan workers and businesses first, apply dig-once policies, prioritize areas with the slowest speeds, develop a digital equity plan and work with local service providers to map internet coverage. “We are getting ready to deliver critical resources to communities across Michigan to help them enhance internet access and get their residents connected,” Whitmer said. “The new infrastructure bill’s funding will build on work we have already done in this space and help us usher in a new era of prosperity for our state.” Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist (D) earlier told us the minimum $100 million for Michigan from the infrastructure law could be “transformational” as states plan for a key role in NTIA’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (see 2111240021).

“Written order forthcoming” on whether a Texas social media law can take effect Thursday, said a description of a sealed minute entry Monday in case 1:21-cv-00840 at U.S. District Court in Austin. Judge Robert Pitman held oral argument, in-person only, Monday on NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association seeking preliminary injunction. The Texas law is “an overbroad, content-, speaker-, and viewpoint-based law compelling the global dissemination of speech by out-of-state platforms,” plaintiffs said in a reply brief posted Monday.

The California Public Utilities Commission is seeking comments on how much authority it has to regulate non-voice inmate calling services, said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves in a Monday scoping memo in docket R.20-10-002. A “central question" is whether the CPUC has authority to regulate rates, fees and service quality issues for video calling services, written communications including SMS and email, and “entertainment services such as photo sharing, music or video entertainment and/or internet access services,” the commissioner wrote. Comments on that and other questions are due in 60 days, replies 30 days later. “I anticipate an early decision addressing jurisdictional issues,” Guzman Aceves said. Her memo estimated a decision would come about 90 to 120 days after replies are filed. The CPUC plans a workshop on cost structures in Q1, the commissioner said. Later, parties will comment on appropriate method and data sources the CPUC should use to inform adoption of permanent voice-only ICS rate caps and fee requirements, and possible interim or permanent rules for the other service types, she said: Service quality, privacy and other issues will be deferred to a later phase of the proceeding. The CPUC extended the proceeding’s statutory deadline to May 29, 2023, from April 8, 2022.

It’s a “real stretch” to say Ohio's privacy bill would protect consumer privacy, said American Civil Liberties Union Ohio Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels in an interview. ACLU seeks a private right of action, but HB-376 requires only AG enforcement, which companies would be able to avoid by fixing any raised problems within 30 days, he said. ACLU prefers opt-in to the proposed opt-out approach, and the bill would give consumers only a right to request certain information, he said. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s (R) support for the bill doesn’t guarantee it passes the Republican-majority legislature because some legislators in his own party have clashed with him and Gov. Mike DeWine (R) over government authority responding to COVID-19, said Daniels. At a September hearing, HB-376 sponsors said they think the bill strikes the right balance between protecting consumers and being fair with businesses (see 2109280042).

Small ISPs opposed Frontier Communications winning California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) support under two draft resolutions at the California Public Utilities Commission. Draft resolution T-17749 would inappropriately award CASF funds in areas that overlap parts of where Etheric Communications won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund support, Etheric and GeoLinks wrote the CPUC Communications Division Tuesday. Those telcos and LTD Broadband wrote in a separate letter that draft resolution T-17754 would improperly send support to areas overlapping parts of Etheric and LTD Broadband’s RDOF award areas. “The CASF applications could be denied in their entirety because duplicative funding is a waste of ratepayer resources, and particularly troubling because the remaining CASF money is insufficient to fund all applications submitted in 2020,” the ISPs wrote in both letters. At least remove overlapping areas from the award or wait until verifying the FCC confirmed Etheric’s RDOF award, they said.

Massachusetts legislators heard bills to rein in facial recognition technology at a Joint Judiciary Committee virtual hearing Tuesday. Facial recognition dangerously facilitates government surveillance, and the technology discriminates against people of color, said Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem (D). “This is happening,” said Creem, including in Massachusetts schools where districts are using facial identification on kids without parents’ knowledge. Her bill (S-47) would ban such government ID in public locations. Police could perform a facial recognition search with a warrant or in emergencies. Several municipalities including Springfield already ban facial surveillance, said state Rep. Orlando Ramos (D) in support of his similar H-135. The tech is “inconsistent, inaccurate and overall dangerous” for people of color who are frequently misidentified, he said. Current state law regulates law enforcement but not non-police entities like schools and public transportation, he said. Regulating government use of facial recognition is a “good start,” but Rep. Dylan Fernandes (D) is more concerned about a private company using the tech for profit, he said. His H-117 would cover anyone “including corporate affiliates, that collects, stores, or processes facial recognition data,” but not government. Facial ID could have “vast consequences for our society, but there are very few rules guiding it,” said Fernandes.

Lumen is seeking to remove two service quality metrics from Wyoming interconnection rules, the Wyoming Public Service Commission said Friday. The telco seeks to eliminate performance indicator definitions and a performance assurance plan (PAP) from CLEC interconnection agreements, said the PSC: Lumen proposed the change “due to the decline in CLEC orders for services under the PAP, rendering the program obsolete.” Comments are due Dec. 20.

Maryland doubled down on its argument that the Tax Injunction Act bars federal challenge of the state’s digital advertising tax. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month argued that case 1:21-cv-00410 is "ripe" at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland (see 2110140032). In a supplemental brief Friday, Maryland said 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "precedent unquestionably compels the conclusion that the digital ad tax is a 'tax' and not a 'penalty' for purposes of applying the Tax Injunction Act." A penalty would apply only to unlawful conduct, it said.