Keep California LifeLine’s non-usage de-enrollment rule aligned with the FCC rule, urged the National Lifeline Association in comments received Wednesday by the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC is weighing in docket R.20-02-008 if it should continue suspending a rule to de-enroll participants after 30 days of non-usage during the pandemic, due to rising costs. "While re-imposing the 30-day non-usage rule would be harmful to consumers during the COVID-19 crisis, NaLA asserts that both the California LifeLine and the federal Lifeline programs should not continue to provide reimbursements for subscribers that have not used the service for more than 180 days and are therefore unlikely to come back and use the service,” it said. Citing rising costs, the CPUC Public Advocates Office supported ending suspension of the rule while letting de-enrolled participants easily re-enroll. California has over half a million wireless participants who receive the monthly LifeLine subsidy but show “non-usage of their LifeLine service in the last 30 days or more,” costing the program $7.3 million per month, it said. The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology support suspending non-usage and renewal rules, saying “these LifeLine protections have been in place much longer than anticipated,” costing ratepayers millions.

Maryland House members voted 88-48 to override a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on digital ad tax bill HB-732. The Senate is expected to vote Friday. It's unfair Facebook and Google don’t pay Maryland taxes, said House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D) during the livestreamed floor vote. Those companies are engaged in “fear mongering,” threatening to raise ad costs due to the proposed Maryland law, he said. “We're calling their bluff” by proposing HB-1200/SB-787 to prevent companies passing costs to small businesses, he said. Those bills exempt news media and are scheduled for hearing later this month (see 2102080040). Republican delegates urged legislators to sustain the veto. The proposed tax is an “attack on small business,” said Del. Jesse Pippy (R). The state tax isn’t allowed by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, said Del. Mike Griffith (R).

Nebraska should repeal dark fiber restrictions so public power utilities can lease infrastructure for broadband, urged state Sen. Tom Brandt (R) at the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecom Committee’s livestreamed meeting Tuesday. The panel heard testimony on many broadband bills this week, as legislators grapple with how best to respond to rural gaps highlighted by COVID-19. Brandt, sponsoring LB-460, said utilities are “not in the commercial broadband business, nor wish to get into this business.” The League of Nebraska Municipalities said it would help spread broadband, but the Nebraska Internet Television Association opposed it as unfair to telecom providers. The committee also heard testimony on LB-600 to expand broadband financing options for public power districts and electric cooperatives. The panel later that day planned to consider LB-498 to require the Public Service Commission to test and map broadband, LB-656 to authorize municipal broadband, LB-338 to restore invalidated PSC rules letting local rural residents assess their own broadband needs and choose their own eligible telecom carrier, and LB-398 to increase state broadband speed standards to 100 Mbps symmetrical from 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload today. Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) testified Monday on his proposal (LB-388) to spend $40 million over two years for broadband expansion. Also that day, the committee mulled LB-456 to provide $10 million in annual broadband grants and loans, LB-604 to set up a competitive grant program for 50 Mbps symmetrical broadband, LB-455 to clarify broadband pole attachment rules and LB-520 to align state wireless siting and collocation rules with FCC regulations.

The California Public Utilities Commission revised a time frame for proposed wireline resiliency requirements up for vote Thursday. Telecom companies raised concerns about last month’s proposed decision requiring implementation in eight months in tier one and two high fire threat districts (see 2101280042). Under a revised proposal released Tuesday in docket R.18-03-011, providers would have eight months in those districts for “(a) critical facilities as defined in R. 18-12-005; (b) facilities providing service to wireless networks; and (c) network equipment located in communities lacking sufficient wireless service coverage.” They would have 18 months for the rest.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska will decide by July 19 on ATN International acquiring an indirect controlling interest in ACS Group and its telecom subsidiaries, Chairman Robert Pickett ordered Monday in docket U-21-003. Comments are due Friday (See 2101250042).

More than half the Texas House urged the Public Utility Commission to take emergency action at their Friday meeting to sustain state USF through the PUC sunset review process in 2022-23. Commissioners should consider revisiting an earlier rejected staff proposal to double the USF surcharge and broaden the contribution base to include VoIP providers, said Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D) and 77 other House members from both parties in a letter posted Monday. “We have reached a crisis,” they wrote. “While there are multiple bills filed or currently being drafted that seek to reform and modernize the USF these cannot take effect nor the necessary rulemaking completed quickly enough to mitigate the possibility of service disruption and loss of connectivity for communities in underserved areas.” No USF item appeared on the PUC’s agenda Monday. The agency declined to comment. Facing large reductions in state USF support, rural telcos sued the PUC last month (see 2101260046).

About 35 localities have joined peers’ imminent Supreme Court appeal of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding much of the FCC 2018 small-cells orders, Best Best’s Gerard Lederer said on a NATOA webinar Monday. The 9th Circuit denied en banc review in October (see 2010220061). More governments could join the cert petition due March 22, said Lederer. Municipalities want to be seen as digital inclusion partners in President Joe Biden’s administration, not deployment impediments, as they were under then-President Donald Trump, said NATOA General Counsel Nancy Werner. Local governments support Democratic priorities including net neutrality, emergency broadband benefits and E-rate during COVID-19, Lederer noted.

Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioners vote Feb. 18 on reconsidering the agency's Dec. 7 Frontier bankruptcy reorganization approval, said an agenda Friday. The meeting starts at 9:15 a.m. CST. The Minnesota Commerce Department and unions asked the PUC to reassess the order in light of Frontier commitments to other states (see 2101140032). The telco got Connecticut OK Wednesday. California, the last remaining state, is expected to vote in mid-March (see 2102030008).

The Mississippi Senate unanimously passed two broadband bills Wednesday. Senators voted 49-0 for SB-2559, authorizing the Public Service Commission to sign agreements with the FCC and NTIA on data collection and mapping, and SB-2798, allowing energy companies to lease dark fiber to ISPs. The bills now go to the House.

Authorized agents can help people tap California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) rights, but challenges remain, Consumer Reports said Thursday. CCPA lets consumers choose a third-party agent to make data requests on their behalf. This holds promise, but “additional rulemaking and industry norms are needed to make authorized agents effective at scale for California’s 40 million residents,” CR said. CR agents issued opt-out requests on consumers’ behalf to 21 companies, including Airbnb, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Equifax, Intuit, Oracle and Starbucks, it said. Twelve companies confirmed they stopped selling at least some data in response to opt-outs, five claimed not to sell consumer data, three provided no confirmation and one requested nonstandard information the agents lacked, CR said. Average response time was seven business days, the group said. “CR’s authorized agents often met confusing web forms and ambiguous communications.”