Continuing 911 problems in the nation's capital were raised at a District of Columbia Council hearing Thursday. Witnesses complained of long hold times, plus problems sending first responders to the correct location when the emergency is at a place such as a freeway or park, instead of a street address. Many problems cited by government officials, an expert, a union representative and advocates during the city council's Judiciary and Public Safety Committee hearing have been reported in our ongoing series on the Office of Unified Communications, which sends out rescuers. (For our latest reports, see here and here.) Stakeholders expressed hope that inaccuracies sending the correct response to the right place are being addressed. They cited better communication between OUC and agencies like Washington's Fire and EMS Department, as well as more transparency by OUC when 911 mistakes occur. Committee Chairman Charles Allen (D) noted that Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly and witnesses including 911 expert Dave Statter expressed hope. Describing himself as "one of DC 911’s biggest critics," Statter had some "optimism" with the end of OUC denials and double-talk on mistakes. "It’s refreshing to finally hear an admission that there are problems," he said. Interim Director Cleo Subido is "moving the ball forward," Statter said: "Her challenges" are "many," and "there have been some recent serious mistakes." Subido and others agreed that waits occur. D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council Chair Rachel Maisler, who says she was testifying for herself, recounted being on hold two times when she contacted 911, including for a gunshot victim. "Minutes were ticking away" as she waited on hold at OUC, whose operators' performance the District resident praised -- once the office had capacity to answer her call. Washington Area Bicyclist Association Outreach Manager Ursula Sandstrom recounted problems sending assistance to places like trails. "OUC needs to ensure that dispatchers are set up for success" with the necessary technology and tools, she testified, so "that residents are confident that if they call, they receive prompt and accurate help." Union official Debbie Hart-Knox cited her concerns of "negative depictions of those members I serve" from reports about dispatching errors, which she doesn't "refute." Members are "questioning ourselves while performing in a stressful job," Hart-Knox added. She blamed managers for a "negative work environment" and said "we can only do what we have been taught and instructed to do." DC 911 is "absolutely committed to being forthright and transparent about any identified performance gaps," said Subido, "taking the steps necessary to learn and improve when mistakes are made." For further comments, see here.

AT&T is discontinuing certain "sponsored data" services that allowed video providers to pay for customers' data usage, the company announced Wednesday, saying it's in response to California's net neutrality law. "We regret the inconvenience to customers caused by California's new 'net neutrality' law" (see 2102230072), it said. The company said halting its service will affect customers in other states and called on Congress to pass "clear, consistent, and permanent net neutrality rules."

A digital ad tax proposed in Connecticut is “simply a bad idea,” the Association of National Advertisers said Tuesday. SB-821 would impose 10% tax on “annual gross revenues derived from digital advertising services in the state for any business with annual world-wide gross revenues exceeding $10 billion.” ANA Group Executive Vice President-Government Relations Dan Jaffe urged legislators to reject the bill. Connecticut’s Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding considered the proposal at a hearing Monday.

Union workers urged a California commissioner to reconsider giving tribes and local governments a right of first offer to buy Frontier Communications property. The California Public Utilities Commission proposed that in a draft decision to grant Frontier’s bankruptcy reorganization in docket A.20-05-010 (see 2102180031). Communications Workers of America “respects the sovereignty of tribes” but “has significant concerns about the adverse impacts from municipalization of telecommunication services on workers and service quality” and sees no legal basis or record evidence supporting such a requirement, CWA wrote Friday to Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. CWA was “stunned” at a recent meeting with the commissioner’s staff by her apparent support for that provision, the union said. The CPUC plans to vote Thursday and is the last state needed to clear Frontier’s deal.

A proposed update to New Mexico’s rural telecom subsidy will soon be up for a House floor vote, after unanimously clearing the chamber’s Appropriations and Finance Committee Monday. SB-204 would update New Mexico's Rural Telecom Act to let carriers that didn't exist before 1999 get access reduction support payments, which would make Sacred Winds Communications eligible, said a summary. The bill also passed unanimously through the Senate and the House Commerce Committee earlier this month. It would improve broadband in one of the state’s least-connected areas and is backed by the Navajo Nation, said Sen. Michael Padilla (D) at the livestreamed hearing. Treat all telecom carriers the same, testified Matejka Santillanes, New Mexico Exchange Carrier Group executive director. She joined the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Microsoft and other business groups supporting SB-204.

California’s privacy law author criticized Virginia’s new statute at a New Jersey legislative hearing Monday. The second major state privacy bill, signed this month by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), has “many loopholes” that effectively codify existing business practices, Californians for Consumer Privacy’s Alastair Mactaggart told the Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. Mactaggart, who proposed the California Consumer Privacy Act and the newer California Privacy Rights Act, urged lawmakers to update CCPA-based measures to the CPRA. CTIA, which prefers a national law, warned against basing a New Jersey law on CPRA because it’s “still unsettled,” said Davis Wright attorney Nancy Libin. The Virginia law, while also problematic, is at least less burdensome for businesses, she said. New Jersey should align with Virginia to provide uniform rules for businesses, agreed Internet Association Legal and Policy Counsel Alexandra McLeod. New Jersey lawmakers are returning to privacy after COVID-19 derailed efforts last year, said committee Chair Andrew Zwicker (D). The panel heard testimony but didn’t vote on Zwicker’s A-3283, which would provide an opt-in right and establish a state data protection office; A-3255, to require businesses notify customers about collection and sale of personal information and give customers an opt-in right; and A-5448, to require websites notify about collection and disclosure and allows customers to opt out. Harvard Berkman Klein Center affiliate Salome Viljoen supported A-3283 setting up a special office but suggested adding a private right of action and warned not to exclude third parties not covered in the current bill. Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Activist Hayley Tsukayama, also urging a private right, cautioned that the proposed office would need adequate funding. TechNet is optimistic about soon getting a federal law, but if New Jersey goes ahead, attorney general enforcement is better than allowing private suits, said Executive Director-Northeast Chris Gilrein. Opting out is more difficult for consumers than opting in, said Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney.

T-Mobile and San Francisco’s permitting dispute perplexed a federal judge Friday. "I'm still not at all convinced that I understand what the real dispute is here,” said Judge Susan Illston near the end of virtual argument at U.S. District Court in San Francisco on the wireless carrier’s lawsuit alleging the city delayed permitting in violation of Spectrum Act Section 6409(a). Deemed granted is meant to be self-enforcing, Illston said as the hearing opened. “What I'm having a hard time understanding is why that is not the case." Neither party disagreed that the dozen applications at dispute were deemed granted because the city didn’t act within 60 days, as required by the section. San Francisco recognizes it can’t stop T-Mobile from installing facilities now with a deemed-granted notice but disagrees with the carrier wanting the court to force the locality to provide a permit, said San Francisco’s attorney Wayne Snodgrass. The municipality seeks to avoid people pointing fingers at the local government in a deemed-granted situation if, for example, there's a fire at a facility because the operator didn’t follow fire codes, he said: Issuing a permit would make the city responsible. If an application was deemed granted and the city tried to stop installation, the court may enjoin the municipality, Snodgrass said. “That is quite different" from compelling the city to issue its own local permit, "which is entirely a creature of local law,” he said. Section 6409 says the city shall approve applications, countered Mintz Levin attorney Scott Thompson for T-Mobile. "The city doesn't get to avoid that" by saying a deemed-granted notice is sufficient, he argued. The city continued asking T-Mobile questions about applications after running out the 60-day shot clock, and the carrier can’t deploy promptly with uncertainty, he said. The FCC recognized in 2014's order implementing Section 6409(a) that carriers may seek declaratory judgment and other remedies in court, Thompson said.

The California Public Utilities Commission floated proposed telecom decisions on state environmental review and small LEC rate cases. Commissioners may vote on the items at their April 15 meeting, said the items released Wednesday. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen’s proposal in docket R.06-10-006 would adopt the existing 21-day expedited review process for applying the California Environmental Quality Act to telecom carriers. A plan from Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves would adopt imputation of net positive retail broadband internet access service revenue of 10 small LECs and their ISP affiliates when calculating California High Cost Fund A (CHCF-A) support. It's “reasonable given their integrated operational connections, including the substantial sharing of personnel, equipment, and facilities in the provision of customer services,” said the proposal. The decision wouldn’t regulate broadband service or rates, nor would it require any entity to operate at a loss, it said. “Instead, we act to appropriately account for broadband-related revenues and expenses derived from the Small ILECs’ facilities infrastructure that has substantially benefited from CHCF-A Fund support by California ratepayers.”

Fairfax County, Virginia, had 911 connection issues Wednesday. “Capacity has been temporarily diminished and callers may experience extended wait times -- please stay on the line,” the Fairfax Police Department tweeted in the morning. “Text to 9-1-1 is working. Staff is working to restore the system to full capacity as soon as possible.” The department said in the afternoon the problems were addressed, but the nonemergency line was “experiencing sporadic network issues.” County officials didn’t comment on what caused the problems. The FCC declined comment.

ISP associations appealed last month's court ruling denying their preliminary injunction against California's net neutrality law to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday (in Pacer and see 2102230073), as expected. ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom told U.S. District Court in Sacramento of their plans. "As the district court has already recognized, California has the authority to protect and enforce net neutrality during ongoing litigation," said a state DOJ spokesperson. "We will continue to fight for net neutrality in court and oppose all efforts to stop enforcement of the law.”