AT&T responses to California Public Utilities Commission concerns about retiring DSL were “short on details and do little to provide me with the confidence that this action is in the public’s interest,” CPUC President Marybel Batjer wrote the carrier Monday: “The responses provide data that we already have, and do little to back up your claim that these customers will be better served by your competitors or by an alternative service that you offer.” Saying wireless will fill the gap isn’t factually supported, and it may take six years for communities to recover, Batjer said. “The lingering question remains, why hasn’t AT&T made the incremental investments necessary to upgrade all DSL customers to VDSL or even more ideally, fiber to the premises?” she asked. “Underserved communities must be prioritized, not abandoned, especially during a time of unprecedented wildfires and a worldwide public health crisis.” The telco couldn’t be reached by our deadline.

The New Jersey Assembly voted 70-0 Thursday for A-4808 to set up a broadband office within the state's Board of Public Utilities. The Senate introduced the identical bill, S-3086, that day. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed HB-74 Wednesday to set up a broadband office in that state, while Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signed a bill (HB-2438) Thursday to empower electric cooperatives to provide broadband (see 2010220015). Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), meanwhile, signed an executive order Friday creating a Broadband Advisory Board in the Office of Information Technology to coordinate state broadband efforts. Polis also released a broadband report with recommendations on governance, mapping, funding and deployment. One is to consider “designating broadband as a utility within the state and managed as a regulated service.”

Cable urged the Oregon Public Utility Commission to clarify that it’s not expanding authority over interconnected VoIP or commercial mobile radio services through an upcoming order to implement a law requiring those providers to pay into state USF. CMRS and VoIP aren’t telecom services that the PUC regulates, the Oregon Cable Telecommunications Association commented Thursday in docket AR 640. Cable and wireless clashed with traditional telco on broader USF changes earlier last week (see 2010270028).

Both Charter Communications and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey asked U.S. District Judge Jon Levy of Portland, Maine, for summary judgment in Charter's favor on the cabler's challenge of Maine's law requiring prorated refunds of cable TV subscription cancellations. In a docket joint motion Thursday (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-00168), they said given the court's finding when it denied Maine's motion to dismiss (see 2010090039) that the Cable Act preempts the law, Maine agreed to not enforce the law or seek a reversal of the court decision.

The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system for Hurricane Zeta for affected counties in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, said a public notice Wednesday. Reports are due starting Thursday, the PN said. The bureau issued PNs on emergency contact information for licensees that need special temporary authority and on 24-hour availability of FCC staff.

Don’t spend state USF money where there's at least one unsubsidized provider, cable and wireless industries commented Monday in docket UM 2040 at the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Don't give support to any census block with at least one unsubsidized provider of voice or that was awarded federal or state high-cost or broadband funding, said the Oregon Cable Telecommunications Association. “The presence of an unsubsidized competitor should render an area ineligible for high cost support,” CTIA commented. The Oregon Telecommunications Association disagreed. Requiring OUSF only in areas without unsubsidized competition is "a premise that has no basis in statute,” it said. State law requires support "be provided to eligible telecommunications carriers in an amount that is equal to the difference between the cost of providing basic telephone service and the bench mark less any explicit compensation received by the carrier from federal sources specifically used to recover local loop costs and less any explicit support received by the carrier from a federal universal service program.” The Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board urged “a clearer understanding of competition from unsubsidized services and their potential impact on subsidized services.”

The FCC could “withhold frequency licenses and renewals” to stop 911 fee diversion in New York, the state’s 911 Coordinators Association suggested Friday in response to a commission notice of inquiry. “States need frequencies and bandwidth to operate their communications systems and this is a tool the FCC can effectively use to pressure states.” Other related federal grants “may be another lever,” but the government “may face legal challenges regarding the nexus to 911 fee diversion,” it said. In New York, which collected $200 million from 911 fees in 2019, “the paucity of federal grant funds compared to the state’s surcharge revenues make enforcement highly unlikely.” New York protested the FCC blocking it and other 911 diverters from 4.9 GHz spectrum (see 2010060057). Comments on 911 fee diversion are due Monday (see 2010050038).

Protect the Board of Public Utilities’ authority to enforce prorating of cable charges, urged New Jersey’s Division of Rate Counsel in a Thursday filing at the state Superior Court’s Appellate Division. Altice is challenging the board’s regulation in state and federal courts (see 2010220040). “If Altice’s position were to prevail, it would undermine the ability of State commissions to exercise the concurrent authority granted to them under the federal Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act and will erode important consumer protections,” Rate Counsel said. “Just as cable service providers may seek payment for theft of service when a person illegally connects to a provider’s cable network, it is equally important to ensure that customers are not charged for cable services they are not provided.”

The North American numbering plan administrator revealed a timeline for overlaying with 771 the 202 area code in Washington, D.C. (see 2009220017). Permissive 10-digit dialing, when users can dial either seven or 10 digits, starts April 10; 10-digit dialing is mandatory Oct. 9, said NANPA. The earliest the 771 overlay would be activated is Nov. 9, 2021. The soonest that central office codes in the 771 NPA may be ordered through NANPA is Sept. 4, and they won’t be assigned until 202 is exhausted.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a broadband bill to empower electric cooperatives to provide internet. The Senate voted 49-0 Wednesday for the House-passed HB-2438 to adjust easement rules so electric cooperatives may more easily use existing infrastructure to provide broadband. The House, which unanimously passed the bill in June (see 2006220044), voted 201-0 later Wednesday to concur with Senate amendments. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) didn't comment Thursday. The Louisiana State Legislature passed HB-74 to create a state broadband office (see 2010070023). The House voted 96-0 Wednesday to concur with Senate amendments after senators voted 33-0 earlier in the day. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) "will review the final version of the bill before he makes a decision on if he will sign it," a spokesperson said Thursday.