The California Public Utilities Commission extended through Nov. 30 the temporary suspension of state LifeLine renewals and de-enrollments for non-usage and the three-month documentation rule for demonstrating income-based qualification. Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Wang’s emailed ruling in docket R.20-02-008 aligns the CPUC with the FCC’s Aug. 17 order on federal Lifeline, and lengthens a previous ALJ ruling to extend suspensions through Aug. 31 (see 2006220046).

California may not require net neutrality due to field preemption, said a group of free-market communications law scholars in an amicus brief Thursday in DOJ’s lawsuit against the state law (SB-822) at the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. “Whether it likes federal policy or not, California is not entitled to trample on the federal government’s exclusive authority over interstate communications, including the broadband Internet access services at issue here.” The brief included academics from TechFreedom, Free State Foundation, Phoenix Center and R Street Institute. California improperly “designated itself the nationwide regulator of the Internet,” said a separate amicus brief (in Pacer) by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, California Chamber of Commerce, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Telecommunications Industry Association and CALinnovates.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission should condition approving Frontier Communications’ bankruptcy reorganization on the carrier ensuring it has enough money to immediately implement recommendations from the state’s recent audit (see 2008060027), PSC staff recommended Wednesday in case 20-0400-T-PC. Commission OK also should incorporate the company’s commitment to meet metrics and act to address service quality, staff said. Frontier urged the PSC to approve by Sept. 30 (see 2008190013). "Frontier is pleased that the process in West Virginia is progressing" and that staff recommends approval, said Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Allison Ellis Thursday. "Frontier is prepared to implement the majority of the audit report’s recommendations." The California Public Utilities Commission set an Oct. 7 virtual public forum on the Frontier reorganization, said a notice posted Thursday.

Frontier Communication prodded the West Virginia Public Service Commission to rule on its bankruptcy reorganization no later than Sept. 30. Five state commissions cleared the reorganization or found no approval was needed, including Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Nevada, Frontier said in a Tuesday letter in case 20-0400-T-PC. “Proceedings in other states are progressing with approvals expected in the fall.” Frontier and Illinois Commerce Commission staff submitted a proposed order Aug. 4 to clear the reorganization, while the New York Public Service Commission will receive comments Sept. 21 and Frontier expects a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission decision by early October, the telco said. Comments are due Aug. 24 at the FCC. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has a hearing Friday to weigh approving the deal, Frontier outside counsel Patrick Rosvall emailed Tuesday to the California Public Utilities Commission’s service list for docket A.20-05-010.

North Carolina will spend $12 million to spread broadband in 11 rural counties through Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (Great) grants and COVID-19 stimulus funding, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said Wednesday. Receiving Great grants, totaling $10 million, were Atlantic Telephone Membership, CenturyLink, CloudWyze, NfinityLink Communications, Roanoke Connect Holdings, Spectrum Southeast, Sky Wave and Zito Media. Spectrum Southeast also got $2 million in pandemic support. North Carolina is considering six more last-mile projects for stimulus funding, said Cooper's office.

A 100 Mbps symmetrical speed goal will be added to a California bill that would allow 25 Mbps downloads and 3 Mbps uploads in proposed California Advanced Services Fund projects, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) said in a statement Tuesday. The change to AB-570 follows Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) seeking 100 Mbps download speed targets through executive order (see 2008180045). Aguiar-Curry expects to move the measure out of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week, she said. A rival bill, SB-1130 by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D), is also expected to get a vote this week in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Newsom’s order “reads like an implementation statement for AB 570 and is a great signal for the prospects for my bill,” said Aguiar-Curry. The lawmaker hopes the EO will be "a catalyst for continued cooperation between the Administration, Senator Gonzalez and myself so we can be successful in closing the digital divide with technology that will meet the future demands of all Californians, in small towns and big cities,” she said.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) dismissed 911 dispatching concerns raised by former journalist Dave Statter and others. “I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole with Dave Statter,” said Bowser in a Monday news conference. She said she’s “absolutely” confident in the Office of Unified Communications. The Office of D.C. Auditor might probe OUC next year after many reports of dispatching issues, including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place (see 2008110050 and 2008070042). Statter tweeted later Monday about a Friday incident in which OUC apparently failed to immediately dispatch an ambulance to an injured person. The dispatcher asked an ambulance to respond at 3:08 a.m. and had to make another request about 30 minutes later, showed OpenMHZ audio referenced by Statter. Bowser and OUC didn’t comment Tuesday.

New Mexico should raise its broadband speed standard to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload to align with the national standard, the state attorney general office replied Monday in the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s State Rural USF proceeding (case 19-00286-UT). New Mexico’s current standard is 4/1 Mbps. "A key consideration, particularly in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is that the 25/3 Mbps standard can support videoconferencing that the existing 4/1 standard cannot,” the AG office wrote. Require 25/3 Mbps with “additional language to allow a carrier that is proposing a worthwhile project which does not meet the 25/3 Mbps threshold to petition the Commission to approve of its proposed project for good cause to serve for instance, in an extremely rural area,” New Mexico PRC staff wrote in a footnote of its reply comments. CenturyLink said the broadband fund should prioritize higher speeds, without specifying numbers. Other states are also weighing USF updates (see 2008110047).

California Consumer Privacy Act regulations got final clearance from the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL), about six weeks after Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) started enforcing CCPA (see 2007010027), Becerra said Friday. His office posted the final rules with an addendum explaining OAL revisions. “Some of the changes are substantive and will impact compliance efforts,” Husch Blackwell attorneys David Strauss and Malia Rogers blogged Monday. They include deleting sections requiring businesses that have a website but substantially interact with consumers offline to provide an offline notice of their right to opt out, requiring businesses get customer consent before using personal information for a materially different purpose than disclosed and requiring “easy” opt-out requests.

Investigate Broadband VI for getting $1 million from the Connect U.S. Virgin Islands fund without meeting qualifications to receive the USF support, Viya said in a letter to the FCC Enforcement Bureau, posted Monday in docket 18-143. “Broadband VI already has taken Stage 1 support for which it did not qualify because it did not satisfy the fundamental eligible telecommunications carrier ('ETC') obligations of offering voice service and compliant Lifeline service during the support term,” alleged Viya, saying it’s part of a larger pattern of the company disregarding commission rules. The FCC should seek reimbursement, it said. "We are aware of Viya’s filing and are preparing a vigorous response," Broadband VI Chief Operating Officer David Zumwalt emailed us. "We strongly disagree with the claims." The COO added that Viya "enjoyed many decades of high-cost support which it stands to lose as a result of Connect USVI."