Louisiana electric cooperatives might seek veto of a state bill that sets rules for co-op broadband builds. The Senate voted 34-0 Thursday to concur with House changes to SB-406 Wednesday. Co-ops oppose language restricting them to unserved parts of their territories (see 2005270037). Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives CEO Jeff Arnold is polling members “to see if they support a veto request,” he emailed us Friday. The bill limits “cooperatives, affiliates and third parties from using cooperative easements and attachments to only serving the unserved,” he said. “I don’t know of any business model that works under this restriction.” The office of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) didn’t comment Friday on whether he would sign the bill that's now before him.
New York legislators passed telehealth legislation making audio-only and video-only services eligible for reimbursement. Wednesday, the Senate voted 61-1 for SB-8416 as the Assembly voted for companion A-10404. The Louisiana Senate was scheduled Thursday evening to vote on HB-530 to require health insurance coverage of telehealth services. It passed the House without any nays May 22.
The California Public Utilities Commission suspended the state LifeLine renewal process for 90 days in a unanimous vote on the consent agenda at the agency’s livestreamed virtual meeting Thursday. The proposed decision authorized staff to extend renewals “for so long as the renewal processes of other state public assistance programs remain suspended due to the COVID-19 emergency,” temporarily suspend the non-usage rule as long as the FCC does the same for the federal program, and reimburse providers for federal subsidies they can’t collect if the state renewals suspension goes beyond federal suspension. During the pandemic, LifeLine “has been very important for people to be able to communicate,” said Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma. Also by unanimous consent, the CPUC adopted a resolution to streamline the eligible telecom carrier designation process for the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund recipients. It applies only to bidders with existing operating authority in California. The CPUC postponed until the June 11 meeting a vote on allowing staff to file comments due July 6 on an FCC NPRM about eliminating price regulation and tariffing of phone access charges (see 2005200006).
Maine’s ISP privacy law “easily survives” First Amendment scrutiny because it’s “narrowly drawn to directly advance Maine’s substantial interests in protecting consumers’ privacy, freedom of expression, and security,” said the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy and Technology. The privacy groups sought Thursday to file an amicus brief (in Pacer) supporting the state at the U.S. District Court of Maine. Broadband providers "are uniquely positioned to surveil us and collect this information” and “have a proven track record of privacy invasive practices, yet we have no choice but to rely on them for access to the Internet,” said ACLU, EFF and CDT. “And in much of the country, particularly in Maine, we have little, if any, choice among them.” Maine AG Aaron Frey (D) told the court Wednesday the state law isn’t federally preempted (see 2005270043).
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) opposed the telecom industry seeking immediate ruling that the state’s ISP privacy law is unconstitutional (see 2004070015). “It would be premature -- and misguided -- for the Court to grant judgment to” ACA Connects and other plaintiffs, the defendant said (in Pacer) Wednesday at the U.S. District Court of Maine. “The First Amendment accords comparatively less protection to commercial speech than traditional protected speech,” Frey said. The AG separately moved (in Pacer) for judgment on the industry’s federal preemption claims.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission should increase USF payments to Lifeline eligible telecom carriers to provide more data during and after the COVID-19 emergency, said Q Link Wireless and five other ETCs. The ETCs responded Tuesday to a May 11 order in case 2016-00059 seeking comment on temporarily increasing USF compensation in exchange for increased minutes or data during the pandemic (see 2005210042). Several Kentucky ETCs are providing unlimited voice and data free, but services are to expire between May 31 and June 30 unless extended by network operator partners, they said. Over the past 45 days, the Kentucky ETCs had a 35% increase in voice and 37% in data compared with monthly average usage by Lifeline customers, they said.
Frontier Communications shouldn’t complain about being a carrier of last resort, said West Virginia Public Service Commission staff, replying Thursday to the telco's response to a service-quality audit in case 18-0291-T-P. The provider said the PSC's regulating it like a large voice provider doesn’t consider landline losses and doesn’t help improve service quality, and service problems are frequently outside the company’s control (see 2005010012). “What Frontier fails to note is that this overly burdensome position is one that Frontier placed itself in when it purchased Verizon’s assets,” staff wrote. “Although Frontier got what it wanted, the state of West Virginia did not." Many excuses for service problems, including vegetation interference and rodent activity, “are within the control of Frontier through preventive maintenance and ongoing improvements to its systems,” staff said. Asking the commission to trust the company is “not good enough,” the West Virginia Consumer Advocate wrote. “Frontier must make a serious commitment to Audit compliance, including with capital spending under Commission jurisdiction and supervision.” The audit showed unions’ original complaint seeking investigation was “not an attempt to draw the Commission into a labor dispute,” responded the AFL-CIO and Communications Workers of America. "Undertake a robust oversight process" with "reporting, hearings, and metrics" and don't "rely on Frontier's assertions and vague promises,” they said.
The FCC granted in part and stayed in part an AT&T Florida pole attachment complaint against Florida Power & Light (see 1911070061), in an Enforcement Bureau order Wednesday. "The parties are to confer in light of this order to attempt to resolve their remaining disputes and are to report their progress to Commission staff within thirty days." FPL didn't comment.
Small LECs seek one-year extension to California Public Utilities Commission deadlines for submitting general rate cases and a freeze on High Cost Fund-A programs at current levels, said CalTel and other independent telcos in a Monday motion in docket R.11-11-007. They cited COVID-19 and possible changes to the Fund-A programs. Commissioners plan to vote May 28 on letting small LECs seek loans during the pandemic (see 2005110021).
Oklahoma legislators sought a study on expanding broadband. The House voted 86-0 Thursday and the Senate 45-2 Friday for SB-1002, sending the bill to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). An earlier version would have empowered rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband (see 1903200032).