California LifeLine providers urged expanding the state low-income program to better support families needing broadband. “Average consumer mobile data usage nationwide is far higher than the current service offerings in California,” so LifeLine "should support more robust broadband data offerings, including potentially family plans with additional subsidized lines,” the National Lifeline Association commented in docket R.20-02-008 on a California Public Utilities Commission scoping memo (see 2004140013). Also filed Monday, Sprint said the CPUC should consider funding family plans and expanding voice and data support to other members of eligible households. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lifeline providers have seen “that other household members have an ever-growing need for individual access” to voice and data, Sprint said. AT&T and Charter Communications warned the CPUC to make participation in LifeLine broadband programs voluntary. Synchronize with the federal Lifeline broadband program to maximize consumer benefits and simplify provider participation, said AT&T. As in the federal program, California LifeLine customers should be required to choose between voice and broadband support so as not to overburden the fund, it said. Rather than specify a low-income broadband service tier, the CPUC should consider coupons that could be used on any internet plan, proposed Charter. The cable operator opposed "on jurisdictional grounds the use of any program that would purport to regulate pricing and terms and conditions for broadband services.” Cox Communications warned the CPUC to address legal and policy issues first. Don't impose minimum service standards for wireless broadband, cautioned TracFone.

Weekly Netflix streaming usage in the COVID-19 epicenter of metropolitan New York jumped 37% after March 21's stay-at-home order, reported NPD Monday. That was 10 points higher than the rest of the U.S.

Pennsylvania legislators might take up a broadband bill for electric cooperatives to provide service. State senators referred SB-1118 to the Communications and Technology Committee Thursday. Three Democrats and 14 Republicans sponsored the bill in the GOP-controlled chamber.

As part of an effort to expand voice and broadband to underserved rural areas, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioners voted 4-0 Thursday to grant Viasat’s application for eligible telecom carrier status in the state. It follows three other such orders this year for Armstrong Telecommunications, Tri-Co Connections and Velocity.net. Viasat won Connect America Fund Phase II money for Pennsylvania in August 2018. “The PUC has repeatedly taken action to avert the loss of federal high cost support in Pennsylvania,” which “is fueling a growing economic divide between communities and businesses that have access to higher Internet speeds and those that do not,” the agency said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a warning letter Wednesday to Goel Suyash of SPG Investments in Appleton, Wisconsin, saying a 700 MHz device on his property is allegedly interfering with Verizon’s network. Suyash couldn’t be reached for comment.

NARUC President Brandon Presley (D) and two other members of the Mississippi Public Service Commission urged Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to support accelerating the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The RDOF Phase I auction is set for October. RDOF “has been fully vetted by the FCC,” so “there is simply no reason to wait until October to disperse federal dollars for such critical infrastructure as broadband,” wrote Presley and Republican PSC Chairman Dane Maxwell and Republican Commissioner Brent Bailey. “The FCC should expedite “the application process so that eligible census blocks can be awarded to uncontested bidders in the gigabit performance tier using fiber-to-the-premise technology,” the PSC commissioners said Wednesday. “If the FCC is unwilling to take this administrative step, we believe you should introduce and enact legislation.” Senate Commerce and the FCC didn’t comment. Some want RDOF delay while others seek acceleration (see 2004280055).

California’s proposed $5 million for school broadband devices should cover more than laptops and Wi-Fi hot spots, AT&T said in Monday comments at the California Public Utilities Commission in docket R.12-10-012. Include smartphones, tablets, air cards, mobile hot spots and other wireless devices, said the carrier, backing the CPUC’s draft resolution supporting use of the state's Advanced Services Fund adoption account funds in response to the coronavirus (see 2004200041). The department clarified its proposal. Commissioners plan to vote May 7.

COVID-19 is showing that too many people lack broadband for telehealth in North Carolina, state officials said Tuesday on a web-based meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Connecting North Carolina. Noelle Talley, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Roy Cooper (D), hopes “we can use the urgency and also the energy of this time to push to get more people connected.” Simply having internet available doesn’t mean quality is adequate, the state officials said. “It’s slow and it’s spotty, and for many people, it’s expensive,” said North Carolina Commerce Department Chief Deputy Secretary Liz Crabill, noting 800,000 filed for unemployment there. Crabill hopes for “renewed interest across the state” to upgrade broadband. The coronavirus gave an “unprecedented” opportunity to move telehealth forward, said Office of Rural Health Director Maggie Sauer. The state’s work on telehealth has “definitely been expedited” by COVID-19, agreed Rural Health Information Technology Program Manager Lakeisha Moore. Center for Rural Health Innovation Medical Director Steve North also sees opportunity with telehealth reaching a saturation point, but said it’s too bad it took a public health crisis to get most physicians to fit telehealth into their practice. Provide quality of care, not just access, he urged.

A Minnesota state senator floated a wireless bill Monday to loosen the small-cells law’s preemptions of local government and order a study on possible health and environmental effects of 5G RF emissions. SF-4534 by David Dibble (D) would let municipalities require telecom right-of-way users to give notice to property owners adjacent to new facilities. Localities could assess fees for replacing small cells and micro wireless facilities strung on cables. The bill would remove fee caps, requiring charges be “reasonable.” It would remove a deemed-granted provision for when governments miss shot clocks to review applications. Minnesota cities support removing deemed-granted, a particularly challenging policy while local governments respond to COVID-19, said League of Minnesota Cities lobbyist Daniel Lightfoot in an interview. Cities should be allowed to charge reasonable fees, he said. League members have heard RF health concerns from residents but it has no position on the proposed study because the FCC bans cities from denying applications on that basis, he said. The bill is potentially controversial with the wireless industry and may be challenging to move so late in the legislative session, Lightfoot said. The bill's prospects seem dim without a House companion and only three weeks left in session, said a Wireless Infrastructure Association spokesperson. CTIA declined comment.

The California Public Utilities Commission may vote May 28 on a proposed decision to authorize staff to extend temporary suspension of state LifeLine renewal process “for so long as the renewal processes of other state public assistance programs remain suspended due to the COVID-19 emergency.” Staff could temporarily suspend the non-usage rule as long as the FCC does the same for the federal program, it said. The CPUC could “reimburse providers for the federal subsidies that providers are unable to collect as a direct result of the Program’s suspension of the renewal process beyond the federal suspension period,” it said. The CPUC has been weighing COVID-19 responses via LifeLine and the California Advanced Services Fund (see 2004140013).