The FCC Media Bureau gave NCTA its sought-after clarification of a cable TV local franchise authority order (see 1911130021). It said in its order on reconsideration Tuesday that its denial of stay could be read to conflict with the LFA order. The bureau waved off NATOA objections to modifying the stay denial order. NATOA didn't comment.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology launched two new broadband indices to create a more accurate picture of broadband access and adoption in the state, said state Chief Information Officer Eric Boyette Monday during at Institute for Emerging Issues forum in Raleigh.

Parties have one more day to comment on revised California Consumer Privacy Act draft rules that came out Friday (see 2002070054), the state attorney general's office said Monday. "The previously mailed notice and modified text of proposed regulations omitted a revision to Section 999.317, subsection (g)," so the comment deadline is now Feb. 25, it said.

Consolidated will invest an extra $150,000 on “outside plant improvements” in Vermont this year in response to a Public Utility Commission probe, on top of what it planned to spend, said Consolidated counsel Debra Bouffard in a Friday letter to the PUC in docket 18-3231-PET. The company will soon submit a plan, and in Q1 2021 will report on efforts to automate bill credits. The cable-telco company doesn’t “currently have the technical capability to issue automatic bill credits to customers that experience an out of service condition” but is “actively working” to implement such a system, it said. Consolidated started “manually tracking and linking outages to customers” after the PUC’s Jan. 13 order, it said. The PUC ordered Consolidated last month pay $120,000 in penalties or invest $150,000 in upgrading plant in rural areas to make up for service-quality problems (see 2001130049). Consolidated is considering projects to improve voice service quality in rural areas, said Vice President-Regulatory Michael Shultz in a statement to us. The $150,000 is on top of the company's pledges to reinvest at least 14 percent of 2020 Vermont revenue and invest on average $1 million yearly for incremental maintenance, he added.

West Virginia’s recommended OK of T-Mobile/Sprint becomes final Monday absent further Public Service Commission action, the PSC said in a Wednesday order in docket 19-1230-T-PC. The PSC approved petitioners’ Monday motion to waive a 15-day period to file exceptions to an administrative law judge’s Jan. 31 recommendation to approve T-Mobile, Sprint and Dish Network’s petition. That means the ALJ recommended decision becomes final five days after Wednesday’s order, the agency said.

Virginia municipal broadband advocates will try to broaden support after the legislature decided to delay a bill to clear barriers to municipal broadband. Muni broadband supporters had seen an opening to lift restrictions after Democrats flipped the legislature blue in November’s election (see 2001160002). The Virginia House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee voted by voice last week to “continue” HB-1052 to 2021, meaning it won’t be considered until then. “Progress rarely happens overnight,” Our Revolution Arlington member Detta Kissel emailed Thursday. The progressive group worked with Del. Mark Levine (D) on HB-1052. “Continuing the bill will give the legislature time to study the issue and will give us time to broaden our coalition as we prepare for next year,” Kissel said. Levine didn’t comment.

Dish Network must respond immediately to data requests by the California Public Advocates Office in the Public Utilities Commission’s T-Mobile/Sprint review, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Lee Bemesderfer ruled Tuesday in docket 18-07-011. PAO asked CPUC to compel response (see 1911060021), but Dish said the requests were outside the proceeding's scope, which it argues is limited to the carriers’ original application. Bemesderfer said the requests were within the scope “because they seek information regarding the effect of the new DOJ and FCC commitments on the original application, which falls squarely within the amended scope of this proceeding.” The requests “are not so vague and ambiguous that they cannot be answered,” the ALJ said. Dish declined comment Wednesday.

Judge Victor Marrero of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion by experts to file an amicus brief in favor of T-Mobile/Sprint in the state challenge to the proposed deal. “This motion comes over two weeks after the completion of post-trial closing arguments, and the Court is not persuaded that the amicus brief would be sufficiently timely or useful to be of assistance at this time,” said Tuesday's order (in Pacer) in docket 1:19-cv-05434. George Bittlingmayer, Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Tom Hazlett, Justin Hurwitz, Jonathan Klick, Kevin Tsui, Glenn Woroch, Joshua Wright and John Yun sought to file. “After conceding that district courts have ‘broad discretion’ to allow the filing of amicus briefs, Plaintiffs ask this Court to deny the instant motion and thereby disregard the views of experts in the field of antitrust economics who strongly disagree with many of the views expressed in the amicus brief in support of Plaintiffs,” they pleaded Monday (in Pacer).

West Virginia certified new regulatory authority for pole attachments (see 2001170006), the FCC said in a reverse pre-emption public notice Monday in docket 10-101: "Certification by a state preempts the Commission from accepting pole attachment complaints under Subpart J of Part 1 of the Commission’s rules."

All 55 states, territories and Washington, D.C., were incorporated into the Lifeline national verifier framework by December, Universal Service Administrative Co. said Friday in an annual report: The NV was launched in 46 states and territories plus Washington, and soft launched in nine states and territories "with an anticipated full launch date in early 2020." That's later than original targets (see 1912180046). Consumers submitted 1.4 million-plus applications through the NV, USAC said. USAC also updated its NV plan.