The Oregon Public Utility Commission got more details about a settlement on Northwest Fiber’s proposed buy of Frontier Communications wireline, video and long-distance operations. The companies, PUC staff and the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board filed a stipulation Wednesday saying they support the deal with conditions. The agency typically rules within six to eight weeks, but there's no statutory deadline, a spokesperson emailed Thursday. The companies made commitments including about expanding broadband deployment, keeping wholesale agreements, and reporting on finances and service quality. Beyond Connect America Fund Phase II funding, Northwest agreed to spend at least $50 million enhancing and expanding 1 Gbps fiber symmetrical service within five years. That should cover at least 60 percent of locations in the combined ILEC territories in Oregon. Northwest would spend at least $10 million outside the Portland area. Northwest would ensure existing Frontier fiber customers have such access within a year. The companies and Montana Consumer Counsel filed their own pact Tuesday at that state’s Public Service Commission (see 1912040050). Settlement was earlier announced in Washington state, the last state OK needed. Details are due Dec. 19 to the Utilities and Transportation Commission, with a hearing Jan. 27.

Montana parties reached a settlement on Northwest Fiber’s proposed buy of Frontier Communications wireline, video and long-distance operations. The companies and Montana Consumer Counsel filed a stipulation Tuesday about the pact in docket 2019.06.39. Settlements were earlier announced in Oregon and Washington state, the other two states reviewing the deal (see 1911130051). The companies agreed to conditions, including expanding broadband deployment, keeping wholesale agreements and reporting on finances, outages and service quality.

South Carolina's Public Service Commission gave staff another week to complete an initial assessment to show state USF funds should continue to be withheld from Frontier Communications in response to a 24-day outage in Georgetown County. At livestreamed oral argument Tuesday in Columbia, PSC members supported by voice a motion by Commissioner Tom Ervin. The nonpartisan commission last week held November’s monthly USF payment to Frontier in response to an Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) petition seeking suspension of USF money so it can audit whether the carrier is appropriately using the support (see 1911260023). Tuesday, Ervin said his motion would shift the burden of proof to ORS: “This is a drastic remedy to take such a large source of funds away from a struggling company.” Commissioners are concerned about maintaining residential landline service and fixing outages quickly, but the telco took remedial steps and provided information, he said. ORS should work overtime to expedite its audit, and share more evidence supporting its request at a follow-up meeting Tuesday, Ervin said. Frontier attorney Chris Terreni said the commission shouldn't continue holding funds in the meantime, and Commissioner John Howard also questioned why the payment can’t be released now. Ervin responded that the company is welcome to request mandamus if it wants funds now. “Frontier has taken measures … to change the way it responds to an outage of the duration and size of what occurred in St. Luke's,” Terreni told commissioners. Its workers "tried their best" but "needed more resources and they waited too long to bring them in.” Frontier apologized to customers affected by the outage and provided three-month bill credits, the lawyer said. The carrier can’t promise there won’t be future outages, “but our response is going to be better,” he said. No evidence shows Frontier isn’t using USF money appropriately, and suspending that “is not logical or consistent with due process,” he said. Commissioner Florence Belser asked if anything in statute, PSC guidelines or precedent supports ORS’ request. ORS lawyer Chris Huber agreed the request is unusual but said the office can seek it as the fund’s administrator. Belser later asked, "If there is a problem with their response and their procedures, is that sufficient to warrant yanking USF funds?" Outages worry Commissioner Swain Whitfield. "One of the biggest concerns of the commission," he said, "is basic landline services being interrupted to the point where emergency services are compromised.”

Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority won't appeal the state Superior Court's November decision that PURA overreached when it ruled 2-0 last year that “municipal gain” space on utility poles or underground ducts -- reserved by a 2013 law “for any purpose” -- can't be used to provide muni broadband (see 1911130037). "PURA has elected not to appeal the Superior Court’s decision," Chairman Marissa Paslick Gillett emailed Monday. Industry that supported the PURA order could still appeal or take the fight to the legislature or a federal court. "Federal litigation could occur at any time," emailed Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel Principal Attorney Joe Rosenthal, who supports the Superior Court ruling for muni broadband. "That would be brand new litigation, likely in response to an actual municipal construction that intends to offer services to the public."

States attorneys general look likely to win against T-Mobile/Sprint, based on pretrial memos last week at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (see 1911270049), New Street's Blair Levin wrote Monday. That’s “particularly due to weaknesses we see in the companies' market definition, reliance on economic arguments with little support in antitrust precedent, a zig-zag approach to the DOJ and FCC’s judgments, a reliance on behavioral remedies to justify the fix and a reliance on public interest considerations, such as social or industrial policy, that generally are considered irrelevant to competition analysis.” The judge could still rule the carriers' way by “fashioning his own remedies,” the analyst told investors: Texas and Nevada settled with T-Mobile last week (see 1911250050), but carriers probably won't avoid trial Monday. Odds of states and T-Mobile making a pact before trial are low, “although the company will likely be pushing hard even in the final hours before the trial starts,” wrote LightShed Partners' Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone. Tunney Act review at U.S. District Court in Washington could finish this week, the analysts said. It “would be odd” if Judge Timothy Kelly, a Donald Trump appointee, didn't clear the deal, and that approval would bolster the carriers’ case in New York, they said.

The California Public Utilities Commission will have T-Mobile/Sprint hearings Dec. 5 and 6, Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer said in a Monday email to the service list for docket A.18-07-011. The carriers said they weren’t needed despite the CPUC Public Advocates Office listing several areas of continuing dispute (see 1911250050).

To comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act, web and app publishers should display a green CCPA icon and hyperlink reading “CA Do Not Sell My Info” or similar to California users, the Digital Advertising Alliance recommended Monday. “Clicking on the link will direct users to publisher information and options, including access to the CCPA Opt-Out Tool if third parties collect and sell data from the property.”

The FCC priority filing window eligibility rules for tribes seeking spectrum licenses in the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band wrongly exclude native Hawaiians even though Hawaiian home lands qualify as rural tribal lands, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs said in a docket 18-120 posting Monday. It said the eligibility rule should be revised in consultation with native Hawaiians before the window opens.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission should compel Frontier Communications to fully answer a data request by the auditor in the PSC’s service-quality probe, commission staff said Thursday in docket 18-0291-T-P. The telco didn’t meet a 30-day deadline to hand over responses to 30 of 121 data requests, staff said. The auditor must report to the commission Feb. 14. "Frontier has cooperated with the Auditors throughout the service quality audit, providing the Auditors with requested information, making key Frontier staff available for interviews and arranging numerous site visits for the audit team," Frontier Senior Vice President-Regulatory Allison Ellis emailed Friday. "Frontier will continue to be engaged in the process and has every expectation that the audit will conclude according to schedule."

With the federal Lifeline subsidy decreasing (see 1911200015) to $7.25 from $9.25 monthly Dec. 1, the California Public Utilities Commission sought comment on if it should authorize wireline providers to recover the lost $2 per wireline participant from the California LifeLine fund or another funding source from Dec. 1 to Nov. 30. “We remain concerned that wireline participants will not have options to avoid rate increases unless the Program fund makes up for the federal subsidy reduction,” said assigned Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma in a Wednesday ruling in docket R.11-03-013. Most of those participants are served by one carrier of last resort, and many may not have access to reliable wireless service, she said. Comments are due Dec. 10, replies 10 days later, it said.