CPUC Says States Don't Need FCC Permission to Share Telco Data
FCC policy doesn't control “all uses, nationally, of disaggregated telecommunications subscription data,” the California Public Utilities Commission told U.S. District Court in San Francisco. AT&T, Comcast, CTIA, Verizon and other industry plaintiffs want to stop the CPUC from enforcing a…
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May 3 ruling compelling ISPs to disclose subscriber data to The Utility Reform Network (TURN) or other third parties as part of a state investigation of market competition. In May, the court issued a preliminary injunction against the CPUC (see 1605240014). NARUC said a permanent injunction could disrupt the authority of state commissions, and likely would be appealed (see 1607290037). In testimony last month, the ISPs said the CPUC can't work around FCC disclosure regulations by asking providers rather than the FCC for the data. But in a reply (in Pacer) Thursday, the commission said there’s "no functional or substantive difference" between subscription data collected and shared with CPUC consultants under the state's Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act and the subscription data at issue in this case. Federal statute provides an equal role to states in deployment, adoption and promotion of competition for advanced telecom services, it said. TURN supported the CPUC, in a separate reply (in Pacer). State agencies shouldn't need to ask a federal agency's permission to use state-collected data that was also provided to the federal agency, TURN said. "This would be an unworkable result that would thwart both the CPUC’s efforts to carry out its statutory duties under state and federal law and TURN’s ability to meaningfully participate in proceedings before the CPUC." The court plans to hear the case Sept. 29, emailed CPUC attorney Chris Witteman.