Space sustainability advocates are pessimistic about the chances that the FCC will require environmental reviews for proposed satellites and constellations anytime soon. Such reviews were a central part of the International Dark-Sky Association's (ISDA) unsuccessful legal challenge of the FCC's approval of SpaceX's second-generation satellite constellation (see 2407120031). Last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) launched a letter-writing campaign urging environmental reviews of satellite mega constellations (see 2408280002).
The FCC expanded the reporting area for communications outages caused by Hurricane Helene to include counties in Tennessee and Virginia and additional counties in South Carolina, said a public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. Reports from the affected counties show communications services experiencing outages from the storm but improving.
California state legislators approved privacy and social media bills before adjourning Saturday. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will now consider signing the measures into law. On privacy, the Assembly voted 55-15 Saturday to concur with Senate amendments to AB-1008, which would clarify that personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) can exist in different formats, including physical and digital. Meanwhile, the Senate voted 38-0 to concur with Senate changes to SB-1223, which would amend the CCPA to include “neural data” as a type of sensitive personal information. However, a bill on automated decision-making (AB-2930) stalled in the Senate. The legislature passed several bills about social media. The Assembly voted 58-0 to concur with Senate amendments to AB-2481, which would create a mechanism for people who report threatening content on social networks. The Senate voted 28-2 to finally pass SB-976, which would provide parental controls, including the ability to decide whether their children see a chronological news feed or one based on an algorithm, the current default. Senators unanimously concurred with the Assembly to pass SB-1283, which would require schools to adopt limits or bans on student use of smartphones in an effort to keep kids off social platforms when on campus. The legislature previously passed a similar Assembly (see 2408280033). And the Senate voted 36-0 to send the governor SB-1504, which would tighten a cyberbullying law that requires social platforms to have reporting mechanisms. However, the legislature failed to bring to a final vote AB-3172, which would have established civil penalties for a big social media platform that “breaches its responsibility of ordinary care and skill to a child” younger than 18. Lawmakers approved many other telecom and internet bills last week (see 2408300039).
California state senators passed bills on telecom, privacy and social media Wednesday. The state Senate voted 38-0 for AB-2765, which would require that the California Public Utilities Commission report on inspections that ensure companies comply with resiliency plans. The Assembly then concurred with Senate changes, allowing the bill to go to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Also, the Senate voted 38-1 to approve a bill (AB-3216) requiring that schools adopt limits or bans on student use of smartphones. On privacy, the Senate voted 31-7 for AB-3048, which would require web browsers to opt-out from the sale of and sharing data on all websites. Senators voted 39-0 for AB-1824, which would require a business acquiring another company to follow an acquired customer’s privacy directions under the California Consumer Privacy Act. In addition, they voted 40-0 for a bill (AB-1282) that would require a study on mental health risks of social media for children. The Assembly previously passed AB-1282, AB-1824, AB-3216 and AB-3048 but must vote again to concur with Senate changes. Also Tuesday, Newsom received AB-2905, which the legislature passed last week. It would expand the state’s autodialer definition to include calls made with an AI voice. The California legislature wraps up its session Saturday.
Most people “drastically” underestimate “the level of connectivity they rely on for everyday tasks,” Mobile UK said in a report released Monday. While 40% of people in the U.K. believe they are connected to fewer than four devices, the average number is really 14, with some using as many as 38, the report said. “Only one in five people (19.35%) were realistic about how connected they are.” The group said its study demonstrates the public's acceptance of mobile infrastructure and the need for ensuring everyone is connected. “Perceptions of mobile infrastructure especially since COVID-19 have positively shifted,” the group said: “Mobile infrastructure is now a fundamental part of the national infrastructure that requires further national government support to ensure the provision of connectivity for all.”
BroadbandOhio will invest $50 million in a multi-county broadband expansion project, the Ohio governor’s office announced Thursday. A division of the Ohio Department of Development, BroadbandOhio will use grants from the federal Capital Project Fund for an initiative aimed at improving internet coverage at approximately 38,000 addresses in southwest Ohio. The project will total $110 million, with partner altafiber providing the remaining $60 million. BroadbandOhio-funded projects in Brown and Clermont counties must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. Altafiber’s project will be in Adams County and must be completed within one year of the BroadbandOhio projects.
Google has a monopoly over general search services and acted as a monopolist, defending its dominance in violation of U.S. antitrust law, a federal judge ruled Monday (docket 1:20-cv-03010-APM).
The Iowa Utility Board changed its name to the Iowa Utilities Commission after operating for 38 years as the IUB, the state agency said Monday. A state law required the change and spun out the agency from the state's Commerce Department.
The connections-based Utah Universal Service Fund surcharge will increase 27 cents to 98 cents monthly per access line, a 38% rise, on July 1, a Tuesday notice in docket 24-R008-01 said. The Utah Public Service Commission said it didn't receive comments on the proposed change. Previously it said the increase was needed because of an AT&T error (see 2404160023 and 2405280028).
The Utah Public Service Commission should repay AT&T for the carrier's error of assessing a higher Utah Universal Service Fund (UUSF) surcharge than the PSC required for two years, AT&T officials said during testimony Friday. AT&T seeks recovery of overpayment to the Utah USF from July 2021 to June 2023 totaling $2.26 million, AT&T tax directors Jannet Tolley and Randy Phoenix testified in docket 24-087-02. The mistake occurred because AT&T failed to fully implement a July 2021 drop in the UUSF surcharge to 36 cents from 54 cents previously. AT&T properly entered the change in its systems for only AT&T affiliates but not the company itself, which uses a different billing system, Tolley testified. "The excess collection and remittances were the result of an inadvertent administrative error. The Company did not benefit from the error as the excess collections for July 2021 through June 2023 were not retained but were remitted to the UUSF each month.” Customers weren’t harmed because AT&T quickly provided credits after learning about the error in July 2023, Tolley said. AT&T has enhanced its billing system with automation features to prevent the problem from recurring, she said. AT&T overpayment to UUSF might mean a 38% increase to the surcharge will be needed, the PSC said in April (see 2404160023).