ANAHEIM, Calif. -- An executive from a phone number warehouse defended his company’s practices Tuesday during the NARUC conference. However, the executive, NumberBarn Chief Technology Officer Brian Scott, seemed to heighten concerns for state officials and telecom attorneys who attended the panel. North American Numbering Council Chair Karen Charles, also a Massachusetts commissioner, said she planned to mention warehouse issues at a future NANC meeting.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The NARUC Telecom Committee on Monday cleared draft resolutions on phone number conservation, the Universal Service Fund and utility coordination on broadband deployment. A USF panel that day described how reform could happen with Republicans controlling the FCC and Congress next year. Also, the affordable connectivity program (ACP) could return in 2025 despite Washington’s partisan climate, said Sanford Williams, deputy chief of staff for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, during a collocated National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) meeting. State utility regulators are holding their annual meeting here this week.
The GOP seemed poised to sweep state commission elections Tuesday, based on unofficial results Wednesday. All the races were in states that went red for President-elect Donald Trump and mostly for commissions that the GOP already dominated. It appeared that Democrats would lose their lone seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and miss a chance at flipping the Louisiana Public Service Commission blue.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed a bill reauthorizing the state’s call-before-you-dig law on Tuesday. The legislature passed SB-1237 last week (see 2410230015). During a September hearing, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Stephen DeFrank supported reauthorizing the 811 law because of an expected influx of broadband work and other reasons (see 2409170004). NARUC plans to vote in November on a proposed resolution on 811 cost sharing (see 2410290041).
NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram seeks better coordination and greater cost sharing related to digging amid an influx of government funding for broadband deployment, the Nebraska Republican said in an interview. NARUC circulated draft resolutions Tuesday for the state utility regulator association’s Nov. 10-13 meeting in Anaheim. In addition to a Schram proposal about coordination, the Telecom Committee plans to weigh drafts on optimizing phone number resources and defending the constitutionality of the federal universal service fund (USF) surcharge mechanism.
Some candidates for state utility commissions promised to take on broadband and other telecom matters if they win election this year. Eight states will elect utility regulators this year: Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. In addition, a New Mexico ballot question will ask voters to authorize millions of dollars for upgrading public safety communications. Meanwhile, Oregon voters will consider a universal basic income that would require Comcast and other big companies to foot the bill.
California should shed carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations in many parts of the state, carriers that are subject to those regulations said in comments posted this week at the California Public Utilities Commission. Just don’t extend the rules to other kinds of companies, warned a cable broadband association, whose members are free from such regulations. However, consumer advocates said COLR obligations remain necessary and should be updated to include high-speed internet service, not just voice.
Danielle Thumann, ex-Crown Castle, returning to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s office as legal adviser ... NARUC selects Tony Clark, Wilkinson Barker, as executive director-elect, effective Oct. 1, to succeed Greg White, retiring Dec. 31 ... Robert Deegan, ex-Array Information Technology, joins Unissant as chief financial officer ... Eric Johnston, ex-Marriott International, joins Comcast’s public policy and digital equity team as executive director-strategic affairs ... Communications and data networking products distributor Graybar names Lauren Baker, ex-Emerson Climate Technologies, as vice president-strategic planning.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- State utility commissioners at the NARUC conference grappled Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of the Chevron doctrine. Loper Bright, “though not framed as a federalist decision," has "modest pro-state implications,” Wilkinson Barker’s Daniel Kahn said during a panel of telecom law experts. Earlier, an NTCA official told the NARUC Telecom Committee that his association plans to seek reconsideration of an FCC order on next-generation 911 if commissioners approve it at their Thursday meeting.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A California rulemaking on modernizing carrier of last resort rules could inspire similar proceedings elsewhere, state and industry officials signaled at the NARUC conference Monday. The California Public Utilities Commission last month opened a rulemaking that took a fresh look at COLR rules after rejecting regulatory relief for AT&T (see 2406200065).