Jehmal Hudson, chairman-Virginia State Corporation Commission, named to NARUC executive committee, replacing Kent Chandler ... Cybersecurity company Forcepoint promotes Ryan Windham to CEO, succeeding Manny Rivelo, retiring ... Streaming service Zone·tv’s founder and chief product and technology officer Doug Edwards takes additional role as president, replacing Jeff Weber ... Cybersecurity company TXOne Networks appoints Stephen Driggers, ex-Nozomi Networks, chief revenue officer ... Cybersecurity company Tufin adds Jeff Taylor, ex-Pegasystems, as COO and Christian Na, ex-Emburse, as general counsel ... Louise Pentland, ex-Disney, joins Roku as senior vice president-general counsel, succeeding Stephen Kay, retiring ... Skylo names Paul Hanton, ex-Google, as vice president-carrier partnerships; Pete Saladino, ex-Samsung, as global head-marketing; and Vijay Krishnan, ex-Intel, as vice president-strategic partnerships.

States hope they can increase federal engagement on telecom no matter who is president in 2025, current and former state utility commissioners said in interviews. In a possible second Donald Trump presidency, “the states and localities are really going to be where broadband policy is made,” predicted Gigi Sohn, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society senior fellow. Some said there is a lot of uncertainty about how a Trump administration might change rules for state grants under NTIA’s $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.

State commissioners proposed no telecom resolutions for NARUC’s July 14-17 summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay said Tuesday.

Industry lawyers continue to assess the potentially seismic implications of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and the other Chevron case decided last week (see 2406280043). Yet the after-effects are being seen already. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday directed parties in the net neutrality challenge to file not later than July 8 supplemental briefing material addressing the effect of the Chevron decision “on our analysis” of a motion to stay the order (see 2406280060).

T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations, including about 30% of its spectrum, has already seen opposition (see 2405280047), with more expected. In addition, the deal will likely face heavy scrutiny from DOJ and the FCC, industry experts agree. Handicapping whether the transaction will receive approval is difficult, especially headed into a presidential election in November, industry officials say. Some of the 21 states where UScellular has a presence could play at least limited roles reviewing the deal, state and other officials said. T-Mobile’s buy of Mint and other assets from Ka’ena, a smaller deal that didn’t involve spectrum, took regulators more than a year to approve.

Federal law doesn't preempt New York state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Friday. In a 2-1 opinion, the court reversed the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York, which had barred the state from enforcing the 2021 Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). The ABA required $15 monthly plans providing 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for qualifying low-income households.

The FCC’s net neutrality draft order got state support from California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA). Bonta's office said in a statement Friday that it supports “strong federal net neutrality rules that establish a floor of protection across the country.” The AG “especially applauds the draft order for acknowledging the important role states like California play in protecting net neutrality, and for declining to block enforcement of California’s own net neutrality law,” his office said. NASUCA praised the FCC draft for treating broadband as an essential service and leaving room for states. “The FCC correctly recognizes that there is a dual role for the federal government and states in addressing broadband and other essential services," and that classifying broadband internet access service "as Title II will enhance its ability to address public safety,” said Regina Costa, the group's telecom chair, in a Monday statement. NASUCA is glad the FCC declined to preempt California’s law or “all state authority over broadband,” she said. NARUC praised the draft last week (see 2404050068).

Industry and consumer advocates urged the FCC on Friday to include changes in its draft order reestablishing net neutrality rules. Commissioners will consider the item during the agency's April 25 meeting (see 2404040064). Some said the draft order didn't adequately address forbearance for ISPs. The draft’s state preemption provisions received praise -- and concern -- from current and former regulators.

FCC commissioners will vote on restoring net neutrality rules during the agency's April 25 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced Wednesday (see 2403290057). Commissioners will consider a declaratory ruling, order, report and order, and order on reconsideration. "A return to the FCC’s overwhelmingly popular and court-approved standard of net neutrality will allow the agency to serve once again as a strong consumer advocate of an open internet," Rosenworcel said. Also on April's agenda is a draft NPRM about georouting 988 calls (see 2404030051).

NARUC appoints Commissioner Maida Coleman, of the Missouri Public Service Commission, as new chair of its Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity, succeeding Virginia State Corp. Commission Judge Jehmal Hudson, who now chairs the NARUC Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment ... Nielsen taps Byju's Group’s Anil Goel, also former Amazon, as chief engineering officer ... Panasas, data solutions provider for high-performance computing and AI, hires Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Paul Hiemstra as chief financial officer ... Futurum Group’s Cybersphere cybersecurity practice forms new chief information security officer advisory board, naming as inaugural members: Marene Allison, retired CISO, Johnson & Johnson; Gary Hayslip, CISO, SoftBank Investment Advisors and SoftBank Group; Stacy Mill, CEO, Pivot Tech Solutions; Jonathan Nguyen-Duy, field CISO, Intel; Holly Ridgeway, executive vice president-chief security officer, Citizens Bank; and Matthew Rosenquist, CISO, Mercury Risk ...