Indiana opened the final round of a broadband grant program for applications, Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) said Wednesday. Indiana will make $80 million in state funds and U.S. Treasury Capital Projects Fund support available for local governments in the Next Level Connections program’s fourth round. The state will award $5 million maximum per grant for projects by telecom providers and utility cooperatives; providers must provide at least a 20% match. Local governments will inform the state about unserved and underserved parts of their communities. “This final round … will be yet another critical component of the transition to the recently announced $868 million of additional funding from” NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment program “to connect more Hoosiers to begin being implemented next year and beyond,” said Holcomb.
Send an update this month on Lumen settlement talks with Oregon Public Utility Commission staff, PUC Administrative Law Judge Sarah Spruce ordered Tuesday (docket UM 1908). In March, the PUC extended a price plan for Lumen’s CenturyLink through Sept. 28 to give parties more time to negotiate an agreement for a successor plan (see 2303280008). Staff said in May it expected to file a stipulation in June, but since then “no party has submitted any other settlement updates or a stipulation,” said Spruce. File an update or the stipulation by July 28, said the ALJ: If they can’t reach settlement, parties must propose a schedule for testimony, hearings and briefs “as soon as possible.”
Expect a California administrative law judge to schedule an initial hearing on AT&T’s request for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief “in the coming weeks,” said a California Public Utilities Commission spokesperson: Expect a prehearing conference in Q3 this year, with a scoping ruling to follow. California consumer and county groups protested AT&T’s June 30 request to shed COLR obligations for most of the state (see 2307070040). AT&T responded Monday that “the world has moved on” from copper networks required by COLR. “The historical regulatory compact is broken, as the Commission’s COLR obligation persists in treating AT&T California as though it were still a monopolist and saddles AT&T alone with the obligation to provide a tariffed standalone voice service to any requesting customer within its service area.” AT&T seeks “tailored relief from this anachronistic barrier to broadband investment and competition,” it said. Protesters’ "arguments are grounded in outdated policies and would slow California’s progress toward universal broadband.”
Florida awarded $247 million in broadband grants for 63 projects in 43 counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday. The broadband infrastructure program support is expected to connect more than 59,000 unserved and underserved homes, farms, businesses and anchor institutions, the governor’s office said.
The Michigan Public Service Commission seeks comments by Aug. 14 on proposed discontinuance rules for basic local exchange services (BLES), said an order approved 2-0 by commissioners Friday. The commission also scheduled an Aug. 1 in-person public hearing. With existing rules expiring March 21, the PSC “seeks to re-promulgate the same rules with minor changes and to add rules” on what information BLES providers must include in discontinuance notices, said the PSC in case U-21368.
Lumen’s CenturyLink may have to pay $923,000 for illegally disconnecting phone lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Thursday. The company has 20 days to ask state commissioners to review an administrative law judge’s initial order, the UTC said. The telco involuntarily disconnected or suspended 923 telephone accounts during an emergency proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) from March 2020 to October 2021, said the UTC. Lumen argued it shouldn’t be penalized because the disconnections were inadvertent and affected a small percentage of its customers. "As a large portion of the disconnection process is automated and involves different billing systems," Washington state's "extended COVID-19 moratorium posed a challenge," a Lumen spokesperson said. "As a result, a small portion of our customers were disconnected in error." The spokesperson noted Lumen quickly joined the FCC's Keep Americans Connected pledge and extended pandemic policies beyond required dates.
North Carolina awarded $80 million in broadband grants from the state’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) program, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said Thursday. The grants are expected to connect nearly 26,000 households and almost 1,000 businesses in 33 counties. With the latest awards, North Carolina has awarded all of the $350 million it received for the GREAT program from the American Rescue Plan Act, the governor’s office said. Applicants had to agree to provide minimum 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds, scalable to 100/100 Mbps by Dec. 31, 2026. Charter Communications won awards for eight county projects, Brightspeed for four projects and AT&T for two.
State commissioners proposed NARUC telecom resolutions seeking permanent annual funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) and recommending no government subsidies to communications companies using network equipment that might pose a national security risk. The state regulator association may consider the draft resolutions at its July 16-19 meeting in Austin. Telecom Committee ex-Chair Karen Charles Peterson of Massachusetts proposed the ACP resolution and another draft that would urge expanding Lifeline Awareness Week to include broadband access. ACP funds are expected to dry up by Q2 2024, said the first resolution. “Establishing a new federal assistance program was a complex process at the federal, state, territory, tribal and local level,” and potentially losing a permanent low-income broadband program "with government oversight is troubling because universal high speed internet access is essential for a well-functioning economy.” New Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram (R) of Nebraska proposed the national security resolution. Despite "efforts to rip out and replace equipment and services from" the FCC's covered list "to safeguard our communications networks," a March 1 FCC public notice found about 79 providers still have covered equipment. That poses "an unacceptable risk to national security,” the draft said. The resolution would encourage the FCC to work with state commissions and broadband offices to identify risky equipment and hold back funding. “NARUC recommends that no federal, state, or local governmental body provide universal service support, broadband deployment support, or any other form of grant funding to any communications company which utilizes equipment identified on the FCC’s Covered List anywhere in its network.”
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved a telecom industry pact on intrastate access charges Friday. The Alaska Exchange Carrier Association, AT&T and GCI filed a petition in January asking the RCA to accept their stipulation on rates for July 1 through June 30, and then July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025 (see 2301100049). The parties agreed all the rates except originating non-toll-free local switching and information surcharge rate elements will remain the same as 2022 stipulated rates, said the RCA order in docket U-23-001. “We find that the public interest does not require continuation of this proceeding."
California commissioners should "move forward with steps to regulate VoIP providers and provide specific recommendations for an appropriate regulatory framework,” said Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Communications Workers of America (CWA). The California Public Utilities Commission received reply comments Friday in docket R.22-08-008. "Industry parties continue to fixate on preemption," as they have for the past nine months of the proceeding, the consumer and workers' groups complained. That CforAT, TURN and CWA "ignore the preemption issue entirely" means industry's "preemption arguments stand unrebutted," replied AT&T. The California Broadband and Video Association warned the CPUC that market "entry requirements and other utility-style regulations for interconnected VoIP service are not only unnecessary but would exceed the Commission’s authority and conflict with [FCC] and federal court precedent.” Regulating business VoIP providers "is unnecessary and unsupported by the evidentiary record or actual marketplace experiences,” the Cloud Communications Alliance replied. But Small Business Utility Advocates said the CPUC has legal authority and should regulate VoIP.