The California Public Utilities Commission is seeking comments on a staff proposal to establish a broadband loan loss reserve fund, said a Wednesday order by Commissioner Darcie Houck. The fund is required by state law to support broadband deployment costs by local governments and nonprofits. “Eligible broadband projects … should be designed to reliably offer, upon completion, symmetrical speeds at or above 100 Mbps download and upload,” said proposed eligibility criteria in the staff plan. If there are engineering limitations, 100/20 Mbps may be considered, it said. Also, staff recommends providers have open-access middle-mile infrastructure requirements and offer a low-income broadband plan through the affordable connectivity program or a successor program identified by the CPUC, it said. Comments are due July 10, replies July 20 (docket R.20-08-021).
The Oregon Senate passed a comprehensive privacy bill Tuesday. Senators voted 23-2 to send SB-619 to the House, which then referred the bill to the Ways and Means Committee. The bill initially included a private right of action, but a Senate panel removed it in April, leaving the attorney general as the proposed law’s sole enforcer (see 2306010025). In New Jersey, the legislature passed a bill (SB-715) to study social media’s effects on adolescents (see 2303310029). The Senate voted 36-0 Tuesday to concur with Assembly amendments.
Michigan’s broadband office recommended $238 million in broadband infrastructure grants using money from the U.S. Treasury Capital Projects Fund (CPF). The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office said it selected 24 projects from 11 applicants; it received 154 applications from 40 applicants. The broadband office said the awarded projects aim to connect about 106,000 homes, businesses and institutions. Applicants committed more than $311 million in matching funds, it said. Whether the projects get any or some of the recommended funding depends on a 45-day comment and objection window that closes July 31, the office noted. Iowa is readying nearly $149 million in broadband grants through CPF, said Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) Monday. Applications will be accepted July 14 through Aug. 25, with decisions to be announced Sept. 22. It’s the eighth funding availability for Iowa, which awarded about $353 million in grants over the previous seven rounds.
Texas will be the 11th state with a consumer privacy law. Over the weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed HB-4, which largely follows in the mold of Virginia and Connecticut laws (see 2305300057). Also, Abbott signed a data broker registration bill (SB-2105), a broadband mapping bill (SB-2119) and a USF bill (SB-1710) to establish a competition test allowing the Texas Public Utility Commission to decide whether previously rural areas should continue receiving support. Abbott vetoed SB-2399, which would have clarified that the PUC should continue to grant operating authority certificates to VoIP providers. “Texans are faced with perpetually increasing threats to their family's privacy with unscrupulous actors collecting their personal data and activities," the privacy bill’s sponsor, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R), said Monday: "Texans deserve to know what information is being collected and how to delete that information if they so choose.” Florida was the 10th state with a privacy law (see 2306060030).
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska seeks comments by July 19 on making Alaska USF emergency regulations permanent, said an RCA notice released Monday. The commission filed the emergency regs with the lieutenant governor’s office Thursday (see 2306160041). The emergency rules take effect July 1 and expire Oct. 28. Making them permanent would extend the AUSF sunset through June 30, 2026.
Alaska and North Carolina had spikes in broadband serviceable locations (BSLs) on the FCC map after the federal agency’s May 30 update, the states said last week. Some other states told us the national map improved but still needs work (see 2306130041). “As a result of our commitment to work as a team with the FCC,” the Alaska broadband office saw 61,000 BSLs added to the national map for its state, a spokesperson said Thursday. “The Alaska Broadband Office is optimistic that the NTIA will consider the unique nature of Alaska when calculating” its broadband, equity, access and deployment funding allocation. The North Carolina broadband offices’ nearly 43,000 challenges to the FCC map helped find 115,000 more homes and businesses lacking access to high-speed internet, the state’s information tech department said Thursday. “This more accurate picture will help us more effectively and efficiently close the digital divide to help North Carolinians get online for telemedicine, education, services and business,” said Gov. Roy Cooper (D).
"Affordable and reliable telecommunications services are essential to the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Alaska,” according to Alaska USF emergency regulations the Regulatory Commission of Alaska filed Thursday at the lieutenant governor's office. The commission adopted the rules in docket R-21-001 at a June 7 meeting (see 2306070050). They'll take effect July 1 and expire Oct. 28 unless made permanent by the RCA, said Thursday’s filing. Existing AUSF rules sunset on June 30.
The District of Columbia’s 911 office would have to share data regularly and update the public under a transparency bill proposed last week by Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chairperson Brooke Pinto (D). The bill aims to increase accountability by requiring the Office of Unified Communications to provide information on operations, efficacy and accuracy, Pinto’s office said Thursday. The bill would require the agency to post monthly data on the number of call-taker and dispatcher errors, shifts using minimum staffing levels, answer times and calls dropped and the number and type of 911 misuse calls. "OUC is a critical part of our public safety apparatus and it is crucial that the agency is functioning with accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness,“ said Pinto. "Patterns of errors at OUC are unacceptable especially with so much at stake in emergency situations.” The D.C. Council confirmed Heather McGaffin last month as OUC's new director (see 2305170017). In meetings on the confirmation, Pinto's committee sought improvements at the 911 center, where recent audits found problems with incorrect addresses, miscommunication and dispatching delays (see 2305090073).
The Pennsylvania House passed bills to fund 911 and 988 calling services Wednesday. Members voted 121-82 for HB-1304, which would hike the $1.65 surcharge for 911 to $1.97 in 2024, with it going up each year after based on the consumer price index. The House voted 113-90 for HB-1305, which would establish a 988 fund and levy a fee of 6 cents on mobile and IP voice service lines starting in 2024, with the fee going up each year at the same rate as the CPI. The bills passed committees last week (see 2306070027). On Tuesday, the House voted 203-0 for a bill (HB-1138) to exempt mobile telecom from the state’s sales and use tax and gross receipts tax.
Washington state regulators slapped Lumen with nearly $1.32 million in penalties for a December 2018 outage that resulted in at least 13,000 dropped or incomplete 911 calls. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission issued a final order Friday in docket UT-181051. "CenturyLink committed at least 13,000 violations of” a state rule “by failing to render prompt, expeditious, and efficient service; to keep its facilities, instrumentalities, and equipment in good condition and repair; and to ensure that its appliances, instrumentalities, and services are modern, adequate, sufficient, and efficient,” said the Washington UTC, assessing $100 per violation. Also, the UTC assessed $1,000 for each of 15 violations of a separate state regulation requiring telecom companies to promptly notify the commission and affected public safety answering points. “The service disruption lasting 49 hours and 32 minutes in December 2018 was a serious health and safety threat to Washington state residents,” the UTC said. “CenturyLink failed both in its obligations under statutory provisions and Commission rules to adequately manage and provide 911 service.” The penalty was lower than the $7.2 million penalty sought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) in 2021 (see 2112160048). Lumen cooperated with the state commission’s investigation, a Lumen spokesperson said Monday: “We know that when someone calls 911, seconds count, and we take that responsibility seriously.”