The West Virginia Public Service Commission received a settlement proposal in a pole attachments case. Frontier Communications, Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison (MP/PE), Citynet, Micrologic and West Virginia PSC staff filed a joint stipulation on the pact Friday in case 22-0885-T-E-SC. The agreement responded to commission scrutiny about duplicative processes slowing pole-attachment application reviews (see 2302280046). “The Stipulating Parties undertook extensive discussions and meetings in an effort to resolve the issues raised by [PSC] Staff,” they said. They didn’t address every pole-attachment process issue and “reserve the right to bring those issues in a separate proceeding,” the parties said. Before the settlement can become final, PSC legal staff must respond and the commission must decide to approve or deny the agreement, an agency spokesperson said Monday.
Georgia tagged nearly $15 million for broadband expansion in a second round of Capital Projects Fund grants, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said Monday. The preliminary grant awards are meant to connect more than 3,500 locations, the governor’s office said. Windstream received more than $8.5 million combined for projects in three counties. Georgia city Colquitt got the rest, winning nearly $6.3 million for a project in Miller County.
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.”
The California Public Utilities Commission refused to rehear a decision fining T-Mobile $3.59 million for allegedly misleading the agency about its CDMA transition during the state's Sprint merger review. The carrier in December sought rehearing of the CPUC’s Nov. 7 decision (see 2212080019 and 2211030064). Rehearing isn’t warranted, said a CPUC order issued Friday (docket A.18-07-012). “T-Mobile did not make it clear and unambiguous that it intended to shut down the CDMA network before the expiration of the three-year migration period,” the commission said. “It was reasonable for us to interpret T-Mobile as committing to operate the CDMA network for three years.” The commission also stood by its penalties calculation, saying it was correct that Verizon’s failure was a continuing violation that caused harm to the economy and regulatory process. "We continue to strongly disagree with the CPUC’s flawed conclusions," a T-Mobile spokesperson said Monday. "We stand by our prior statements to the CPUC and are considering options for next steps."
Don’t waive penalties for Verizon's failing to move more than 170,000 TracFone customers to its network in California, said Center for Accessible Technology and The Utility Reform Network in a Friday letter. The consumer groups urged the California Public Utilities Commission to deny Verizon’s request for another year to migrate customers. It’s “a transparent attempt by Verizon to avoid the mitigation conditions, including fines, imposed in the decision approving the merger and escape the consequences of its own inaction,” wrote CforAT and TURN: The carrier appears to be “insufficiently committed” to the migration. CforAT legal counsel Paul Goodman told us about his group’s concerns earlier last week (see 2306080055).
Wireless and internet industry groups sounded alarms in Ohio as senators weigh what to include in the state budget. One HB-33 amendment under consideration (Page 143) by the Senate would remove wireless broadband from definitions of tier one and tier two broadband services for the purposes of getting grants. The Wireless ISP Association “is disappointed to see the Senate considering taking a step backward on its broadband expansion grant program by removing wireless broadband providers from grant eligibility,” WISPA State Advocacy Manager Steven Schwerbel told us Friday. “This amendment would mean that the state will not be able to fully consider all factors that influence broadband needs in Ohio. Federal programs like [NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment program] are already putting their thumbs on the scale when it comes to funding broadband expansion. Cutting wireless out of the state grant program means that BroadbandOhio will lose the flexibility to fill in the gaps where those federal dollars can’t or won’t flow, and make sure that every Ohioan has access to reliable, high-speed broadband.” Meanwhile, the Computer and Communications Industry Association sent a letter to senators protesting a section in HB-33 that would require social websites to verify users’ ages and require parental approval. “While we share the concerns of the Ohio State Senate regarding the safety of young people online, we encourage Senators to resist advancing Sec. 1349.09 of HB 33 which is not adequately tailored to this objective,” wrote CCIA State Policy Manager Jordan Rodell.
The New York Privacy Act passed the state Senate without the private right of action from the original S-365 (see 2304250063). The Senate voted 46-15 Thursday to send the measure to the Assembly. Also, the Senate voted 62-0 to send the Assembly S-6318, which would require the New York Public Service Commission to map mobile coverage and reliability across the state and then make a plan to ensure reliable coverage statewide (see 2305160033). The latest version of S-365 sets parameters for state attorney general action, which is how most other state privacy laws are enforced. Consumer Reports withdrew its support and is now officially “neutral” on the bill, policy analyst Matthew Schwartz emailed Friday. “Among numerous other changes, the amendments removed automated decisionmaking rights, weakened the definition of biometric information, carved out nonprofits, weakened risk assessments, and inserted a loyalty program carveout.” Microsoft supports the New York Privacy Act, a spokesperson said. "We will continue working with sponsors in both houses and stakeholders to pass comprehensive privacy legislation." CTIA opposed the mobile mapping bill in a letter Wednesday. SB-6318 “would unnecessarily duplicate efforts by the [FCC] to comprehensively map and regularly update mobile wireless coverage throughout the country,” said the wireless industry association: New York should instead seek to reduce local government barriers to wireless deployment. “If the bill contemplates directing the PSC to mandate wireless deployment in specific areas or regulate wireless rates, such measures would be preempted by federal law,” CTIA warned.
The Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill to update Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) grant rules. The House voted 97-0 Thursday to agree with Senate amendments to HB-653 (see 2305250048). The bill will go to Gov. John Bel Edwards (D).
A Louisiana bill requiring social media companies to verify the age of users passed the legislature Wednesday. The Senate voted 25-0 to concur with House changes to SB-162, which would also require platforms to collect parental approval for minors to get accounts (see [Ref:2306060026). The bill will go to Gov. John Bel Edwards (D). The governor didn’t comment Thursday.
Don’t include communications in a state review of utilities’ low-income universal service programs, Verizon urged the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Wednesday. "Low-income discount programs for voice and internet are governed by federal law,” Verizon commented in docket M-2023-3038944. FCC rules cover eligibility, enrollment, recertification and other issues raised by the Pennsylvania PUC in a March 27 letter, said the carrier: While the state commission "has a role with certain aspects of these federal programs, it must work within and cannot alter or depart from the federal requirements."