The California Public Utilities Commission received much feedback from telecom companies, consumer advocates and local governments on possible changes to California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure account rules. The CPUC received comments Monday on changes proposed June 7 to the state-funded last-mile program as part of a wider California broadband effort (see 2205250045). The CPUC adopted rules in April for a last-mile program using federal funding (see 2204210046).
The House Appropriations Committee expects the FCC to "take further action to help eliminate the potential for future interagency spectrum disputes" beyond a coordination agreement between commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson (see 2202150001), the panel said in a report accompanying the Financial Services Subcommittee's FY 2023 bill. The underlying measure (see 2203280069), set for a Friday committee vote, would give the FCC $390 million, up 2.3% from what Congress appropriated in the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package President Joe Biden signed in March (see 2203150076). The bill would give the FTC $490 million in FY23, up 30% from FY22. The markup begins at 9 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.
The California Public Utilities Commission threatened action against several large phone and cable companies that the agency says didn’t fully comply with a March 15 request for granular deployment data needed for a state map required for California’s $6 billion broadband effort. The CPUC seeks responses by Friday to similar warning letters sent June 10. ISPs said privacy and confidentiality concerns stopped them from sharing all data sought by the state commission.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel now expects a final estimate of demands for money from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk to be ready on or soon after July 15. The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, meanwhile, advanced by voice vote Thursday its FY 2023 bill with FCC and FTC funding mirroring what President Joe Biden is seeking for the agencies (see 2203280069). The Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee advanced by voice its FY23 bill Thursday with funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency well above what Biden sought.
Alaska’s attorney general supported connections-based contribution and assessing broadband services for Alaska USF. Assessing fees by connection is more sustainable, the AG’s Regulatory Affairs and Public Advocacy (RAPA) division said in comments received Monday by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). “It is fair and reasonable to require broadband Internet connections to support the network that allows carriers to provide that specific service,” RAPA said in the RCA's USF review in docket R-21-001 (see 2205160022). Associations that filed competing AUSF revamp plans supported connections-based contribution. Matanuska Telecom Association (MTA) called its plan a “simple and immediate solution,” while “time is simply running out for the Commission to vet and implement the complicated, still conceptual proposals” from staff and the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition. ARCC said the MTA proposal “makes only minor changes to the status quo and thus ignores the greatest need" in Alaska, "the off-road network remote villages.” ARCC agreed the RCA should adopt a connections-based method and supported assessing broadband. Federal infrastructure dollars are meant to supplement but not replace state funding, ARCC said. Alaska Communications supported a voice connections-based method. GCI isn’t sure what to do about AUSF, it said. “While GCI is very much open to continuation of an appropriate AUSF, GCI does not believe that a record has yet been developed to support any specific proposal. With federal funding on the way, “now is not a prudent time for the Commission to expand or repurpose the AUSF for broadband,” said CTIA: Changing to connections-based contribution “would worsen, not improve, the impact of the economic burden on hardworking Alaskans by making the assessment more regressive, hitting low-income and low-volume users hardest, and shifting the overall burden away from business customers and towards residential users."
California could make jail and prison calls free under a bill cleared Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto disagreed with other county sheriff departments that opposed SB-1008. Meanwhile, at a Senate hearing, ISP associations and Republicans opposed a bill to restrict state contracts only to ISPs that offer affordable internet services.
Top members of the House and Senate Commerce committees are having varying levels of success in moving forward in the coming weeks on spectrum legislation. The House Communications Subcommittee plans to mark up a revised version of the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) Wednesday along with other legislation, subpanel Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said in an interview. Senate Commerce leaders, meanwhile, told us they're still grappling with how to move forward on the Improving Spectrum Coordination Act (S-1472) after an amendment fight prompted them to remove it from a markup last month (see 2205250063).
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should consider revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, said the state Commerce Department in Wednesday reply comments in docket M-21-133. ETC designation is needed for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Minnesota Commerce, which didn’t make a recommendation in initial comments last week (see 2206020046), said now that the “collective concerns raised by the petitioners, rural organizations, counties, and townships … provide compelling reasons for the Commission to open an investigation.” The PUC should launch an expedited proceeding that includes discovery and cross-examination of expert witnesses, the department said. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said it continues to recommend a proceeding. LTD disagreed, saying "It would be unfair, and violate the principle of competitive neutrality, if the expanded ETC designation granted to [LTD] last year is singled out for re-examination or revocation when other Minnesota RDOF ETCs, who made the same commitments as LTD, are not subject to the same scrutiny.” Any compliance or oversight requirements “should apply to all ETCs” and should be addressed in the PUC’s docket CI-21-86 on ETC designation authority “on a timeline and in a manner that does not jeopardize LTD’s eligibility for RDOF funding,” it said. Initial comments showed widespread, deep concerns, which are "fully justified,” replied the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Minnesota Rural Electric Association, which originally asked for the proceeding. “Unless LTD delivers on its promises, over 160,000 Minnesota residents could be denied the benefit of federal support for broadband deployment." Chippewa County wants an expedited proceeding because it has been unable to communicate with LTD Broadband and "its residents have lost faith” that LTD can fulfill its promises, the county said. "The RDOF Award and LTD's ETC designation puts Chippewa County at a significant disadvantage for economic growth and vitality."
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other panel Republicans criticized NTIA’s plans for rolling out its $48 billion share of broadband money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during a Thursday hearing with agency Administrator Alan Davidson, as expected (see 2206020070). Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and other panel Democrats delivered more positive, but not universally complimentary, reviews of NTIA’s work. There was significantly less focus on the agency’s government spectrum coordination role.
Minnesota’s attorney general supported revisiting LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. So did some local governments and consumer and municipal broadband advocates, in comments due Wednesday in docket M-21-133 at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. LTD urged the PUC to reject the request by Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) to revoke the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s ETC status (see 2205170058).