Social media companies would be barred from collecting data on Louisiana minors under 18 for targeted ads, under a bill passed unanimously by the state House on Tuesday. Members voted 101-0 for HB-577, sending it to the state Senate. The bill covers any social media platform with more than one million users globally that operates in Louisiana.
A Colorado bill about broadband in multiunit buildings passed the Senate in a 26-9 vote Tuesday. The bill (HB-1334) would prohibit owners of multiunit buildings from denying broadband providers access to install high-speed internet. The House passed the bill on March 25 (see 2403260040) but must vote again on Senate changes. Also Tuesday, the House concurred with Senate amendments to bills on digital right-to-repair (HB-1121) and election deepfake disclosures (HB-1147), meaning the measures can go to Gov. Jared Polis (D).
Vermont should expand mobile wireless coverage, the state’s Public Service department said in the final draft of a proposed 10-year plan released Tuesday. The department plans three public hearings on the draft this month and will present it to the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee June 21. With an influx of federal money from the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Capital Projects Fund and American Rescue Plan Act, Vermont “is in the process of facilitating approximately $670.8 million in broadband grants, which will result in every on-grid Vermonter having access to 100/100 megabits per second (Mbps) service by January 2029,” the draft plan said. While fiber broadband is expanding quickly, mobile broadband hasn’t “meaningfully increased in coverage,” though speeds have increased, said the draft: Prioritizing small wireless facilities would be the cheapest way to expand mobile broadband. The draft would suggest a $2 million-$3 million pilot grant program for small-cell deployments. In addition, noting the end of the federal affordable connectivity program, the draft plan recommends “a state-run subsidy program to provide $67 per month to low-income Vermonters for both a wireline and wireless broadband subscription. Also, Vermont should prioritize workforce development, strengthening emergency communications systems and ensuring that BEAD fiber deployments are resilient and redundant,” the draft said.
NetChoice urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) to veto a bill requiring age-verification for social media use. In a Monday letter, the tech industry group predicted that HB-1891 “would ultimately be struck down in court as unconstitutional.” But Lee has supported the bill, which would require parental consent for kids younger than 18 on social networks. The legislature approved HB-1891 earlier this month (see 2404160019).
The Nebraska Public Service Commission awarded $680,000 in precision agriculture grants on Tuesday, the PSC said. The 11 funded projects must be completed by April 30, 2025. A state law provides $1 million annually for precision agriculture projects. Unawarded grant dollars carry over to the next cycle, the PSC said.
Charter Communications sought New Hampshire conditions on Consolidated Communications' transfer of indirect ownership and control of its local subsidiaries to Condor Holdings, a subsidiary of private equity firm Searchlight. Charter didn’t oppose the deal but asked the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission for conditions related to wholesale intercarrier relationships. Statements from Consolidated and Condor about maintaining the status quo "are ultimately meaningless unless there is a specific minimum period of time that ensures the continuity of existing wholesale intercarrier relationships,” said Michael Scanlon, Charter vice president-circuit operations, in written testimony Friday (docket DT 23-103). First, the PUC should require that Consolidated "honor existing interconnection agreements and their terms, including those of any tariffs or pricing guides" for three years after the deal closes, the Charter official said. Second, force Consolidated to process "number ports so as to meet or exceed [PUC] and FCC porting requirements with at least the same level of quality and intervals as they did pre-Transaction,” he said. Third, require that the company use existing operations support and billing support systems for at least 36 months after the deal closes. "It should also maintain at least the same intervals, quality of service, accuracy, and flow-through,” Scanlon wrote. Additionally, still under the third proposed condition, Consolidated should agree that, before migrating away from any existing systems related to wholesale, it should file a plan for the state commission to seek comment on, then approve, delay or deny. If approved, the company should provide CLECs with training on the new system, the Charter official said. If the migration results in “significant negative impacts to wholesale providers occur due to the migration, CLECs should be able to seek Commission approval of payment by Petitioners of all documented costs directly related to the migration." Under a fourth proposed condition, the PUC should require the company to "sufficiently staff its wholesale customer support centers with adequately trained personnel dedicated exclusively to wholesale operations; maintain updated escalation procedures, contact lists, and account manager information; and assign a single point of contact to [Charter New Hampshire] to address interconnection agreements, systems, and other issues,” said Scanlon: And the company should agree not to recover any transaction or rebranding costs through wholesale rates.
The Michigan Public Service Commission set a hearing for May 8 on an AT&T restructuring that will merge affiliate AT&T Corp. into the newly formed AT&T Enterprises. The virtual hearing starts at 9 a.m., the PSC said in case U-21625. Staff written testimony is due May 8, while AT&T’s rebuttal is due May 15, said the agency. Any intervenors must file by May 22.
California aims to quickly expand broadband access using a large influx of state and federal funding, California Public Utilities Commission officials said at a virtual workshop Monday. "Eliminating the digital divide could not be more urgent than it is right now,” said Commissioner Darcie Houck, who is assigned to the agency’s California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) docket. "Crossing the finish line will take hard work and creativity from government, communities, carriers and all of our stakeholders." Since it was created in 2008, CASF has awarded about $400 million to more than 1,100 projects, including $40 million to 187 projects in 2023 alone, Houck said. When the deadline closed earlier this month for the $750 million Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund (BLLRF) program, the CPUC had received about 400 applications requesting $430 million, she said. The program is meant to fund nonprofits, local and tribal governments' broadband infrastructure deployment. The agency plans to announce BLLRF awards in Q2 and Q3 this year, she said. While there remain “barriers and inequalities” with broadband access in California, CPUC Deputy Director Maria Ellis said she is optimistic the state can soon close the digital “chasm.” However, Ellis noted that price is one key challenge. The federal affordable connectivity program helped reduce costs, but its possible sunset could mean low-income households will again face high bills soon, she said.
The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that denied preliminary injunction against the California Public Utilities Commission shifting to a per line surcharge for the state Universal Service Fund. T-Mobile’s Assurance Wireless had argued that the state must align with the FCC’s revenue-based method for federal USF. But on March 31 last year, the U.S. District Court for Northern California decided not to block the CPUC’s April 1 change. The 9th Circuit heard arguments on an appeal in October (see 2310170042). "The carriers have failed to show a likelihood of success on their claim that the access line rule is 'inconsistent with' the FCC rule,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote in Friday’s opinion, which Judges Jacqueline Nguyen and Eugene Siler joined (case 23-15490). The court referred to the Communications Act's Section 254(f), which prohibits USF rules that are "inconsistent" with FCC rules. Inconsistent doesn’t mean different, Nelson wrote. "The access line rule differs from the FCC’s rule funding interstate universal service programs. But the carriers have not shown that it burdens those programs, and they have thus failed to show that they are likely to succeed on their claim that it is inconsistent with those rules." Also, the court rejected T-Mobile’s claim that the surcharge rule is preempted because it's inequitable and discriminatory. "The carriers argue that they are harmed more than local exchange carriers,” but the CPUC rule treats all telecom technologies “the same and, if anything, is more equitable than the prior rule, under which most of the surcharges came only from ever-dwindling landline services,” Nelson said. The CPUC’s "course correction" is "a fair response to a real problem,” he added. “In a world of ever-evolving telecommunications technologies, competitive neutrality must allow some play in the joints. To hold otherwise would hamstring California’s ability to satisfy its statutory mandate of providing universal service." T-Mobile also argued the change was discriminatory because the CPUC rule treats providers who get federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) support differently from those in the state LifeLine program. But the court found differences between the programs and noted that companies in ACP have the option of joining LifeLine. The decision "affirms that the CPUC's surcharge rule is consistent with federal law," said a commission spokesperson. "The CPUC will continue to utilize the surcharge to ensure consumers have safe, reliable, affordable, and universal access to telecommunications services." T-Mobile didn’t immediately comment.
Colorado could soon be the fourth state with a right-to-repair law covering consumer electronics. The state's Senate voted 21-13 on Wednesday in favor of HB-1121, which was opposed by industry groups including CTIA, CTA and TechNet. The House passed the bill in a 39-18 vote on March 12. It still requires a signature from Gov. Jared Polis (D). Colorado previously enacted right-to-repair laws covering powered wheelchairs and farm equipment.