Lumen’s CenturyLink takes 911 responsibilities seriously, a spokesperson said Monday in response to a Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission order last week. The commission denied the carrier’s reconsideration petition to reverse about $1.32 million in fines and a conclusion that CenturyLink was liable for a Dec. 2018 outage that resulted in at least 13,000 dropped or incomplete 911 calls (see 2308150061). The Washington UTC also denied a separate reconsideration petition by the state attorney general’s public counsel seeking a much larger fine of about $13 million. “Neither petition for reconsideration convinces us that any of the findings and conclusions in [the commission’s order] were erroneous,” the UTC said in docket UT-181051. “Lives literally depend on the ubiquitous ability of callers to access first responders, police, and medical personnel in the event of an emergency,” so “we are particularly demanding when reviewing the reasonableness of the actions CenturyLink took or did not take to comply with the statutes and rules that govern the provision of that service.” And the commission said it properly calculated the penalty. Lumen fully cooperated with the state probe, the company’s spokesperson said. "These issues are always concerning and are our immediate priority.” The spokesperson wouldn't say if the carrier would appeal further.
The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) asked for comment by Dec. 15 on its Internet for All Plan (see 2310260040). “Now that our planning documents have been drafted, we want to hear from you,” said a Tuesday release: “MBI is collecting input from residents of Massachusetts to make sure we got the plan right. Your input is crucial during this public comment period as we want to understand your experiences and how we can enhance them to meet the needs of all Commonwealth residents.”
LTD Broadband asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to remove its proceeding on revoking the company's eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation from its Nov. 16 meeting in a letter Monday (see 2310110055). LTD cited an order on circulation at the FCC regarding its application for review of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I application." If the FCC dismisses or denies the AFR, LTD will review that decision and decide whether to seek further review or to cease prosecuting its RDOF long-form application," the company said. LTD also asked that the proceeding be "deferred until after the FCC has acted."
Expect more states to weigh privacy bills in 2024, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said in a privacy report Thursday. “We appreciate states pushing ahead with privacy protections due to the lack of federal action to establish baseline privacy rules,” but federal legislation is still needed, said CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender. In 2023, 37 states introduced more than 140 privacy bills, the CCIA report said. Most states enacting privacy laws this year had Republican legislative majorities, marking a change from previous years, it added.
The Michigan Public Service Commission approved $1.42 million for wireless call routing for next-generation 911 across the state Thursday. The commission approved five invoices for reimbursement from Peninsula Fiber Network Next Generation Services (case U-14000). The PSC paid the invoices with revenue collected by a monthly 911 fee on telephone bills.
The telecom industry applauded Texas voters Thursday for supporting a constitutional amendment to create a $1.5 billion broadband infrastructure fund. More than 69% of voters supported Proposition No. 8 (HJR-125) in Tuesday’s election. The state will distribute the money over two years under measures the legislature approved earlier this year (see 2306120035 and 2305300057). AT&T is happy to see Texas voters “prioritize broadband expansion and closing the digital divide by passing Prop 8,” said AT&T Texas President Leslie Ward. Passage means there will be “a constitutionally dedicated funding source for broadband expansion, emergency services and next-generation 911,” Texas Telephone Association Executive Director Mark Seale wrote in an email. Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative, Inc., supported the measure during the legislative session and is "glad to see these funds being made available to enhance broadband, infrastructure and availability in Texas," said TSTCI Board President Allen Hyer. Meanwhile, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brent Bailey (R) told us Thursday there was no change in his uncalled race against De’Keither Stamps (D), a state rep (see 2311080040). With more than 95% of the vote in, Stamps leads 50.5% to 49.5%. Stamps didn’t comment.
The California Public Utilities Commission will have a Dec. 4 prehearing conference on a Verizon application to discontinue local exchange service to California residents and small businesses, Administrative Law Judge Seaneen Wilson ruled Thursday in docket A.23-10-002. The virtual meeting starts at 11 a.m. PST. Verizon applied Oct. 2 to discontinue LEC “service and related bundled offerings of local and interexchange voice services to residential and small business customers” across California starting Dec. 31. Verizon said that would affect 3,469 residential customers, including 466 low-income users on California LifeLine, and 202 small-business customers. Verizon would transfer customers to AT&T or a different provider chosen by the customer. Verizon would continue to provide service to large business and enterprise customers, it said. AT&T cautioned Monday that it “will be faced with a potentially time-intensive mass migration project” that can’t be completed by Dec. 31 when Verizon seeks to disconnect. AT&T estimated implementation would take at least 10 weeks from CPUC approval. The Utility Reform Network sees deficiencies in the carrier’s customer notification plans, TURN said Monday at the CPUC. The application lacks detail on AT&T’s services and doesn’t discuss multilanguage or accessible-format notifications, it said. “Ensuring that these customers receive meaningful and accessible notice may mitigate migration problems and prevent double migration.”
The California Public Utilities Commission granted Verizon one more year to comply with a condition in the CPUC’s Verizon/Tracfone OK to migrate Tracfone customers to its network, the carrier reported to the email service list for docket A.20-11-001 Wednesday. Verizon now has until Nov. 22, 2024. CPUC Executive Director Rachel Peterson in July had denied the carrier's request “on the grounds" it was “ambiguous and failed to identify any strategy changes that the company might pursue to ensure a successful customer migration process,” she said in a letter. But a revised Verizon request filed Sept. 28 “remedies the deficiencies in its prior request and demonstrates good cause,” she said. “Verizon identified additional measures it is implementing to achieve the customer migration … including ‘concierge’ live customer service support, instructional videos, and leveraging the TracFone Rewards program.” A CPUC administrative law judge last week delayed a related proceeding on an Oct. 6 petition by Center for Accessible Technology to modify the CPUC Verizon/Tracfone approval because Verizon, CforAT and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) said they were nearing a settlement (see 2311060015 and 2311030008). “Delays are not neutral,” emailed Ashley Salas, TURN telecommunication regulatory and policy attorney. “The extension means some of TracFone’s consumers will not receive any benefits from the merger for another year.”
Opposition to Lumen’s pact with Oregon Public Utility Commission staff on a successor price plan “largely ignores the tremendous amount of give and take reflected in the Stipulation,” Lumen Regulatory Affairs Director Peter Gose testified Tuesday at the PUC (docket UM 1908). The Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB) and a Lumen landline customer opposed the settlement last month (see 2310250014). “Their position is also hyper-focused on approximately 100 residents of rural Jacksonville … rather than on all 4,100 'Protected Customers' statewide.” Opponents “seem content to let the new statewide protections be scrapped in favor of indefinitely retaining” previous Jacksonville protections that weren’t meant to be permanent, he said. Lumen won’t move forward with the settlement if the PUC’s previous Jacksonville orders are retained, said Gose. Oregon PUC staff urged the commission to approve the agreement. “Despite the objections and testimony of the Intervenors being focused almost exclusively on the impact to the Jacksonville, OR area, the agreements affect all CenturyLink Oregon customers and the Stipulating Parties recognize the importance of improving service quality across the state, which is why the Protected Customer class encompasses over four thousand customers, greatly expanding the scope beyond Jacksonville,” Senior Utility Analyst Russ Beitzel testified.
State Rep. De’Keither Stamps (D) appeared to have the edge Wednesday in a rematch with Mississippi Public Service Commission incumbent Brent Bailey (R). But Bailey, who narrowly defeated Stamps for the same seat in 2019, hadn’t conceded as of Wednesday afternoon. The New York Times showed Stamps leading 50.5% to 49.5%. Bailey continues to monitor results, the commissioner said in a statement. “While we are hopeful that there could be a favorable tranche of vote numbers to come in and swing the results, we are also realists. But we are going to hang in there until every last vote is vetted, counted and appropriately certified.” The Republican added, “The fight is not over. The fight will likely never be over.” Stamps didn't comment. Each candidate told us before the election that he wanted to ensure all their citizens have internet access (see 2311010043). Developer Nelson Carr (R) and State Rep. Chris Brown (R) will also join the PSC after running uncontested. Carr defeated incumbent Dane Maxwell (R) in the primary. If the results hold, Stamps would be the lone Democrat on the three-member body. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) defeated Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who was formerly NARUC president and a Mississippi PSC member. Reeves won 51.6% of the vote, Presley 47%. That’s despite Presley getting 79% of the vote in Hinds County, which includes Jackson, Mississippi. Reeves signed off on an executive branch broadband office in 2022 (see 2204150013). Earlier this year, the Republican approved a bill to transfer robocall enforcement authority to the state AG office from the PSC (see 2303230027). Stamps co-sponsored both bills as a state representative.