The District of Columbia enacted a 911 transparency bill Wednesday without the signature of Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). The D.C. Council voted 13-0 Sept. 19 to pass B25-0375 to temporarily amend the law establishing the Office of Unified Communications. Bowser had until Wednesday to respond. The unsigned act requires the office “to collect and post publicly on the Office's website the number of calls eligible to be diverted to alternative responses, the number of those calls diverted, and data on daily call-taking and dispatching operations.” The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee mulled a permanent OUC transparency bill last week (see 2310050062). Some at the hearing claimed Bowser isn't taking seriously District 911 problems identified in an audit. The mayor didn’t comment by our deadline.
New York state legislation to limit “addictive” social media features for children and teens is unconstitutional, NetChoice said Wednesday. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), Attorney General Letitia James (D) and state legislators announced the bills earlier that day (see 2310110048). “It’s unfortunate for New Yorkers that the state is denying parents their right to raise their children as they deem appropriate, all while ignoring the simple steps of working with schools and community leaders to educate students and adults how to use social media in a safe and responsible manner,” said NetChoice General Counsel Carl Szabo. “Instead of adopting the successful approach of Virginia and Florida to educate students, New York is following the same unconstitutional approach as California and Arkansas.”
The North Dakota Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny LTD Broadband’s application to be designated an eligible telecom carrier (docket PU-21-168). It’s another setback for the company that sought FCC reversal of its denied Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form application (see 2302160069). LTD didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to decide at its Nov. 16 meeting whether to resume proceedings on revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and whether to grant Minnesota Telecom Association and the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s motion to suspend LTD’s ETC designation in the meantime, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The PUC planned to decide last month but pulled the item due to a commissioner’s personal reasons (see 2309190068).
"Nothing in telecommunications regulation is ever easy,” said Regulatory Commission of Alaska Commissioner Robert Pickett Wednesday as he and four colleagues agreed to hit reboot on a proceeding to implement the state’s 2019 telecom deregulation law, SB-83. Commissioners agreed to close docket R-19-002 and open a yet-to-be-numbered fresh docket. The RCA had filed rules in 2021 but the Department of Law disapproved them and sought major changes, Pickett said. Commissioners agreed Wednesday to ask the department for permission to seek comment for 45 days on that disapproval memo. Pickett said legislation will probably be needed in the long run since the department’s memo puts the commission in a difficult position: "It will force us into a bit of sham regulation in certain areas."
The Texas Public Utility Commission granted a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. Dish will be a Lifeline-only ETC in all non-rural deregulated exchanges of AT&T and Frontier Communications and several rural ILEC exchanges, said a Texas PUC order Tuesday in docket 54475. Commission staff last month recommended granting the application (see 2309200060). Dish won a similar approval in Nebraska last week (see 2310030043).
Cable companies want two additional weeks to object to applications for federal broadband funding at the California Public Utilities Commission, said the California Broadband & Video Association (CalBroadband) Thursday. That would give companies 28 days total to object after the CPUC posts applications for the California Advanced Services Fund federal funding account (FFA), it said in docket R.20-08-021. The additional time is needed due to CPUC staff eliminating a requirement for application summaries, “the detailed information that must be provided to support an objection,” an expected high number of applications and “fairness and due process considerations,” CalBroadband said.
Illinois is interested in funding “blended” broadband projects that bring service to both unserved and underserved areas, said the state’s broadband office director, Matt Schmit, on a Broadband.Money webinar Friday. Illinois is required to connect unserved areas lacking service with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds -- and must mind how far it can stretch federal dollars -- but the state hopes to upgrade many underserved places that have less than 100/20 Mbps, he said. Internet service providing 25 Mbps downloads and 3 Mbps uploads, the speeds used for the federal definition of unserved, is “wildly insufficient” in 2023, Schmit said. States will likely start sending NTIA final proposals for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program in spring 2025, predicted Schmit: Illinois aims to file its final BEAD plan in April that year.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is seeking comment on a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation in areas where underlying provider AT&T has service, the RCA said in a Thursday notice in docket U-23-049. Dish is seeking ETC designation only to receive Lifeline service, the agency said. Comments are due Nov. 6.
State broadband leaders should work with 811 call centers to avoid digging issues when deploying networks, said a Google Fiber open letter posted Wednesday by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. State 811 centers require utility companies to mark assets before excavation projects occur through a “locates” process, but the “current locates system is not designed to handle the vast amount of new project work anticipated in the next few years,” wrote Google Fiber. “It will be imperative to limit unnecessary locates as well as ensure locators are given additional time to prepare. We recommend updating the existing locates process to accommodate the increased construction activity and improving practices and processes to protect communities and maintain public safety.” Also, Google recommended state broadband leaders seek to streamline permitting processes, including by setting up one place online to submit permits and urging localities to choose a single point of contact to coordinate all approvals. States should restrict ISPs that have received public funding from the ability to make exclusive marketing agreements at multifamily buildings, it said. Designate a state liaison to coordinate with cities on broadband buildout, keep localities up to date on fresh deployment methods like microtrenching, and set up a state-county-city task force to share best practices, suggested the ISP.
Dish Wireless will be designated as an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) in Nebraska. The Public Service Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday for the order in docket NUSF-137. Nebraska commissioners voted 3-2 after a closed session to censure Commissioners Christian Mirch (R) and Kevin Stocker (R), the PSC said. The vote followed an independent investigation into alleged misconduct, the agency said. “We shouldn’t need a code of conduct to tell us that as elected officials we are accountable for our actions,” said Chair Dan Watermeier (R). “It is my expectation that by voting to censure, we are sending the message that as Commissioners we hold ourselves to the highest of standards and will not tolerate this kind of behavior.” Mirch and Stocker voted no. The PSC didn’t disclose the alleged misconduct. Mirch and Stocker in a statement denied misconduct allegations and slammed the other three commissioners’ decision: “Instead of waiting to obtain an official opinion on a matter of public concern from the Nebraska Attorney General, the Commission acted beyond its statutory authority, without just cause, and without having the benefit of a complete investigation.” The PSC should instead be investigating lengthy telephone and broadband outages, said the commissioners, calling the censure vote a “diversion.” The commission majority “remains largely silent” on recent statewide 911 outages (see 2309120046), they added.