The California Public Utilities Commission delayed a vote on making permanent a state LifeLine foster youth pilot that was planned for Thursday. CPUC staff delayed the item in docket R.20-02-008 to the March 21 meeting, said a Monday hold list. The delay isn’t surprising since the commission last week sought comments by this Friday on a revised proposed decision (see 2402290056). The commission still plans on considering an order Thursday modifying California Advanced Services Fund broadband public housing account and tribal technical assistance program rules (see 2401290059).
The California Public Utilities Commission sought comment by March 8 on a revised proposed decision to establish a permanent California LifeLine foster youth program. Replies are due March 13, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Wang said in an email ruling Thursday. The CPUC postponed voting on the item at its Feb. 15 meeting (see 2402150067). Among other changes, the revised proposal clarifies that non-minors in extended foster care could participate in the program until they turn 21. Responding to concerns that no service provider may participate in the program after the current pilot expires, the CPUC said it would encourage but not require providers to offer free devices and chargers. “We will also remove requirements for service providers to configure devices,” it said. It also won’t require providers to provide special plans in certain circumstances.
Spreading high-speed internet will remain a key focus for the California Public Utilities Commission in the years ahead, CPUC President Alice Reynolds told Communications Daily during a wide-ranging Q&A. Reynolds addresses broadband funding, affordability issues, state USF and the FCC’s net neutrality rulemaking in written answers to our questions, lightly edited for length and clarity.
AT&T’s nationwide wireless outage last week shows why California regulators shouldn’t relieve the company of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations, Communications Workers of America said. COLR requires AT&T to make landlines available to anyone who requests them across the state. The hourslong wireless outage (see 2402220058) showed that landlines remain important, CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce said Thursday. As such, the California Public Utilities Commission should reject “AT&T’s attempt to cut service to our most vulnerable residents,” he said. An AT&T spokesperson responded Friday, “We are not canceling landline service in California, and none of our California customers will lose access to voice service or 911 service.” The carrier said it's focused on upgrading customers to fiber and wireless technologies that consumers increasingly demand. “No customer will be disconnected, and we’re working with the remaining consumers who use traditional landline service to upgrade to newer technologies.” AT&T is pushing for quick CPUC action on its COLR relief petition (see 2402210038). The carrier disclosed in a Thursday ex parte notice that it plans to meet virtually Tuesday with aides to Commissioner Karen Douglas.
A Verizon settlement with California consumer advocates last week resolves just one part of a fight over the carrier’s difficulties migrating Tracfone customers still using non-Verizon networks in California, each of the parties said Friday. The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) posted a settlement Thursday with Verizon’s Tracfone and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in docket A.20-11-001 at the California Public Utilities Commission, as expected (see 2402160019).
Don’t put AT&T’s petition for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief on ice, the company urged the California Public Utilities Commission in an ex-parte filing released Tuesday. AT&T officials met virtually Feb. 14 with aides to CPUC Commissioners John Reynolds and Darcie Houck, the carrier said in docket A.23-03-003. AT&T cited a CPUC email to parties indicating that the agency would postpone many deadlines in the proceeding to give more time to discover if any companies are interested in replacing AT&T as the COLR. AT&T argued that doing so “would be a waste of time and resources.” It “would be an about-face from the earlier decisions to allow the development of the evidentiary record and the process for notifying potential replacement COLRs to proceed in parallel,” the carrier said. Plus, there's no legal requirement for the commission to identify a replacement COLR or hold an auction to find one, it said. Even if the rules “were read to require a reverse auction, the Commission has express authority under Public Utilities Code [Section] 1708 to waive the requirement, which would be appropriate given that an auction would be futile.” Because the CPUC “has no established process to conduct an auction, it would have to develop the rules for an auction from scratch,” AT&T added. Plus, it’s “highly unlikely that any carriers would participate,” said the carrier. “With the increase in competition and the sharp decline in support from the High Cost Fund B over the past decade, it is even more unlikely that a carrier would be interested in becoming a COLR today.”
The California Public Utilities Commission delayed by four months its deadline to approve applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) infrastructure support. Postponing the deadline to June 30 from Feb. 29 “will provide the time necessary to complete coordination with the Federal Funding Account (FFA) and enable the CPUC to award grants for reliable and affordable networks to communities that need it most,” Executive Director Rachel Peterson wrote in an email to the CASF service list Friday. On June 1, the CPUC received 74 applications seeking about $527 million from the CASF infrastructure account, exceeding the $32.8 million available for FY 2023-24, said Peterson. On Sept. 9, the CPUC received 484 FFA applications, with many projects overlapping those in the CASF infrastructure program. Expect the delay to affect the release of a state broadband map and the deadline for 2024 CASF infrastructure account applications, said Peterson. “After new funds have been authorized for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the CPUC will provide an update on the timing for the Broadband Map and the 2024 CASF Infrastructure application deadline via an email to the CASF Service and Distribution Lists.”
Verizon said it reached and executed a settlement agreement with consumer advocates Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) and The Utility Reform Network on migrating Tracfone customers still using non-Verizon networks in California, the carrier said last week. Within seven business days, CforAT will attach the agreement to a motion to withdraw its Oct. 6 petition to modify the CPUC’s 2021 decision approving the Verizon/Tracfone deal, Verizon said in a Thursday email to California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola. The email was shared with the service list for docket A.20-11-001.
AT&T’s California application for relief of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations attracted interest from Congress last week. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., raised concerns about the request in a Wednesday letter to California Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds. Schiff wrote "the withdrawal of AT&T landlines will not only harm consumer choice but also pose safety issues in California.” In fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters, “our landlines become the most dependable form of communication,” he added. “While wireless connection is unreliable and cell phones can run out of battery, copper landlines have stronger receptions during power outages.” Schiff cited Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) data that more than 580,000 affected AT&T customers would be left with few options. “AT&T’s proposed withdrawal would harm rural residents disproportionately and the CPUC should weigh this factor heavily in its review of their application to end their COLR obligation,” Schiff wrote. Others from Capitol Hill could weigh in on the CPUC proceeding (docket A.23-03-003). RCRC saw “a lot of interest in this subject” when its delegation visited congressional offices earlier this month, Senior Legislative Advocate Tracy Rhine told us Thursday. Yet an AT&T spokesperson said Friday it will not leave customers behind, though millions have already moved to wireless and high-speed internet services. “We’re working with the remaining consumers who use traditional copper-based phone service to upgrade to newer technologies from us or other providers, so everyone will still be able to make their most important life connections.”
The California Public Utilities Commission will release more than $7 million in California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) support for broadband, commissioners decided Thursday. They voted 3-0 on three separate items that clear the way for projects by fixed wireless ISPs Cruzio and Kwikbit and the Anza Electric Cooperative. The CPUC delayed voting on an AT&T service quality enforcement item and a plan making the California LifeLine foster youth program permanent.