The California Public Utilities Commission should fine AT&T for “continuing misrepresentations” about its petition for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief, the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office said in reply comments Tuesday. AT&T last week raised legal and constitutional concerns as it protested a CPUC proposed decision that would dismiss the carrier’s application (see 2405310029). AT&T’s opening comments repeated already rejected arguments, said PAO: The commission should “conclude as a matter of law that AT&T violated” a CPUC ethics rule “and impose sanctions of $1,000 on AT&T’s signatory attorneys." Other consumer groups piled on in separate replies in docket R.23-03-003. The Center for Accessible Technology said, “AT&T’s comments are based on incorrect interpretations of Commission rules and the mistaken belief that AT&T is entitled to relinquish its COLR status.” The Utility Reform Network said the carrier’s argument for rejecting the CPUC’s draft incorrectly “rests on the proposition that the Commission misunderstands its own COLR rules.” But AT&T replied that the CPUC must accept “all of the factual allegations” in its application as true. “The opposing commenters turn that standard upside down when they attack the factual basis for this Application and propose the Commission include additional incorrect and inflammatory allegations about AT&T California and the reliability of its services,” it said.
Cash-strapped California has many challenges ahead as it seeks to connect everyone to broadband, said state, local and industry officials Wednesday at the livestreamed California Broadband Summit. Assembly Communications Committee Chair Tasha Boerner (D) said she has several concerns with state broadband policy, including that the California Public Utilities Commission is taking too long to distribute last-mile grants.
The California Public Utilities Commission should freeze California LifeLine specific support amounts (SSA) until state regulators and stakeholders can find a better way of calculating them, a consumer group and low-income wireless service providers said in comments Monday. The CPUC is considering freezing the SSA at $19 for wireline and wireless providers (see 2405070050). Meanwhile, consumer advocates defended their petition for temporary bridge funding through LifeLine that would help cover the loss of federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) support.
Weighing changes to state video franchise rules, the California Public Utilities Commission scheduled four hearings on updating the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (DIVCA) requirements. A 2021 state law required the DIVCA rulemaking (see 2306050051). A pair of in-person hearings is scheduled for Aug. 14 in Sacramento; two more will occur Sept. 5 in Monterey Park, California, the agency said Friday. Also, the CPUC will hold two virtual hearings Sept. 19, it said.
AT&T raised legal and constitutional concerns as it protested a California Public Utilities Commission proposed decision that denies it relief of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. But in other comments the agency received Thursday, some local representatives strongly supported the plan to dismiss AT&T’s application. “Upholding this decision is vital to ensure residents across California … continue to have access to basic telephone service,” said San Mateo County in docket R.23-03-003.
T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations, including about 30% of its spectrum, has already seen opposition (see 2405280047), with more expected. In addition, the deal will likely face heavy scrutiny from DOJ and the FCC, industry experts agree. Handicapping whether the transaction will receive approval is difficult, especially headed into a presidential election in November, industry officials say. Some of the 21 states where UScellular has a presence could play at least limited roles reviewing the deal, state and other officials said. T-Mobile’s buy of Mint and other assets from Ka’ena, a smaller deal that didn’t involve spectrum, took regulators more than a year to approve.
The California Public Utilities Commission again postponed an AT&T enforcement item that had first appeared on the CPUC’s Feb. 15 meeting agenda and was scheduled for Thursday's meeting. Staff held the repeatedly revised item (resolution T-17789) until June 20, said a Tuesday hold list released in advance of Thursday’s meeting. The proposal would deny AT&T’s plan for correcting failures and improving service after failing to meet the state’s out-of-service repair interval standard in 2021. The CPUC didn’t comment Wednesday on the reason for the continuing delays.
It wouldn’t be an “unfunded mandate” to require ISPs to have $15 affordable broadband plans as a condition of getting support from the California Public Utilities Commission’s federal funding account (FFA), The Utility Reform Network said Tuesday. TURN replied in docket R.20-09-001 to industry objections to the group’s petition asking the CPUC to pause FFA grants until it modifies rules to account for the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) winding down (see 2405160055). "The courts have previously held that funding conditions for voluntary programs are permissible; funding conditions are not unfunded mandates or rate regulations,” said TURN. "Providers are free to decline FFA participation and instead charge customers whatever they wish.” Existing ISP-designed affordable plans are no substitute for ACP, added the consumer group: Such industry plans "tend to have significantly more restrictive eligibility requirements than the ACP and therefore will not be available to all ACP recipients.” TURN has two other petitions related to ACP's end (see 2405240060).
Reject T-Mobile’s request to make it optional for California Lifeline providers to accept applications for low-income support from people who lack social security numbers, said consumer and low-income advocates in replies Friday at the California Public Utilities Commission. In comments earlier this month (see 2405130044), T-Mobile’s Assurance Wireless raised concerns about “requiring companies to process, review and collect a fluid set of unfamiliar and unverifiable ‘identity documents’ without any safe harbor.” Legal Services of Los Angeles County, the Legal Aid Association of California and other low-income advocates disagreed. "While providers may assist with collecting additional identity documents, the [third-party administrator] will make eligibility determinations based on identity documents, so the alleged basis for the need for providers to discriminate against individuals without SSNs is specious.” The Utility Reform Network and the Greenlining Institute “oppose any call for California LifeLine to discriminate against people without SSNs.” The consumer groups noted that people lacking SSNs include "some of the most vulnerable members of our communities: survivors of domestic violence, refugees, and people facing housing insecurity.” Meanwhile, AT&T urged the CPUC to slow down. That every commenter suggested revisions to the staff's proposal shows that the CPUC should take additional time to develop a plan, said the carrier: Require staff to submit a revised, more-detailed proposal and seek more comments. But the low-income advocates said it’s time to act. “Despite any lingering questions or disagreements … the Commission should immediately change the application and expand the list of acceptable identification documents ... without further undue delay,” they said. “Any other feedback on the staff proposal can be resolved later."
Many applications for federal broadband funds at the California Public Utilities Commission propose projects that would mostly cover already served areas, the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office said Friday. PAO has “major concerns about several grant request proposals” seeking federal funding account (FFA) cash, it said in a letter to CPUC Communications Division Director Robert Osborn. PAO reviewed 484 pending applications seeking $4.6 billion from the $2 billion fund. “Even with this oversubscription, the applications appear to cover less than half of eligible unserved FFA locations,” it said. PAO urged the CPUC to prioritize projects that cover the most unserved locations and “especially those that cover low-income and disadvantaged locations.” Also, the commissions should work with applicants to expand proposed project areas to cover more unserved locations, it said.