The Texas Public Utility Commission violated the state’s constitution and utility and administrative procedure laws when it chose not to fully fund Texas USF (TUSF), a state appeals court ruled Thursday. The 3rd District Texas Court of Appeals in Austin partly reversed the Travis County District Court in Austin dismissal of rural telcos’ complaint against the PUC. The trial court must issue a writ of mandamus ordering Texas commissioners “to take immediate action to fulfill their duties imposed by law to fully fund all TUSF programs and to make all disbursements required by” the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) and the PUC’s “existing TUSF orders and commitments,” wrote Justice Gisela Triana in Thursday’s opinion with Chief Justice Darlene Byrne and Justice Chari Kelly (case 03-21-00294-CV).
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington’s calls last week for the agency to take a deep dive on potential rules requiring OEMs to provide security updates for wireless devices authorized by the agency for sale in the U.S. (see 2206280072) appears likely to be picked up, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, industry executives and agency officials.
The “extremely volatile” virtual MVPD market “never really took off” in the way its proponents thought it would, said Horowitz Research analyst Adriana Waterston on a Wednesday Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing webinar on the state of the pay-TV, over-the-top video and subscription VOD markets.
Crisis call centers around the U.S. expect a slow rise in National Suicide Prevention Lifeline traffic once Lifeline's 988 calling capability goes nationwide later this month. Local exchange carriers are in various stages of readiness for the July 16 deadline.
The California Public Utilities Commission stood by a 7-cent cap on intrastate per-minute rates for incarcerated person calling services (IPCS) in state court Wednesday. The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), also named in a May lawsuit by Securus, said the CPUC’s interim order was “well-reasoned and provides desperately needed relief” to IPCS users. Meanwhile, a California bill to make IPCS calls free and require a CPUC service-quality rulemaking cleared another Assembly committee despite continuing opposition from sheriffs.
The House Appropriations Committee voted 32-24 Thursday to advance the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY23 bill, which proposes increasing CPB’s annual funding to $565 million beginning in FY 2025 (see 2206240074). The measure also includes a major increase in federal funding for the Department of Health and Human Services’ 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program.
In what's viewed as a major decision by the Supreme Court Thursday, justices didn’t overrule the Chevron doctrine but appeared to further clamp down on the ability of agencies like the FCC to regulate, absent clear direction from Congress. The opinion came in an environmental case, West Virginia v. EPA. Legal experts said the 6-3 decision likely presages that courts would overturn an FCC decision to classify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act.
The FTC sued Walmart in U.S. District Court in Chicago Tuesday, alleging the retailer allowed its money transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who “fleeced consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Lumen received its final state approval for its sale of ILEC assets to Apollo in 20 states. Only FCC approval remains. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted 5-0 Wednesday to clear the $7.6 billion deal with fiber buildout, copper maintenance and other conditions. "We're making the lives of thousands of people better by providing them with the opportunity to utilize high-speed internet service," said New Jersey Board President Joseph Fiordaliso at the livestreamed meeting.
DOD is making progress on electronic warfare (EW) and on spectrum systems survival on the battlefield, officials said during a Hudson Institute webinar Wednesday. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sharpened U.S. focus on EW, but China has been an even bigger concern, said Bryan Clark, Hudson senior fellow. “China has been expanding and modernizing its electronic warfare capabilities for a decade now, plus,” he said.