Alaska Commission Seeks Comment on Telecom Deregulation Draft

An Alaska effort to implement phone deregulation is back on. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska will soon seek comments on draft rules to implement SB-83, the state’s 2019 telecom deregulation law, commissioners decided 4-0 at their Wednesday meeting. The Alaska Department of Law in September disapproved rules that the RCA previously OK'd and suggested draft regulations that might cure the defects. In October, Alaska commissioners agreed to reboot the proceeding, directing staff to work with the law department to revise the draft (see 2310110046). On March 28 this year, the RCA received approval from the department to issue revised proposed rules for a 45-day comment period, said a Monday staff memo including the draft regulations. RCA staff said it's "prepared to make final arrangements” by the end of this week to close previous docket R-19-002 and start fresh in docket R-24-001. Prior to voting, Commissioner Bob Pickett said, "Let's get this thing moving."