Future automated decision-making rules in California could have national impact on communications and internet companies, among many other industries, privacy experts said in interviews last week. The California Privacy Protection Agency board plans a Friday meeting to discuss an early proposal that the CPPA released last week. The proceeding is preliminary, with the agency saying it expects to formally begin the rulemaking next year.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Arizona commissioners questioned state USF accountability as they unanimously declined Tuesday to raise contribution rates. During a livestreamed meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 against staff’s proposed decision to raise state USF charges for 2024 (docket RT-00000H-97-0137). In addition, members unanimously granted a Verizon application to discontinue MCIMetro basic local exchange services to residential and small business customers throughout its service territory on Dec. 31 (docket T-03574A-23-0243).
A proposal to split the District of Columbia’s unified 911 system could advance in the D.C. Council despite opposition from D.C. Fire and Emergency Services (DCFEMS), said sponsor Brianne Nadeau (D) in an interview Friday. Nadeau was to introduce her bill Friday evening with fellow Democrats Zachary Parker, Janeese George, Trayon White and Robert White, a Nadeau spokesperson said.
If the FCC doesn’t impede state regulation, the California Public Utilities Commission will support FCC open internet rules and reclassifying broadband information access service (BIAS) as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, the CPUC decided Thursday. Through a unanimous vote on the consent agenda during the state commission’s livestreamed meeting, commissioners agreed the CPUC should file comments urging the FCC to reclassify broadband as a telecom service and mobile BIAS as a commercial mobile service.
The California Public Utilities Commission should reject a proposed change to NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) model rules that would affect how the state treats licensed fixed wireless (LFW) services, wireless industry groups said this week. The CPUC released comments Tuesday on volumes one and two of draft BEAD initial proposals (docket R.23-02-016). AT&T, CTIA and California’s cable association urged the commission to reject a cheap broadband requirement proposed in case Congress doesn’t renew the affordable connectivity program (ACP).
The Nebraska Public Service Commission unanimously adopted state USF and telecom service quality orders Tuesday. The PSC will use the FCC's broadband data collection (BDC) as the replacement for Form 477 data that the state commission previously used to determine broadband availability in each census block, said the Nebraska USF order in docket NUSF-139. Previously, some rural telcos raised concerns about relying on BDC data for NUSF high-cost distributions (see 2310020062). The PSC understands "concerns that, as a newer data source, the BDC data and challenge process may still need corrections," but it expects that many past issues were corrected in the Nov. 17 broadband fabric update, it said. The PSC will provide its own challenge mechanism to "allow carriers to correct any missing broadband serviceable locations or correct any other misidentified information appearing in the FCC’s updated broadband availability data,” it said. Relying on the FCC challenge process wouldn’t be as quick, it said. The PSC decided to retain a 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds benchmark for determining which census blocks are eligible for broadband deployment support in 2024. However, the agency noted it still considers speeds between 25/3Mbps and 100/20 Mbps as underserved, and that NUSF support recipients must provide at least 100/100 Mbps. Also, the PSC adopted a payment structure for NUSF broadband buildout support that aligns with its National Broadband Bridge Program and Capital Projects Fund programs. Commissioners also agreed 5-0 to adopt a service quality order requiring price cap carriers Lumen, Windstream and Frontier Communications to refresh the record by Jan. 5 on repair and replacement timelines, dispatch procedures and how many technicians they have on staff (docket C-5303). The companies’ previous answers to those questions -- first asked in an August 2021 order -- failed to alleviate the PSC’s concerns, and the commission keeps getting consumer complaints, it said. The PSC scheduled a hearing on the matter for Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. CST.
After inspecting ballots from the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s Nov. 7 election, incumbent Commissioner Brent Bailey concluded he “did not win the election,” the Republican said Tuesday. That makes Democratic challenger De’Keither Stamps the winner with 50.4% of the vote. Bailey didn’t concede right away to the state representative (see 2311210020), but the deadline to challenge was 5 p.m. Monday and Bailey took no action, he wrote in an email. While Bailey’s team “feels that some affidavit and absentee ballots were inappropriately accepted and some box security irregularities have been observed, we have weighed the time and expense of a petition to contest and feel resources would be best utilized elsewhere.”
A Mississippi Public Service Commission election might not be settled even though Democratic challenger De’Keither Stamps was declared the winner with 50.4% of the vote. The incumbent, Commissioner Brent Bailey (R), intends “to conduct an examination of the ballot boxes, election materials, poll records and any and all other related items from the” Nov. 7 PSC election “for any and all counties within the Central District of Mississippi,” according to a letter he wrote to Stamps Saturday. In an email to us Monday, Bailey wrote that his actions shouldn't be seen as challenging the election. “This is simply following a process and timeline as allowed in state law. The examination reviews how the election was conducted and any examination at the county level is conducted under the control of the Circuit Clerk.” In a Facebook video Monday, Stamps said he is “ready to get to work,” but Bailey wants to “go to courthouses around the state to inspect ballots.” The state’s utility work “is held up because [Bailey] doesn’t know how to lose properly,” said Stamps, asking Mississippians to sign a petition seeking Bailey’s concession. Bailey narrowly defeated Stamps in a 2019 election. Both Bailey and Stamps say they want to ensure all citizens have internet access (see 2311010043).
Golden State Connect Authority challenged many AT&T applications for last-mile support from the California Public Utilities Commission’s federal funding account (FFA). AT&T seeks to upgrade current infrastructure with public funds without expanding broadband service, the authority’s general counsel, Arthur Wylene, said in a letter about a San Luis, California, project that was similar to 49 other letters he sent to the CPUC Monday. “Additionally, in examination of the sheer number of projects proposed by AT&T statewide and commensurate funding requests, the cumulative request by AT&T for all its projects statewide indicates that the applicant will not have the financial, technical, or operational capacity to complete all the proposed projects within the timeframe required by the Last Mile FFA grant program.” Also, Wylene raised concerns with AT&T proposing aerial installations in areas of the state with elevated wildfire risk. The carrier should lose points for not proposing any partnerships with local governments, nonprofits or tribes, he said. In one of the letters, Wylene added that an AT&T project proposed for Nevada County completely overlapped an area where Race Communications received a grant to deploy last-mile fiber. AT&T “submitted applications that align with the CPUC FFA Guidelines, make efficient use of existing infrastructure, and speed deployment of robust broadband service to Californians as quickly and efficiently as possible," said a company spokesperson: The carrier is working with state, local and tribal governments to increase access to affordable broadband across the state.
Telecom companies raised concerns about adding state USF goals on service quality and other issues in comments posted Monday at the Nebraska Public Service Commission. And as the PSC considers sweeping Nebraska USF (NUSF) changes, Charter Communications warned that it might be unlawful to support broadband with a fund designed for telecom services. Small rural companies said the fund should support ongoing costs that make networks expensive in remote areas even after they are deployed.