The California Public Utilities Commission gave the green light Thursday to $237 million in grants for last-mile broadband infrastructure projects across primarily rural areas of the state. The funding comes from 2021's American Rescue Plan Act and the state's general fund. CPUC President Alice Reynolds called the pair of 5-0 votes on resolutions T-17833 and T-17835 awarding the grant applications "a fabulous example of putting these funds to work." Recipients include incumbent providers, communities and tribes. The projects cover more than 30,000 unserved locations in Alpine, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties. The CPUC made $88.5 million worth of similar grant awards in July (see 2407110057).

The New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission unanimously OK'd an order on program support during 2022 from the state rural Universal Service Fund. The commission voted Thursday.

California and Google reached a public-private agreement to fund news publishers, which advocates are presenting as an alternative to legislation requiring tech platforms to compensate news outlets for use of their content. “California news publishers will be the beneficiaries of a News Transformation Fund, to be administered by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, providing financial resources that preserve and expand California-based journalism,” said a news release from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D). Wicks introduced the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB-886), which the California Senate Appropriations Committee was considering. Under the agreement, "nearly $250 million in public and private funding” will be provided over the next five years by the state and technology platforms, “with the majority of funding” going to California newsrooms, the release said. “The goal is to front-load $100 million in the first year to kick-start the efforts.” The investment could increase if more funding becomes available, the release said. The money will go to “California-based state and local news organizations, particularly those serving California local news deserts, underserved and underrepresented communities, and outlets that prioritize California coverage.” The deal also creates a “National AI Innovation Accelerator,” which will provide organizations and communities “with financial resources and other support to experiment with AI to assist them in their work,” the release said. “This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy,” said Alphabet President of Global Affairs Kent Walker. The News/Media Alliance, which has pushed for federal legislation that allows journalism outlets to jointly negotiate with tech companies over content rights, praised the agreement but said it underscores the need for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (see 2306150053). Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced that bill last year. “Assemblymember Wicks has shown incredible commitment to news publishers, and through her efforts has extracted concessions from one of the world’s largest tech giants,” said NMA President Danielle Coffey in a release. “Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue off scraping and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists,” Coffey said. “Today’s announcement reinforces the need for federal legislation and potential court remedies to address this broken marketplace.”

Kentucky ISP Kinetic said Monday it’s collaborating with local authorities after an incident of vandalism earlier this month in Hazard, Kentucky. “This vandalism caused significant disruptions to local telecommunications services, impacting both residential and business customers across the region,” Kinetic said: “The cable has since been repaired. This comes on the heels of more than 66 copper cable thefts throughout the area this year alone.”

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid to rehear a Voting Rights Act case that sought to overturn a Georgia statute mandating statewide election of members of its Public Service Commission (see 2407190036). A Monday text entry in case 23-1060 said SCOTUS denied the petition from former Atlanta NAACP chapter President Richard Rose and a group of Black voters to reconsider its June decision not to grant a petition for certiorari to review the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling (see 2406240041). The circuit court in July denied petitioners' request for an en banc rehearing of its earlier ruling in favor of statewide election of the PSC members, who represent five separate districts (see 2407100050). Bryan Sells, the petitioners' attorney, didn't comment.

BroadbandOhio will invest $50 million in a multi-county broadband expansion project, the Ohio governor’s office announced Thursday. A division of the Ohio Department of Development, BroadbandOhio will use grants from the federal Capital Project Fund for an initiative aimed at improving internet coverage at approximately 38,000 addresses in southwest Ohio. The project will total $110 million, with partner altafiber providing the remaining $60 million. BroadbandOhio-funded projects in Brown and Clermont counties must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. Altafiber’s project will be in Adams County and must be completed within one year of the BroadbandOhio projects.

New Hampshire will create a Data Privacy Unit that will enforce RSA 507-H, the New Hampshire Data Privacy Act, the state attorney general’s office announced Thursday. Effective in the new year, the act codifies consumer rights when businesses buy and sell their data (see 2403070064). “Ensuring accountability, transparency, and consumer choice regarding how companies handle and monetize the personal data of their customers is a priority of my office,” New Hampshire AG John Formella (R) said. Establishing a list of FAQs covering consumer rights and business' responsibilities is the Data Privacy Unit's first task. The AG's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau will house the new unit.

Charter Communications agreed to charge $15 monthly for a low-income broadband plan in New York state under a settlement the Public Service Commission approved Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Thursday. The New York PSC in its 2016 order approving the company’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable required Charter to sell a $14.99 monthly plan with at least 30 Mbps download speeds (see 1601270028). The New York Department of Public Service alleged that Charter violated the order when it increased the price to $24.99 for 50 Mbps without PSC approval. Under the settlement, Charter will provide 50 Mbps speeds for $15 monthly for four years to New Yorkers who participate in the National Free School Lunch Program or receive supplemental security income benefits. For years two through four, Charter may raise the price only to account for inflation. The settlement is important because the federal affordable connectivity program has expired and litigation has delayed New York state’s Affordable Broadband Act (see 2408130021), PSC Chair Rory Christian said in Hochul’s news release. “The only low-income broadband requirements that currently exist in New York are the low-income program conditions in the PSC’s orders approving certain mergers. By approving this settlement, the PSC will make affordable broadband available to eligible New Yorkers in Charter's service territory while the litigation is resolved and/or federal funding for ACP is reinstated or federal broadband policy is clarified.” Hochul applauded the news. “This settlement directly benefits thousands of low-income New York families.” A Charter spokesperson said the company's "prices and speeds are competitive and affordable" in urban, suburban and rural areas, with no modem fees, annual contracts or data caps.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities agreed 4-0 Wednesday to tweak rules of practice and procedure for the agency’s cable TV office. The board approved an order (docket CX23100741) to readopt rules of practice and procedure at the cable TV office with "certain amendments to reflect technical changes for clarity of the rules," and to conform the rules with the board's general rules of practice and federal law, said Cable and Telecommunications Director Lawanda Gilbert at a webcast meeting. The old rules would have expired this year. Wednesday’s action renews them for seven years.

Georgia urged a federal district court to reject an effort aimed at overturning a 2024 state law that revises commissioner terms at the Georgia Public Service Commission. In a July 17 complaint at the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia, the plaintiff, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, said the law (HB-1312) violates the constitutions of Georgia and the U.S. The plaintiff asked the court to enjoin the state from enforcing the law in future elections. Georgia opposed preliminary injunction and urged the court to dismiss the complaint in filings Monday. The state said that HB-1312 was necessary to restore a system of staggered terms after a previous lawsuit from the same plaintiff -- claiming that Georgia PSC election methods violate the Voting Rights Act (see 2407190036) -- led to the delay of 2022 and 2024 PSC elections. “This lawsuit seeks to take Georgia’s win in … [the] first case and force a result where Georgia would still lose by being required to surrender its strong state interest in staggered terms for PSC,” the state wrote. “Those terms are specifically designed to avoid having a majority of the members up for election in the same year.” Georgia responded that the plaintiff lacks standing and fails to make a claim. The state said: The district court shouldn’t “further interfere with the state’s exercise of its constitutional authority” to determine how to run commissioner elections.