South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed legislation that creates a criminal offense for unlawfully possessing a telecom device in state prison, the governor’s office said Tuesday. The state law covers devices including cellphones, handheld radios, pagers and laptops, as well as components of such devices. However, it allows the South Carolina Department of Corrections director to authorize an inmate to have a device. “The use of contraband cell phones and other communication devices to orchestrate crime both inside and outside of prison has been a serious threat that has had devastating consequences for innocent people across our state," said McMaster.
North Carolina needs more help from cellphone and internet companies in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Attorney General Josh Stein (D) said Monday. Stein, who is running for governor, asked companies to provide unlimited, high-speed service to people in western North Carolina at no cost for at least two billing cycles. Additionally, Stein asked companies to reimburse customers for charges when they couldn’t use their phones. “I appreciate that many cell and internet providers have been hard at work to restore services in the mountains, and many communities are back online,” said Stein. “But the people of western North Carolina need more help.” Cable companies Comcast and Charter Communications gave free access to Wi-Fi access points during the hurricane, while T-Mobile provided unlimited talk, text and data in many affected areas (see 2409270058).
New Jersey started its challenge process for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the state's Board of Public Utilities said Monday. The Office of Broadband Connectivity opened a portal where ISPs, nonprofits and local and tribal governments may challenge whether specific locations are unserved or underserved with high-speed internet, the board said. Eligible challengers must register on the portal before Nov. 4, which is the first day when challenges will be accepted. The broadband office will accept challenges for 30 days, followed by ISP rebuttals for another 30 days. After that, the OBC will have 30 days to make final determinations. Board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said residents should participate by asking a nonprofit or local government to submit challenges for them.
Verizon formally asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. California and many other states will review the deal, which was announced last month (see 2409050010). The companies also filed an application at the FCC last week (see 2410160049). “Verizon possesses the financial standing and expertise necessary to optimize Frontier’s networks,” the companies said in their Friday application at the CPUC. “By leveraging its significant financial strength, capital resources, and unparalleled technology, tools, and training, Verizon will build on Frontier’s post-bankruptcy efforts since April 2021 to deliver better service, increase value, and offer more choice to current Frontier customers.” The transaction’s benefits “will be achieved with no offsetting public interest harm, as Verizon and Frontier do not materially compete and have no plans to do so,” they added.
California, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Washington collected and distributed more than $110 million in 988 fees in 2023 for 988 Lifeline purposes, according to the FCC's latest annual 988 fee accountability report to Congress. The reports are required under the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act. Published in Friday's Daily Digest, the report said collection and distribution of 988 fees will be more prevalent in coming years. Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon reported establishing a funding mechanism but did not collect or impose 988 fees, while Maryland and Vermont recently passed legislation establishing fee-based funding mechanisms to support 988.
Citing "unanticipated and exorbitant inflationary effects of network construction," Cable One is dropping out of the rural deployment opportunity fund program in Idaho, while Fidelity Cablevision is doing the same in Missouri, according to nearly identical docket 20-34 letters Friday. Cable One -- authorized to receive $3,225,684 in RDOF support over 10 years for 863 locations in Idaho -- said it has made "significant investment" in the state, but "the planned RDOF deployment in Idaho is no longer viable due to unforeseeable costs that have increased dramatically since the conclusion of the RDOF auction." Fidelity -- authorized to receive a total of $37,979 in RDOF support over 10 years for 39 locations in Missouri -- used identical language about its planned Missouri deployment. Both said the requested blanket amnesty relief that the FCC declined would have solved those inflationary pressures. In July, the FCC Wireline Bureau said no one had shown a need for widespread relief from RDOF and Connect America Fund Phase II default penalties, and thus it wasn't providing a blanket amnesty.
The District of Columbia’s universal service surcharge will be 0.25% in 2025, up from 0.2% in 2024, said the D.C. Public Service Commission in an order Friday. The 2025 budget for the D.C. universal service trust fund will be $446,000.
Maine will start subsidizing the cost of SpaceX Starlink internet service hardware under its new Working Internet ASAP (WIA) program, the Maine Connectivity Authority said Thursday. The effort targets the 1.5% of rural homes and businesses in Maine that lack internet access. The state agency will coordinate bulk purchases of hardware and service from SpaceX's Starlink, which was chosen through a competitive request for proposals. The agency said the WIA program will come atop $350 million for broadband infrastructure via NTIA's broadband equity access and deployment (BEAD) program to serve the state's locations that have slow and unreliable service. Eligible homes and businesses can apply starting in November for subsidized Starlink hardware.
The California Public Utilities Commission cleared about $41 million in last-mile broadband grants during its livestreamed meeting Thursday. Commissioners voted 5-0 for two draft resolutions comprising the seventh round of awards from the CPUC’s federal funding account. Under one resolution (T-17852), the state will award $18 million to seven projects expected to bring broadband to 2,763 unserved locations in San Luis Obispo County. The awardees were Astound ($6.8 million), Surfnet ($6.4 million) and the city of San Luis Obispo ($4.9 million). Under the second resolution (T-17850), the CPUC will award $23 million total to Comcast ($17 million) and AT&T ($6 million) for projects in Madera and Napa counties, respectively. The CPUC expects the companies to connect 2,843 unserved locations with the funding. CPUC President Alice Reynolds applauded her agency for quickly distributing federal broadband funds. “We're making multi-generational internet infrastructure investments in these communities.” The CPUC delayed votes on proposals regulating VoIP and allowing people without social security numbers to apply for state LifeLine support (see 2410150033). The telecom industry has condemned the VoIP plan and sought more review (see 2410160044 and 2410110040).
Connecticut utility regulators voted 3-0 to deny Verizon deregulation. At a meeting Wednesday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved an order rejecting Verizon’s petition reclassifying its remaining Connecticut services as competitive and retiring the company’s alternative form of regulation plan (see 2410110020 and 2410030043). PURA found that possible harm to the public interest outweighed the presence of competition in Verizon’s Greenwich market. The carrier’s offer of an enforceable commitment to abide by current Connecticut customer termination procedures and certain state reporting requirements failed to alleviate all the authority's concerns, said the final decision. “Such a proposal requires additional consideration during the course of a proceeding, where the Authority can solicit feedback from other stakeholders." In any case, “such a proposal does not address the Authority’s conclusions regarding the number, size, and geographic distribution of certified telecommunications providers offering service in the Service Area nor the inconclusive nature of what barriers to entry do or do not exist in the Service Area,” PURA said. Verizon didn’t comment. Of the authority's four commissioners, Vice Chairman Jack Betkoski didn’t vote because he wasn’t on the three-person panel assigned to docket 24-06-15, a PURA spokesperson said.