The solution to California's persistent digital divide, with roughly 15% lacking access to broadband, is to treat broadband as a public utility with universal service obligations and rate regulation, argued Edward Helderop, associate director of the Center for Geospatial Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. In a paper published last week by U.C. Berkeley's Possibility Lab, Helderop said that 15% gap "contrasts sharply" with utilities like electricity and water, which are nearly universally available. Incumbent providers maintain scarcity by not investing in infrastructure in less profitable areas and by blocking competitors, he said.
New York's Broadband Service Repair Timeline Act, introduced last week by Assemblyman Michael Cashman (D), would require broadband service providers to start work on fixing a service interruption within 24 hours of being notified. The bill (AB-169) would also require service be restored within 72 hours of that notification, unless the provider can show that isn't possible.
The Florida Senate's Commerce and Tourism Committee voted 9-0 Wednesday to support SB-1516, which would bar transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information (see 2601090006). A companion bill in the Florida House, HB-1299, is now before the House Commerce's Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee.
Texting ads would be banned from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. in California under AB-1865, introduced Wednesday by state Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D). The ban would apply even if the recipient consented to receiving text message ads. The bill would allow ad recipients to bring civil action against transmitters that violate the time restriction. It would also let a public prosecutor or the state attorney general bring action.
The California governor’s Office of Emergency Services on Thursday condemned a recent letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr as “partisan talking points dressed up as regulatory correspondence.” Carr blasted Newsom over wasted funds due to “mismanagement” of the state’s next-generation 911 system and requested records on its NG911 construction and funding (see 2602100070).
A new Vermont bill would require any telecommunications provider in the state that's transitioning from a copper-based network to a fiber-based one to notify customers, the state Commissioner of Public Service and the Enhanced 911 Board beforehand. Under HB-898, introduced Wednesday by the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure, that notification would have to include any potential impact on customers' telephone service and whether the carrier will offer "a reasonably comparable replacement service in relation to pricing, terms, and conditions." The notification also must include disclosures about whether the carrier is obligated to provide regulated landline voice service to residential customers and about the availability of backup power options and battery backup devices to maintain service continuity during a power outage.
Virginia suffered “a lot of bumps and bruises” from permitting when it ramped up its broadband deployment efforts in recent years, said state Broadband Director Tamarah Holmes during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Wednesday.
A South Dakota bill to require social media interoperability will go to the Senate floor after clearing the State Affairs Committee 8-0 on Wednesday. However, the panel effectively killed a broadband ISP privacy bill with a 5-3 vote to send the measure to the nonexistent 41st day of the legislature’s 40-day session.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Tuesday that she signed a pair of bills limiting cellphone and wireless device use on school grounds during class time. "We know that when students put their phones down, their grades go up," Whitmer said, adding that SB-495 and HB-4141 "will help keep kids focused in the classroom and break their growing dependency on screens and social media."
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wants California to explain its use of next-generation 911 funds and provide a “concrete timeline” for NG911, he said Tuesday in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), whom Carr excoriated for a “lack of leadership and mismanagement” that undermines public safety and trust. “The integrity of our 911 systems is of utmost importance and cannot be further jeopardized by California’s misuse and mismanagement,” the letter said. Carr also recently went after Newsom -- a vocal critic of President Donald Trump -- over findings of Lifeline fraud in the state (see 2601290036).