The Maryland broadband office opened applications for $2 million in digital equity awards for use in expanding computer labs and centers, the Department of Housing and Community Development said Monday. The application window will close Nov. 29. “Ensuring high-speed internet access for all takes more than just building network infrastructure and connecting homes and businesses,” Department Secretary Jake Day said. “It requires expanding access to connected devices and educating people to use them effectively.”

Dismiss tech groups’ complaint against a Florida social media law “for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) argued Friday at U.S. District Court for Northern Florida (docket 4:21-cv-0220). The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled the First Amendment protects social media platforms’ ability to moderate content, sending the tech industry’s suits against Florida and Texas laws back to the lower courts (see 2407010053). The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice earlier this month submitted an amended complaint asking the district court to permanently enjoin Florida’s social media law (see 2411040033). The plaintiffs lack associational standing to advance First Amendment claims, which “require a host of factual determinations about the members and their platforms,” said Moody. In addition, the amended complaint “is a shotgun pleading,” said the Florida AG. “Plaintiffs have not stated a claim under the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, or Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” nor a claim for injunctive relief for their members.

Charter Communications supported a USTelecom petition asking the California Public Utilities Commission to reconsider rules for implementing the state’s BEAD initial plan volume 2. However, consumer groups urged the CPUC to deny the application in a separate response Friday. USTelecom had raised concerns that state rules, including on required low-price plans, could discourage participation in the broadband grant program (see 2411010053). Charter agrees that the CPUC’s September order “contains legal errors,” including that “rate caps constitute impermissible rate regulation,” the cabler responded Friday in docket R.23-02-016. Also, Congress and the NTIA never asked for or required the CPUC’s proposed middle-class affordable service option, said Charter. And the CPUC may not require companies to participate in federal or state Lifeline programs, it said. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology disagreed in a joint response the same day. USTelecom’s rehearing application “makes only narrow claims that the Commission errs by requiring participation in the state and federal Lifeline programs, which it does not, and also claims that the Commission errs by adopting affordability plans that create improper rate regulation, which is inaccurate and previously rejected by the Commission.” TURN and CforAT added, “Far from committing legal error, the Commission’s affordability programs and measures … represent a necessary and important step in the process of implementing a landmark opportunity to invest $1.86 billion in federal funding” for broadband.

After a delay, the U.S. Supreme Court distributed for the justices’ Friday conference a petition from ISP groups for writ of certiorari challenging the New York Affordable Broadband Act, said a text-only docket entry Monday (docket 24-161). The court previously distributed it for last Friday’s conference (see 2410300025). The court, in a Nov. 12 docket entry without explanation, said that it was rescheduled.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission will temporarily increase its connections-based state universal service fund charge to 25 cents per line, from 18, due to increased demand, the agency said in an order Friday. Without the increase, the fund would have started running a deficit in March, the PSC said in case 2016-00059. “The Commission will initiate a review of the fund in March 2025, which includes a review of the adequacy of the surcharge and whether support levels should be revised.”

Verizon asked Connecticut regulators for approval of its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said Monday that it opened docket 24-11-06 for the application. In Connecticut, Verizon is acquiring the entity formerly known as the Southern New England Telephone Co. Frontier had its base in Connecticut for years before moving to Texas in 2023. “Verizon will build on Frontier’s post-restructuring efforts since April 2021 to invest in its network, deliver better service, increase customer value, and offer more choice to its customers in Connecticut,” the carrier said.

A bill updating Pennsylvania’s 911 law passed the legislature and headed to the governor’s desk this week. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 48-0, approving HB-1304; the House voted 180-21 to concur with the other chamber’s amendments. HB-1304 seeks to modernize the law by setting rules for next-generation 911 and requiring implementation plans, said a Senate fiscal note. Among other changes, the bill would create an “interim distribution formula” for disbursing funding, while directing the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to create a permanent mechanism.

New York awarded $140 million from the state’s ConnectAll municipal infrastructure grant program to expand broadband, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Wednesday. The governor’s office said the awarded public-private partnerships will extend broadband by more than 1,200 miles, using a mix of fiber infrastructure and wireless hubs. Also, the state launched an interactive ConnectAll dashboard to track projects.

Michel Singer Nelson spoke at the NARUC conference Tuesday solely in her capacity as a Telecom Committee member for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (see 2411120066).

Stronger state laws are needed to combat a rising trend of copper thieves damaging telecom infrastructure, panelists said Tuesday at NARUC’s conference in Anaheim, California. On Wednesday, the NARUC board passed resolutions on phone number conservation, the Universal Service Fund and utility coordination on broadband deployment. The Telecom Committee cleared those measures Monday (see 2411120014). Copper prices are up and therefore so is theft, said Dan Gonzalez, Charter Communications group vice president-state regulatory affairs. The cable company’s lines don’t contain copper, which is common in traditional phone networks, but thieves don’t know the difference, and they damage Charter infrastructure when seeking copper, he said. Networks are exposed and easily accessible, making theft a low-risk, high-reward activity, he said. In addition, many state laws don’t classify the networks as protected critical infrastructure or impose adequate penalties, said Gonzalez. Charter sees fewer incidents in states with broader definitions of critical infrastructure and stronger penalties, including Florida, Tennessee and the Carolinas, he said. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is receiving more copper theft reports than previously, said Richard Mitchem, CISA supervisory protective security adviser. Mitchem agreed that identifying the networks as critical infrastructure is a good idea because that would mean stronger repercussions for damage. Todd Foreman, Recycled Materials Association law enforcement outreach director, said raising awareness about the issue is important because law enforcement resources are limited and not all police are looking closely for sales of stolen copper. He agreed that increasing penalties would help discourage theft.