A Texas bill would establish the Texas Interoperability Council to address communications gaps between first responders and emergency alert systems. An earlier version of the bill, HB-13, was introduced during the last legislative session in response to the devastating 2023 wildfire in the panhandle region. State Rep. Ken King (R) refiled the new bill, HB-2, last week with no major edits. It would task the council with developing and coordinating a statewide plan for the interoperability of emergency communications systems and incorporating any necessary technologies into the state's emergency communications network. The bill would also create a grant program for local governments to buy or construct emergency communications infrastructure and train employees on how to use the equipment during an emergency. It remains unknown how much funding would be made available for the grant program.
NTIA should consider letting states have the final say about which locations count as community anchor institutions under the BEAD program, the Schools, Health, Libraries & Broadband Coalition and Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said in a letter Monday. The groups raised issue with NTIA's new definition of "community support organizations" because the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act made the definition intentionally broad for states to meet local needs.
The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) is launching a new program to subsidize the cost of nonstandard broadband connections, including underground installations, it said Wednesday. The Affordable Long Drop Program will award grants to communications union districts (CUD) and small ISPs to cover installation costs for homes located far from existing fiber lines. It will prioritize manufactured housing communities, low- and moderate-income residents and households already committed to service. “This program is designed to be the final push that turns availability into true accessibility,” said VCBB Digital Equity Officer Britaney Watson. Applications will be accepted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 12. Providers must have a universal service plan and a "viable business plan" to qualify. The VCBB encouraged residents to contact their local CUDs to determine eligibility and sign up. The agency didn't say how much funding will be made available.
A New York bill would require that voice service providers use stronger verification techniques to combat spoofing and robocalls. S-8470, introduced Wednesday by state Sen. John Liu (D), would require all providers operating in New York to "clearly and promptly display verification status to the call recipient." It notes that while the authentication protocols that providers use "ensure that calls are from the numbers they display," making it easier to trace illegal calls, providers "are not required to indicate a call's verification status to customers." If adopted, the bill would take effect one year after becoming law.
Alaska's Regulatory Commission wants comment by Aug. 28 in docket U-25-026 on an AT&T petition to discontinue service, it said in a notice Thursday. The carrier petitioned the commission Aug. 1 to discontinue intrastate interexchange long-distance service in Jim River Camp, with only one customer requesting to disconnect and consenting to the discontinuation. AT&T said in its motion that it wants to discontinue service by Oct. 31.
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force launched a new crackdown Thursday. Made up of 51 state attorneys general, it sent warning letters to 37 providers calling on them to stop letting such calls be routed through their networks. Operation Robocall Roundup told the providers that they either failed to respond to numerous traceback notices from USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group or transmitted suspicious robocall campaigns regarding tax debt, loan approval and, in one instance, ISP impersonation. "We are giving these companies three weeks to start following the rules so we can shield people from these annoying and illegal robocalls," said North Carolina AG Jeff Jackson (D). The task force also sent letters to 99 downstream providers that accept traffic from the 37 companies. Seven of the 37 providers targeted by the task force were among those removed from the FCC's Robocall Mitigation Database this week (see 2508060041).
Massachusetts awarded $31.5 million in federal broadband grants through the Massachusetts Broadband Institute on Wednesday. The funding is for four ISPs' broadband deployments in public housing throughout the state. The residential retrofit program, backed by the Treasury Department's Capital Projects Fund, will serve more than 13,700 housing units with fiber, said a news release, making it the largest statewide investment in public housing internet. Aervivo received about $10.5 million; Archtop Fiber $481,955; Comcast $12.9 million; and CBN Geneva $7.6 million.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will consider launching a rulemaking to update the California Teleconnect Fund (CTF), which offers schools, libraries, clinics and nonprofits a 50% discount on charges for advanced communication services. The CPUC will analyze who qualifies, what services should be covered, and whether the $5 million revenue cap for nonprofits should be raised. The cap was lowered from $50 million to $5 million in 2019, said a draft proposed decision. In addition, the CPUC is considering ways to improve how the program is run. The item would explore administrative updates such as how the program is implemented, monitored and evaluated. Comments are due within 30 days, with reply comments 15 days after that. It's not the first time the California Teleconnect Fund has been tweaked. Previously, voice services were dropped, eligibility for funding was revised, and mobile and satellite broadband were added, the draft item noted.
The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to stay its proceedings regarding Verizon's acquisition of Frontier. In a motion filed Friday, the group asked that the currently scheduled hearings be removed from the commission's calendar so there's enough time to conduct discovery.
The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Thursday that would ban the use of cellphones by students during the school day. S-2561 would apply to all public school districts and require that policies be in place ahead of the 2026-27 school year. The state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education plans to release best-practice guidelines within 180 days of the enactment of the law. About 80 districts already have phone-free policies, said a news release. "While many school districts have already implemented some type of cell phone restriction, this bill takes a uniform approach to this problem," said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues (D). The bill now goes to the House for further consideration.