CTIA is urging the leaders of the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee to oppose SB-2318, which would require the state's ISPs to offer an internet plan for low-income residents at $15 a month. In a letter last week to committee Chairman Michael Rodrigues (D) and Vice Chair Joanne Comerford (D), CTIA said there's clear evidence "that artificial price mandates and state-level rate regulation, while well-intended, ultimately increase prices and harm consumers." Such a pricing mandate also puts the state's BEAD funding "at serious risk," the group said, as NTIA has barred states from setting the price for BEAD subgrantees’ low-cost service options.

California's final BEAD proposal, submitted Friday to NTIA, reaches more than 340,000 eligible locations -- more than any other state's plan -- said Maria Ellis, director of broadband initiatives for the California Public Utilities Commission, at the agency's meeting Thursday. CPUC voted unanimously to approve the submission, and Ellis said deployment work could start in the second half of 2026.

Eighty-six school districts across New Jersey will get grants of $1,000 to $176,625 to institute phone-free school programs in Grades 6-12, the state Education Department said Thursday. Under the bell-to-bell policy, students' phones and other internet-enabled devices are stored when they arrive at school, and access isn't allowed during the school day. Districts taking part in the Phone-Free Schools Grant Program receive money to implement storage systems such as lockers, lock pouches or check-in cabinets.

New Hampshire state Rep. Mary Hakken-Phillips (D) prefiled a bill Wednesday that would restrict the use of enhanced 911 system funds to expenditures that directly support 911 call delivery and dispatch operations. HB-1777 is to be formally introduced in January and referred to the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee.

Surf Internet's fiber-optic network now reaches 250,000 homes across Indiana, Illinois and Michigan and is on track to add more than 75,000 locations in 2025, the Indiana-based company said Tuesday. Surf said it plans to accelerate construction in 2026 using state and federal broadband grants, including BEAD, while also expanding into new markets.

Denver-based internet provider Bluepeak said this week that it would undertake a $150 million network upgrade across South Dakota to overbuild its existing broadband infrastructure and extend its fiber-to-the-home connectivity. That investment will come atop more than $95 million already spent in the state on fiber broadband access to about 55,000 residents. With the second phase of investment, the company's network will reach more than 175,000 locations in South Dakota, it said.

A Missouri bill prefiled Tuesday would require two-way voice service providers to block voice calls from numbers that aren't valid North American Numbering Plan numbers, that aren't allocated to a provider by the NANP administrator, or that are valid and allocated but unused. The Caller ID Anti-Spoofing Act (HB-2472), proposed by Rep. Jim Kalberloh (R), would also set an Aug. 28, 2027, deadline for voice device providers to implement Stir/Shaken authentication protocol or another technology for verifying and authenticating caller ID. A voice service provider that knowingly fails or neglects to comply would face fines of up to $75,000.

Portable electronic communication devices would join the list of items not allowed in prison or jail in Missouri under HB-2414, a bill prefiled this week by state Rep. Dean Van Schoiack (R). The prohibited devices would include cellphones, personal digital assistants and pagers, according to the bill, and a violation would be a Class D felony.

The District of Columbia would revise its existing 911 surcharge structure, moving to a fee of $1 a month for each access line across non-prepaid technologies, under a bill introduced Monday by Councilmembers Christina Henderson (I) and Matthew Frumin (D). The bill would also increase the prepaid wireless surcharge.

Wisconsin's law against calling 911 to falsely report an emergency would expand to also include texting false reports to 911 under SB-782, a bill introduced Friday by state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R). It was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. According to the bill, texting a false report to 911 would carry the same penalties as making a false call: a fine of $100-$600, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both, for a first offense, and a Class H felony for a repeat offense committed within four years.