With the California Public Utilities Commission planning a vote within days about regulating VoIP, AT&T and the cable industry urged that commissioners at least delay -- if not outright reject -- the controversial item. Industry groups representing voice technologies stressed in comments last week in docket R.22-08-008 that the CPUC lacks legal authority to regulate VoIP.
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States trying to beef up their broadband network-related workforce see a potentially worrisome gap between people graduating from broadband trades training programs and the future delivery of broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) money. Also Friday, during the Broadband Nation Expo, Jonathan Adelstein, TWN Communications chief strategy and external affairs officer and former Wireless Infrastructure Association head, said the investor community is cautiously warming to BEAD-related investments. The Telecommunications Industry Association and Fierce Network staged the event at National Harbor, Maryland.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
ISPs in 24 states could face business challenges in the next decade from the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program’s low-cost offering requirement if the FCC further moves the needle on what it defines as broadband, NCTA state affairs lead Rick Cimerman said Wednesday. In addition, Jennifer Fritzsche, Greenhill analyst, said she expects consolidation among rural wireline companies akin to what happened with numerous regional wireless operators. They spoke at the Broadband Nation Expo that the Telecommunications Industry Association and Fierce Network organized.
Attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia sued TikTok in 14 separate courts Tuesday. The 10 Democratic and four Republican AGs said TikTok violated state and D.C. consumer protection laws when it allegedly addicted young users and collected their data without consent. TikTok disputed the claims as “inaccurate and misleading.” Separately, more than 20 states asked that a court force TikTok to cooperate with their investigation.
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up early in its new term whether reimbursement requests submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Co.-administered E-rate program are “claims” under the False Claims Act (FCA). On Nov. 4, justices will hear Wisconsin Bell v. U.S., a case from the 7th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court (see 2405220039).
NTIA hopes it will wrap up approvals of states' and territories’ initial plans for the broadband, equity access and deployment (BEAD) program by month’s end, Administrator Alan Davidson said Friday. At a virtual press conference, Davidson joined White House and California officials in announcing approval of volume two of California’s initial plan. The action greenlights California access to its $1.8 billion BEAD allocation, NTIA said. Just five states still need volume-two approval, an NTIA dashboard showed Friday. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Ohio and Texas. Timing of the remaining approvals depends “a little bit on the remaining states that are out there,” said Davidson. “We’re really … at the endpoint now and this is all very much still exactly on track and on time.” Davidson praised California for showing a commitment to investing in resiliency in its BEAD plan. Also, he said California has done well to weave together various federal and state funds in its effort to connect everyone. Meanwhile, National Economic Council Deputy Director Jon Donenberg praised the California plan’s emphasis on affordability. California Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds said the BEAD funding is “vital” for bridging the digital divide. “We will maximize these funds,” said Reynolds. "Projects will be deployed in a timely fashion."
The California Public Utilities Commission might waive penalties from a condition in the CPUC’s November 2021 decision that approved Verizon buying Tracfone. The condition required that Verizon migrate all Tracfone wireless customers to the Verizon network within two years. The CPUC plans to vote Nov. 7 on draft resolution T-17849 to waive the penalty that would amount to $60,000 per day. “Verizon and TracFone have engaged in concerted efforts using a robust outreach plan, incentives, and strategies … to migrate customers in compliance with” the condition, the draft said. “The Commission understands that it is the consumer's choice not to migrate to the Verizon network. Customers who choose not to migrate despite repeated efforts to inform them of the opportunity to do so and not lose service will receive ample notice 60 days, 30 days, and 7 days before their service ends.” Consumer advocates have been fighting with Verizon over customer migration delays (see 2402230055).
A federal judge stopped an AI deepfakes law in California about two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the measure. In a Wednesday order (case 2:24-cv-02527), U.S. District Court of Eastern California Judge John Mendez granted a preliminary injunction, stopping Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing AB-2839, which was signed Sept. 17 (see 2409180024). The law would prohibit people and companies from sharing election campaign content containing “materially deceptive and digitally altered or digitally created images or audio or video files” with the intent of influencing elections. Plaintiff Christopher Kohls, under the alias "Mr. Reagan," uses AI to edit and create satirical content about politicians. He challenged the law in court the same day it was signed because he said it would allow politicians and others to sue him for damages and injunctive relief during election season. Kohls argued that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment because it limits his free speech and the law is unconstitutionally vague. “AB 2839," wrote Judge Mendez, "does not pass constitutional scrutiny because the law does not use the least restrictive means available for advancing the State’s interest here.” The judge continued, “As Plaintiffs persuasively argue, counter speech is a less restrictive alternative to prohibiting videos such as those posted by Plaintiff, no matter how offensive or inappropriate someone may find them.”
Don’t make wireless carriers become carriers of last resort (COLR), CTIA said in comments posted Thursday at the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC received comments this week about updating COLR obligations (see 2410020037). Directing wireless companies to involuntarily be COLRs “would be inconsistent with the competitive marketplace in which wireless providers operate,” said the wireless industry association. The “classical elements of COLR policy are ill-adapted to, or … prohibited in, the wireless marketplace,” added CTIA: Under federal law, no state may regulate wireless rates or market entry.