California video franchising is working fine as is, the California Video & Broadband Association (CalBroadband) said Monday. The state cable group urged the California Public Utilities Commission to “continue with the existing approach and adhere closely to the legislative mandates set forth in” a 2021 law that increased CPUC authority under the state’s Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (DIVCA) to check if state video franchisees are deploying enough broadband. “Since the passage of DIVCA, an industry landscape of primarily locally franchised traditional cable providers has been replaced with a highly competitive, diversified environment that now includes a plethora of non-traditional video service providers,” CalBroadband said.
California’s Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday passed legislation that would set stricter limits on sharing children’s personal data. The committee unanimously approved the California Children’s Data Privacy Act (AB-1949). Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D) introduced the bill that would ban websites and platforms from collecting and sharing personal data of users younger than 18 without their informed consent. For users younger than 13, companies would need to obtain parental consent. AB-1949 would amend the California Consumer Privacy Act. The Computer & Communications Industry Association, TechNet and CalChamber voiced opposition to the bill Tuesday. Common Sense Media and California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) support the measure. Wicks noted that Bonta’s office investigated Meta and alleged the company knows children younger than 13 access its platforms and that their data is collected in violation of federal law. Bonta’s probe showed about 30% of residents between ages 10 and 12 access Meta platforms. On Tuesday, Bonta's office called AB-1949 a “simple, graceful” solution strengthening children’s privacy protections. In addition, the committee passed AB-2839, a deepfake-related measure that would prohibit people and companies from sharing election campaign content when it contains “materially deceptive and digitally altered or digitally created images or audio or video files” with the intent of influencing elections. Entertainment companies voiced opposition to the legislation Tuesday. Moreover, the Motion Picture Association said it wants sponsors to exempt streaming services from the bill. Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony and NBCUniversal said they are aligned with MPA in opposition. Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D), the bill's author, said getting accurate information to state voters is “crucial to a functioning democracy.”
California state senators pushed back on two digital equity bills Tuesday. Multiple Communications Committee members during a livestreamed hearing raised concerns about the Assembly-passed AB-2239, which would ban digital discrimination as the FCC defines it. Also, the committee scaled back the Assembly-approved AB-1588, which had proposed to update the California LifeLine subsidy program to support broadband for low-income households. The committee directed the LifeLine bill’s sponsor to find a compromise with industry opponents and other stakeholders over the summer recess that runs from July 3 to Aug. 5.
North Carolina will award $61 million in broadband grants through the American Rescue Plan Act, the state broadband office said Monday. AT&T, Brightspeed and Charter Communications won many of the awards. In California, the Public Utilities Commission said Friday that the agency will vote Aug. 1 on a proposed resolution (T-17833) to approve about $95 million in last-mile grants through its federal funding program. The CPUC estimated that 71% of the locations that would receive service are in low-income areas, while 76% are in disadvantaged areas. The California awardees would include Comcast ($26.6 million), AT&T ($12 million), Frontier Communications ($2 million), the Golden State Connect Authority ($7 million) and the Fort Bidwell Indian community ($23.9 million).
An AT&T-backed California bill that reshapes rules for seeking relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligation won't move forward, the carrier confirmed Monday. A revised Senate Communications Committee agenda for Tuesday’s meeting said the bill was pulled from the hearing. AT&T had turned its attention to trying to pass AB-2797 in the California legislature to change COLR rules after the California Public Utilities Commission denied the company relief from the obligation last month (see 2406200065). “While we are disappointed that AB 2797 will not be voted on, we are committed to working with state lawmakers, community groups and stakeholders to find a path forward that keeps customers connected, modernizes California’s communications network, and ensures no customer will be left without voice and 911 services,” AT&T California President Marc Blakeman said in an emailed statement. The bill’s demise is a win for California phone customers, said The Utility Reform Network Telecom Policy Director Regina Costa: “AT&T retreated as a result of outrage from thousands of Californians and the organizations who oppose the bill because AT&T's plan is a threat to universal service and public safety.” Comments are due this fall on a CPUC rulemaking to consider updating COLR rules for modern technology. “The bill wasn’t about modernizing AT&T’s network,” Costa said. “It was about giving AT&T the power to walk away from providing any kind of service wherever it chose.”
Finland’s Nokia is acquiring California-based Infinera for $2.3 billion to bolster its optical networks business, a late news release said Thursday.
California telecom service quality standards could expand to more types of providers and carry new penalties under a California Public Utilities Commission staff proposal released last week. Current enforcement for plain old telephone service (POTS) hasn’t improved service, CPUC staff found. “In addition, the light-touch approach for VoIP and wireless services has not yielded improved service quality for those customers.”
A top California communications lawmaker pushed back on industry opposition to a bill that would require $30 affordable internet plans as a condition of receiving California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) infrastructure grants. The Assembly Communications Committee voted 8-2, with two Republicans voting no, to advance SB-424 at a Wednesday hearing. In addition, the committee voted 10-0 for bills that set broadband labor standards (SB-1460) and expand eligibility for CASF public housing broadband grants (SB-1383). All three pieces of legislation, previously passed by the Senate, will go to the Appropriations Committee.
California’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-2 Tuesday to advance a bill that would force tech platforms to pay news publishers for the news content they carry, similar to approaches seen in Australia, Canada and Europe.
It appears House Republican leadership isn’t willing to bring the House Commerce Committee’s bipartisan privacy bill to the floor because it lacks the necessary votes to pass, members and sources close to discussions told us Wednesday.