The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology asked the California Public Utilities Commission to amend the scope of its proceeding concerning Verizon's purchase of Frontier. The groups said in a joint motion Tuesday that the commission should consider whether Frontier violated a condition granting a right of first offer to "purchase Frontier property to tribes and local governments by entering into negotiations with Verizon before notifying rightsholders of its decision to sell its utility property." The groups also asked that the scoping memo reflect the interests of Verizon ratepayers.
The California Public Utilities Commission adopted a scoping memo and ruling on changes to its carrier of last resort (COLR) rules (see 2410310044). The ruling Tuesday clarified that broadband was subject to the scope of the proceeding. "It seems appropriate, given the current state of the market, to consider broadband availability when evaluating COLR withdrawal," wrote Commissioner John Reynolds. The memo required parties to "schedule monthly meet-and-confer sessions" until June. "The purpose of these monthly meetings is to develop parties’ joint stipulations on policy proposals that all parties believe the commission should adopt as part of this proceeding."
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
A proposed California bill would require all ISPs operating in the state to offer residents "affordable home internet." State Assembly Member Tasha Boerner (D) introduced A-353 last week. "Finding the right solution for California will require thoughtful engagement and collaboration from all sides of this issue," she said in a statement Friday. “It will be one of my priorities to work collaboratively with my colleagues, consumer advocates, industry stakeholders, and the Governor’s office to ensure we get this solution to the finish line.”
Avoid reading too much into the merger policies of the new Donald Trump administration based on the rejection last week of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed $14 billion buy of Juniper Networks, industry experts said. DOJ sued to block the transaction, citing the competitive effects on the wireless local area network (LAN) industry (see 2501300063).
The California Public Utilities Commission approved $48 million in last mile broadband funding Thursday. It selected eight projects through its last mile federal funding account grant program to serve disadvantaged and low-income communities. “We are putting these funds to work, generating quality jobs, bolstering our economy, and building fast, reliable, and affordable broadband infrastructure,” said CPUC President Alice Reynolds. The commission also approved $32.5 million as part of the program last week [see 2501170039).
On his first trip as FCC chairman, Brendan Carr said Friday he was in western North Carolina to visit “several of Hurricane Helene’s hardest-hit areas where recovery and restoration are underway.” President Donald Trump visited the area ahead of Carr, before continuing on to California, which has been hit by massive wildfires. “Everybody is talking about California, and that’s a mess,” Trump said after he arrived in North Carolina on Jan. 24. “But I said, ‘I’m not going to California until I stop in North Carolina.’” Trump also signed an executive order on rebuilding roads in the region, eliminating the need for permitting. Carr said he will make several stops in the state, spending "time with emergency management and public safety officials, telecom crews, broadcasters, and other government representatives that are now working to rebuild these communities.” He added: “I am grateful for the surge in support that President Trump and his Administration have been providing to communities across Western North Carolina, including an Executive Order that will speed restoration efforts here.” Carr hasn’t made other travel plans, FCC officials said Friday. He went to California for a visit tied to the Dixie Fire in 2021.
Charter Communications sees broadband subscriber competition from fixed wireless access (FWA) having peaked and predicts that fiber overbuilding will slow down. In a call with analysts Friday as Charter reported its Q4 2024 results, CEO Chris Winfrey said the broadband environment is "still competitive in terms of fiber and cellphone internet overlap." But, he said, "we better be better this year than we were ... last year" -- especially with the loss of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) no longer dragging down results, as it did in the second half of 2024. Charter executives used the term "cellphone internet" five times in Friday's call.
The National Sheriffs’ Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association lack grounds for a stay of the FCC’s 4.9 GHz order, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-100. The groups sought a stay pending judicial review of the order (see 2501230034). The sheriffs groups “feigned surprise” but “had ample notice that the Commission was considering the band-manager framework adopted in the Order,” PSSA said. Even if the arguments “had merit, they are not entitled to a stay because they do not come close to demonstrating that they will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” PSSA said: Their purported injury “is based on speculation that their members might wish to expand operations in the future and would not be able to do so, and that it will be costly for them to collect and present the data concerning their existing operations.” But the groups don’t “show that any member has concrete plans to expand operations -- a necessary prerequisite for a claim of irreparable injury.”
In one of the first big antitrust decisions in the second Donald Trump administration, the DOJ sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed $14 billion buy of Juniper Networks. The department said its decision, announced Thursday, was based on the proposed deal's competitive effects on the wireless local area network market. Both companies said they will contest the decision, which they called “substantially disconnected from market realities.” The acquisition was pending for more than a year.