A fresh stab at creating a state net neutrality law met industry opposition this week. Connecticut’s joint General Law Committee held a hearing Thursday on a wide-ranging bill (SB-3) that would also require affordable broadband, ban junk fees, require streaming TV prorating and let consumers repair electronics. The legislature’s consumer protection bill “addresses inequities,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D).
Spreading high-speed internet will remain a key focus for the California Public Utilities Commission in the years ahead, CPUC President Alice Reynolds told Communications Daily during a wide-ranging Q&A. Reynolds addresses broadband funding, affordability issues, state USF and the FCC’s net neutrality rulemaking in written answers to our questions, lightly edited for length and clarity.
If the U.S. Supreme Court blocks social media laws in Florida and Texas, it could have a chilling effect on states trying to regulate online content, a panel of experts said Tuesday. Speaking at a Federalist Society webinar event, panelists said a ruling bolstering the tech industry’s First Amendment rights could jeopardize the constitutionality of laws aimed at regulating kids’ online safety. The Supreme Court held oral argument Monday in NetChoice v. Paxton (22-555) and Moody v. NetChoice (22-277) (see 2402260051).
Public television stations are focusing on streaming and pursuing advances in ATSC 3.0 and leadership transitions, speakers at America’s Public Television Stations Public Media Summit said Tuesday. “We are a system in transition in terms of technology and clearly in terms of leadership,” said Franz Joachim, CEO of New Mexico PBS and APTS board chair.
Sen. Joe Manchin told us Tuesday he supports Congress allocating funding for the FCC's affordable connectivity program (ACP). "The money's there," but congressional leaders must "get the bill on the floor," the West Virginia Democrat said after a speech at the NARUC meeting in Washington. Later, a NARUC panel said states should learn from Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) problems when setting rules for internet service providers to participate in the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
California's 2nd Appellate District Court upheld a lower court's dismissal of a Lancaster, California, suit seeking video service provider franchise fees from Netflix and Hulu (see 2112230003). In an opinion last week, a three-judge panel said the state's Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act lets local governments sue a franchise holder for unpaid franchise fees, but it doesn't authorize their seeking franchise fees from non-franchise holders. The state Public Utilities Commission and not Lancaster is responsible for enforcing issues related to the issuance of a video service franchise, the appellate court said. Deciding were Judges Luis Lavin, Lee Smalley Edmon and Anne Egerton, with Lavin writing the decision.
AT&T’s nationwide wireless outage last week shows why California regulators shouldn’t relieve the company of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations, Communications Workers of America said. COLR requires AT&T to make landlines available to anyone who requests them across the state. The hourslong wireless outage (see 2402220058) showed that landlines remain important, CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce said Thursday. As such, the California Public Utilities Commission should reject “AT&T’s attempt to cut service to our most vulnerable residents,” he said. An AT&T spokesperson responded Friday, “We are not canceling landline service in California, and none of our California customers will lose access to voice service or 911 service.” The carrier said it's focused on upgrading customers to fiber and wireless technologies that consumers increasingly demand. “No customer will be disconnected, and we’re working with the remaining consumers who use traditional landline service to upgrade to newer technologies.” AT&T is pushing for quick CPUC action on its COLR relief petition (see 2402210038). The carrier disclosed in a Thursday ex parte notice that it plans to meet virtually Tuesday with aides to Commissioner Karen Douglas.
A Verizon settlement with California consumer advocates last week resolves just one part of a fight over the carrier’s difficulties migrating Tracfone customers still using non-Verizon networks in California, each of the parties said Friday. The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) posted a settlement Thursday with Verizon’s Tracfone and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in docket A.20-11-001 at the California Public Utilities Commission, as expected (see 2402160019).
Businesses sought California Supreme Court review of a state appeals court’s Feb. 9 decision that the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) may start enforcing California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations. The California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) on Tuesday filed a petition for review (case S283856). California’s 3rd District Court of Appeal had vacated the June decision of the California Superior Court in Sacramento, which had granted a CalChamber petition and stayed any CPPA rules for 12 months after they become final (see 2402090078). At the California Supreme Court, CalChamber argued that the appeals court ruling means businesses will have only one month to prepare for enforcement. “The Agency failed to adopt regulations necessary to implement the initiative by the statutory deadline, and it continues to repudiate the linked requirement … to abstain from commencing regulatory and civil enforcement until one year after issuance of those regulations,” the CalChamber petition said. “The Agency’s conduct threatens substantial harm to thousands of California businesses and the consumers they serve.” CalChamber CEO Jennifer Barrera said she sees “no way the voters envisioned a scenario where enforcement of regulations would begin without those regulations being in place for a reasonable period of time that affords both businesses and consumers with adequate time to prepare and comply.” The state privacy agency declined to comment Wednesday.
Don’t put AT&T’s petition for carrier of last resort (COLR) relief on ice, the company urged the California Public Utilities Commission in an ex-parte filing released Tuesday. AT&T officials met virtually Feb. 14 with aides to CPUC Commissioners John Reynolds and Darcie Houck, the carrier said in docket A.23-03-003. AT&T cited a CPUC email to parties indicating that the agency would postpone many deadlines in the proceeding to give more time to discover if any companies are interested in replacing AT&T as the COLR. AT&T argued that doing so “would be a waste of time and resources.” It “would be an about-face from the earlier decisions to allow the development of the evidentiary record and the process for notifying potential replacement COLRs to proceed in parallel,” the carrier said. Plus, there's no legal requirement for the commission to identify a replacement COLR or hold an auction to find one, it said. Even if the rules “were read to require a reverse auction, the Commission has express authority under Public Utilities Code [Section] 1708 to waive the requirement, which would be appropriate given that an auction would be futile.” Because the CPUC “has no established process to conduct an auction, it would have to develop the rules for an auction from scratch,” AT&T added. Plus, it’s “highly unlikely that any carriers would participate,” said the carrier. “With the increase in competition and the sharp decline in support from the High Cost Fund B over the past decade, it is even more unlikely that a carrier would be interested in becoming a COLR today.”