Nebraska Weighs State Broadband Map Amid FCC Delay

Nebraska can’t wait for the FCC to get good broadband maps, said state Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday in the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. But the telecom industry poo-pooed having the Nebraska Public Service Commission draw its own map as proposed by Bostelman’s LB-914.

“Continued delays” creating a new FCC map are “unacceptable,” Bostelman said. “How much longer are we willing to wait?” Noting fiscal concerns about his bill, Bostelman said he would have an amendment to require funding for the Nebraska map to come from federal infrastructure dollars. Other legislatures also are considering making broadband maps as states prepare for federal funds (see 2202030038 and 2202070053).

Nebraska PSC Commissioner Tim Schram (R) supported the mapping measure. “It has been clear for some time now that better data about where broadband is available is needed,” said the NARUC Telecom Committee co-vice chair. It looks like the FCC will move forward later this year, "but uncertainty remains" about the quality of the data and what level of access will be given to states, he said. Schram cautioned legislators on the bill’s fiscal estimate because he said mapping efforts cost more in other states. Nebraska PSC Telecom Director Cullen Robbins noted his agency has "tried to remain optimistic for now years" about the FCC improving maps. AARP and state farming and education groups backed LB-914.

Nebraska should defer to FCC efforts to improve national maps, said Nebraska Telecommunications Association President Tip O’Neill. One disadvantage of the proposed state map is that it wouldn’t include wireless companies that don’t participate in state USF, he said. Lumen prefers one national map to 50 separate state maps, said Director-Governmental Affairs John Idoux, saying a good map would cost more than LB-914 assumes.

The committee weighed another Bostelman bill to tweak the challenge process in the PSC grant program created by the 2021 Nebraska Broadband Bridge Act. Bostelman said he was concerned when the PSC denied many projects “based on challenges by monopoly incumbents” in the bridge program’s first round (see 2201040050). Changes proposed by LB-1101 would include requiring the PSC to consider best available speed when deciding whether to provide state funding, shifting burden to incumbents to show they are providing required speeds and adjusting scoring criteria to incentivize more rural projects.

Lumen's Idoux condemned LB-1101 as discouraging "private investment while minimizing competition." The bill drew support from fiber ISP Allo Communications and the League of Nebraska Municipalities.

The Nebraska panel planned to consider two bills on PSC broadband authority, but it didn’t get to them before our deadline. LB-1214 by Sen. Suzanne Geist (R) would clarify that the Bridge Act doesn’t authorize the PSC to regulate internet service prices, terms, conditions or speed tiers. But LB-1021 by Chairman Curt Friesen (R) would apply the PSC’s service quality authority under state USF to broadband, and add affordability to the commission’s jurisdiction. The committee also was to hear testimony on Friesen’s LB-1144 to adjust grant matching and service abandonment requirements in the Bridge Act.