The Utah Public Service Commission seeks comment on possibly repealing its extended area service (EAS) rule, the PSC said Tuesday. “Rule 347 applies to the establishment or restructuring of EAS or expanded EAS by incumbent telephone corporations,” the PSC said. Comments are due March 23; replies, April 24.
Virginia lawmakers passed telecom bills on robocalls and railroads. The Senate voted 40-0 Tuesday for HB-1504 to require the Joint Commission on Technology and Science to report by Nov. 1 on unwanted calls and texts, with recommendations on allowing consumers to opt out. The House unanimously passed the bill earlier this month. The House voted 99-0 Tuesday to pass SB-1029 protecting railroads from broadband construction interference. The Senate passed the measure Jan. 31. The House on Monday concurred with Senate changes to the similar HB-1752, which passed the Senate Feb. 16 and the House Feb. 6 (see 2302070059).
The New Mexico House voted 66-0 Monday to pass a broadband bill (HB-160) that would allow the state transportation commission to waive right-of-way fees for installing infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas. The bill would allow the commission to set conditions for installing fiber, conduit, poles, wireless and other broadband infrastructure on public highways. HB-160 needs Senate approval.
Nebraska should lift state restrictions keeping public power utilities from leasing their dark fiber to ISPs in rural areas, said Sen. Tom Brandt (R) at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. However, telecom industry groups raised concerns at the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee’s hearing on Brandt’s LB-61. Utilities don’t want to get in the commercial internet business, said Brandt, noting other states have eased similar limits. Nebraska's "dark fiber statutes are antiquated and need to be repealed,” said Brian Adams, Omaha Public Power District chief of staff. The existing law discourages utilities from partnering with others to provide high-speed internet, he said. Other supporters included Allo Communications, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Farmers Union, League of Nebraska Municipalities and Nebraska Association of County Officials. Utilities won’t use energy rates to pay for broadband, he stressed. Raising concerns the bill might incentivize overbuilding, Sen. Wendy DeBoer (D) asked if the state’s current limits should remain for served areas. Nebraska Telecommunications Association President Tip O’Neill opposed LB-61, saying it would remove key protections for transparency and fair competition. State law needn’t be changed, he said. Answering a question from DeBoer, O’Neill said limiting the bill to unserved areas might be preferable, but he would have to talk with association members including Lumen and Great Plains Communications. The bill would “undercut competition” by subsidizing broadband overbuilders, preventing ISP challenges and eliminating oversight, said Charter Communications Senior Manager-Government Affairs Dayton Murty. Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) disagreed with overbuilding concerns. ISPs failed to serve rural Nebraska, he said. “We need to look at any way that can help.”
The Washington State Public Works Board clarified timelines and other requirements for its state broadband program’s application and travel processes. The board said Friday it completed a rulemaking to update Washington Administrative Code 399-080-010 as required by a 2022 law. The new rules, which will take effect March 18, also set up an emergency broadband program.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) signed a memorandum of understanding on working together to protect consumers against robocall scams, the FCC said Friday. The FCC now has 46 such agreements, including with Guam and the District of Columbia. “Robocalls are a consistent source of frustration for consumers, and my office has long worked to help people avoid losing time and money to unlawful robocalls,” Raoul said.
The Texas Public Utility Commission proposed approving Windstream deregulation Thursday. Under the draft order in docket 54068, the PUC would grant the telco’s petition to deregulate its Sugar Land local exchange market. Parties may file corrections or exceptions by March 2.
A Kansas bill to exempt satellite TV and streaming video services from the state’s video franchise law cleared the Senate Utilities Committee in a voice vote Thursday. SB-144 would clarify that municipalities can’t apply a 5% franchise fee to the services that lack facilities in the right of way. “This is a clarification bill” that's meant to “maintain the status quo,” said DirecTV and Dish Network counsel Damon Stewart of Orrick Herrington. It responds to a number of cities that are "creatively interpreting” the 20-year-old Kansas statute in lawsuits against Hulu and Netflix in an attempt to get them to pay ROW fees, he said. Similar bills passed by overwhelming margins in Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio and Arizona, Stewart added. Ranking minority member Marci Francisco (D) raised concerns the committee didn’t give a “fair hearing” to written opposition she received only when the meeting started. We couldn’t find the testimony online and the committee didn’t respond to our request for copies by our deadline. A Missouri Senate panel cleared a similar bill Tuesday (see 2302150049).
A Utah Senate panel advanced a public safety bill including a provision allowing agencies to create a public safety answering point (PSAP) to provide 911 service to noncontiguous areas. The Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee voted unanimously for SB-212 at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. Also, the bill would increase how much money may be distributed to qualifying PSAPs.
The California Public Utilities Commission seeks “a common vocabulary regarding the distinguishing features of interconnected VoIP service,” said a Thursday ruling in docket R.22-08-008. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Camille Watts-Zagha held a prehearing conference last month in the rulemaking on possible changes to licensing requirements and other obligations for internet-based voice (see 2301240058). Watts-Zagha asked hearing participants to explain distinctions among VoIP terms like fixed, non-fixed, nomadic, stand-alone, facilities-based and over-the-top. “Party responses to the question differed in some respects, including whether the term fixed equates to facilities-based,” said Thursday’s ruling. “Several parties indicated the distinction between nomadic and fixed VoIP was shrinking, becoming ‘fuzzy,’ or was less of a distinguishing feature than in prior years.” The CPUC seeks answers by March 9 to many questions it still has about VoIP, it said.