The California Privacy Protection Agency board canceled a scheduled Friday meeting. The board Saturday completed revising proposed rules to implement the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act (see 2210310074).

Consolidated Communications revised a three-year incentive regulation plan (IRP) proposed for Vermont in response to a change requested by the state's Department of Public Service. The plan to replace an IRP that expires this year would give Consolidated more pricing flexibility in the state. Consolidated filed a revised proposal Tuesday at the Vermont Public Utility Commission after conferring with the department about a change sought in reply comments Monday, Consolidated said in docket 21-4060-PET. The revised draft IRP replaces a sentence that said, “To the extent the customer orders Broadband or a long distance package, they no longer have [basic local exchange service (BLES)].” The new version says, “BLES subscribers are entitled to purchase any other stand-alone service offerings offered by the Company for which they are eligible.” Last week, the department sought PUC conditions on remediating host-remote isolation issues, providing bill credits, adding an emergency household service-quality metric and requiring 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for 98% of a municipality before the company could qualify for rate and service-quality deregulation (see 2210240058).

The California Public Utilities Commission should weigh legal and jurisdictional issues in a VoIP rulemaking before considering rules, said AT&T, Frontier Communications and small rural telcos in separate replies filed Monday. AT&T saw "broad agreement" in opening comments (see 2210180049) that the proposal exceeds the CPUC's authority "and could invite legal challenge if adopted,” the carrier said in docket R.22-08-008. The California Cable and Telecommunications Association agreed with opposition to the CPUC staff proposal and suggested an alternative approach. The CPUC could make a “streamlined licensing framework specific to” digital voice services like VoIP, it said. The agency would apply only CPUC rules that currently apply to VoIP service, though it could later consider "targeted" regulations, CCTA said. Noting 501 VoIP providers are informally registered with the commission, Sangoma condemned the CPUC proposal "a blueprint to stifle competition in the presently vibrant VoIP market in California.” The business VoIP provider is especially concerned with proposed tariff requirements, it said. “Tariffs are relics of a bygone era when telephone services were offered by regulated monopoly providers. That era ended long ago, and tariff requirements have rightly gone by the wayside except for a few large incumbent providers and in rural areas that lack competition.” The CPUC should reject industry’s jurisdictional arguments, The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology replied jointly. "The Commission has jurisdiction over VoIP providers, who are telephone corporations under California law," the consumer groups said. "The Commission is not barred from regulating VoIP service by federal law, including classification as an information service and preemption principles.”

Maryland said a federal court is “free to proceed” with Nov. 29 oral argument on the state’s ban on passing its digital ad tax’s costs to customers. U.S. District Court for Northern Maryland Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby asked Maryland last week to weigh in on whether the hearing should still happen given a state court decision to strike down the tax (see 2210240064). “The ruling issued by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County … does not affect the ability of this Court to adjudicate this case, because the circuit court’s ruling is subject to appeal, and the outcome of that case will not be known at least until the conclusion of the appeal,” Maryland wrote Monday. Since Comcast, plaintiff in the state case, didn’t “exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit, Maryland statutes and precedent pose a considerable obstacle to affirmance of the circuit court’s ruling,” the state added. Federal plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier said the state ruling doesn't moot the federal case.

The California Privacy Protection Agency board directed staff “to take all steps necessary to prepare and notice modifications to the text of the proposed regulatory amendments for an additional 15-day comment period” on rules to implement the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act, the CPPA tweeted Saturday. The board finished weighing proposed edits Saturday, after starting to consider them Friday. “It was readily apparent during the meeting that the Board wants the regulations finalized as soon as possible,” blogged Husch Blackwell attorney David Stauss. Rules could be finalized by the end of January, CPPA General Counsel Philip Laird said at Friday’s meeting (see 2210280055).

New York challenged the FCC broadband fabric, becoming the first state to announce a challenge of the FCC data about unserved or underserved addresses. The New York ConnectALL office submitted about 31,798 locations through the FCC’s broadband data collection challenge process, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Monday. New York’s address-level state map (see 2206160059) is helping the state better advocate for federal support, she said. The state map identified 138,598 total addresses as unserved or underserved. “By aligning the FCC maps with ours, we will ensure New York gets its fair share of federal dollars so every New Yorker has access to the internet when and where they need it,” said Empire State Development CEO Hope Knight. New York’s “efforts will help close the accessibility and affordability gaps that [make] broadband unavailable to many of the state’s low- and fixed-income consumers,” emailed Ian Donaldson, New York Public Utility Law Project policy associate. The FCC "is committed to building maps that reflect the most accurate information available, and we expect this New York submission will help us to accomplish that goal," said an agency spokesperson.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission reopened a Frontier Communications service quality investigation (docket 18-0291-T-P). “It is evident that Frontier’s copper network quality of service failures continue, particularly in the more rural areas of West Virginia,” the commission said in a Thursday order partly granting a PSC staff petition (see 2210050043). “These are the same issues that the Commission -- and Frontier’s customers -- have had in the past.” The PSC received 1,079 complaints since June 2021 and has heard “Frontier is not taking trouble tickets when a known outage exists.” While surveying two counties that complained, PSC staff “found areas of Frontier’s copper network in disrepair or in need of maintenance,” the commission added. The commission stayed Kanawha and McDowell counties’ individual complaints and made them parties to the general probe.

The Pennsylvania legislature passed a data breach bill Wednesday. The Senate voted 48-0 to concur with House amendments. The House unanimously passed it earlier that day (see 2210260082). SB-696, which now goes to the Gov. Tom Wolf (D), would update notification timelines, expand the definition of personal information and require state data encryption.

Back with a full complement of commissioners, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to let T-Mobile exit federal Lifeline in Pennsylvania. In the unanimous voice vote, PUC members granted T-Mobile’s Sept. 1 petition to relinquish eligible telecom carrier designation for low-income support effective Dec. 31. “We find that T-Mobile has given appropriate and sufficient notice to us regarding its planned abandonment,” said the PUC order in docket P-2011-2275748. T-Mobile’s 90-day written notice and other planned communications will give Lifeline customers “detailed information” and “ample time to obtain service from an alternative Lifeline provider operating in that same geographic region,” it said. T-Mobile on Sept. 30 sent the PUC a copy of a letter notifying customers that the carrier was ending Lifeline participation. T-Mobile’s petition noted the carrier provides “a variety of low-cost service plans” and subsidiary Assurance Wireless and MetroPCS participate in the federal affordable connectivity program. Thursday’s meeting was the PUC’s first since April 16, 2020 with commissioners in all five seats. The Pennsylvania Senate last week confirmed Katie Zerfuss, deputy secretary for legislative affairs for Gov. Tom Wolf (D), and Stephen DeFrank, former chief of staff for state Sen. Lisa Boscola (D), and reconfirmed Commissioner John Coleman, whose term had expired Oct. 1 (see 2210190042). “Retirement for two weeks was great,” remarked Coleman at the livestreamed meeting. The PUC elected DeFrank as vice chairman Friday, said Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille. T-Mobile didn’t comment.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission aims to amend inmate calling service rules by year-end, Associate General Counsel Russell Fisk told us Thursday. No one spoke for or against the changes at a Thursday virtual hearing due to a commission rule preventing oral comments from parties that filed written feedback. The New Mexico PRC received positive feedback earlier this month in docket 20-00170-UT on a proposal to reduce an existing cap of 15 cents per minute on intrastate rates to 12 cents for state prisons and 14 cents for large local jails (see 2210030053). The record is set to close Tuesday. However, New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association attorney Carol Clifford of The Jones Firm said she planned to file a motion to extend the date so her client could file documents about a pending New Mexico Second Judicial District Court case on attorney-client calls from jails. The PRC would consider the possible motion and any responses, then decide whether to keep the record open longer, Fisk said.