The Oregon Public Utility Commission conditionally approved a settlement between Lumen’s CenturyLink and PUC staff on a successor price plan. Chair Megan Decker and Commissioner Letha Tawney, the PUC’s only members, signed the order Friday in docket UM 1908. While largely supporting the agreement, the commission said it shared "some of the broader public interest concerns" that the Oregon Citizens’ Utilities Board and Lumen customer Priscilla Weaver raised (see 2310250014). The commission directed the parties to revise the plan to explicitly say the company will maintain a 24/7 dedicated customer phone line, with certain requirements. The line should let callers report multiple addresses and the company should treat trouble tickets opened there as high priority. Also, the company should provide a monthly report on contacts through the line, it said. The Oregon PUC outlined other expectations. "CenturyLink is expected to include in its monthly [federal Rural Digital Opportunities Fund] build report any potential delays or issues … that could cause the project to continue past December 31, 2024, and corrective steps the company is taking," it said. PUC staff “is expected to monitor CenturyLink’s reports, as well as customer complaints, and raise any issues with the Commission as soon as possible, particularly with regards to health and safety issues or localized, chronic issues that may not be reflected immediately in the metrics.”

The governor must name Utah public service commissioners “with the advice and consent of the Senate,” said a bill that was signed into law Thursday by the state's Gov. Spencer Cox (R). In addition, SB-99 makes other procedural changes to Utah commissioner appointments.

Emergency communications bills advanced in multiple states last week. Thursday in Wisconsin, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 to approve SB-890 with a slight wording change. The full Senate could soon vote on the bill, which would require wireless providers to provide device location information to law enforcement without a warrant if the subscriber consents, if the provider believes disclosure could prevent a person’s death or injury or if the provider receives a written law enforcement request stating that disclosure is needed to respond to an emergency call or situation involving possible death or serious physical injury. The bill would give wireless providers immunity from criminal liability for such disclosures. Providers already have immunity from civil liability. In Hawaii, the Senate Government Operations Committee voted 3-0 Thursday to approve a bill (SB-3028) that would remove the term “enhanced” from state 911 law so that Hawaii can fund future 911 technologies. The Senate bill next needs approval from the Commerce and Ways and Means committees. The South Dakota Senate scheduled a second reading for Monday on the House-passed HB-1092, which would increase the state 911 fee on monthly phone bills to $2, from $1.25. The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared it Thursday (see 2402080071). In Washington state, the Senate voted 48-0 Thursday for SB-6308 to extend timelines for implementing the 988 mental health hotline, including providing the state health department 18 additional months to develop the technology platform (see 2402050049). The Senate also voted 31-18 that day for SB-5838, establishing an AI task force. Both Washington bills will go to the House.

AT&T sought South Carolina Public Service Commission approval to merge affiliate AT&T Corp. into the newly formed AT&T Enterprises by May 1. “This merger will be transparent to current AT&T Corp. customers, who will continue receiving: the same services; under the same rates, terms, and conditions; and backed by the same technical, financial, and managerial resources,” AT&T said in the petition posted Thursday by the PSC (docket 2024-56-C).

The Virginia House Commerce Committee cleared a pole-attachments bill (HB-800) in a 22-0 vote Thursday. Under a committee substitute, the bill would regulate how public utilities handle attachment requests. A pole owner would have to determine within 15 business days if an application is complete. If the owner decides it’s incomplete, the attacher could resubmit the application and receive a response within seven business days. Within 75 days of receiving a complete request, the utility would have to decide whether to grant or deny the application and survey affected poles. HB-800 would bar a public utility from making a telecom or cable provider pay the cost of replacing a red-tagged pole, meaning a pole that is “designated for replacement for any reason unrelated to a lack of capacity to accommodate a new attacher's request for attachment or … would have needed to be replaced at the time of replacement even if the new attachment was not made.” Telecom and cable providers would have to pay “the incremental cost of a taller or stronger pole that is necessitated solely by the new” telecom or cable facilities. Also, HB-800 would require the Virginia State Corporation Commission to resolve pole-access disputes, including allocation of rearrangement costs, within 90 days, and to resolve other pole attachment issues within 120 days.

The Florida House Commerce Committee unanimously supported a bill Thursday to extend dollar broadband attachments through 2028. The Ways and Means Committee previously cleared HB-1147, which would extend a promotional rate that the state began offering in 2021 (see 2401310072). It lets ISPs pay $1 a year per wireline attachment per pole to bring broadband to unserved or underserved areas in municipal electric utility service territories. The promo will expire July 1 unless extended. The bill could next get a House floor vote. The Senate could soon vote on a similar bill (SB-1218) that cleared the Rules Committee by a 19-0 vote Thursday.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission unanimously supported revising various telecom rules at a Thursday meeting. In three separate 3-0 votes, the commission supported staff’s proposed changes to Chapter 55 rules for telecom services (docket RM2023-000017), Chapter 56 rules for interexchange telecom service resellers (RM2023-000018) and Chapter 57 rules for operator service providers telecom services (RM2023-000019). During the meeting, the commission slightly modified the Chapter 55 proposal to remove a sentence related to submitting changes to a company’s principal business address. The removed sentence read, "The submission shall be accompanied by an attestation that the tariff and/or Terms of Service are identical, except for the address change to the existing tariffs and/or Terms of Service."

A Virginia Senate panel cleared kids’ privacy and social media bills Wednesday. The General Laws and Technology Committee voted 14-0 for SB-359, prohibiting social media operators from providing an “addictive feed” to users younger than 18 without verifiable parental consent. The bill defines an addictive feed as “a website, online service, or online or mobile application, or a portion thereof, in which multiple pieces of media generated or shared by users of a website, online service, or online or mobile application, either concurrently or sequentially, are recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based, in whole or in part, on information associated with the user or the user's device.” The committee voted 15-0 for SB-361, which would add children-specific protections to the state’s comprehensive consumer privacy law. It would prohibit data controllers from selling a child’s data or using it for targeted advertising or profiling. The House approved the similar HB-707 on Tuesday (see 2402070063).

The South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-2 Thursday to clear a bill increasing a state 911 fee on monthly phone bills to $2, from $1.25. The committee's approval of HB-1092 followed House passage last week (see 2402010025). CTIA opposed the bill in a Jan. 23 letter to the House Taxation Committee. “This 60 percent increase would result in South Dakota consumers paying about $8 million more in taxes, with about $6 million of the increase borne by wireless consumers,” the mobile industry association wrote.

California could be first in the nation to codify the FCC’s definition of digital discrimination into state law. Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D) introduced AB-2239 on Wednesday, the California Alliance for Digital Equity said Thursday. “This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to adopt subsequent legislation that codifies a definition of ‘digital discrimination of access’ in state law that conforms to the definition adopted by the Federal Communications Commission,” said a legislative digest on the measure. In a November order (see 2311150040), the FCC defined “digital discrimination of access” as “policies or practices, not justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility, that (1) differentially impact consumers' access to broadband internet access service based on their income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin or (2) are intended to have such differential impact.” Defining digital discrimination could help move a proceeding on digital redlining at the California Public Utilities Commission, said Shayna Englin, California Community Foundation director-digital equity initiative, in an interview. The proceeding stalled amid argument about the definition, said Englin. CPUC digital redlining rules would guide the agency in the years ahead as it distributes $8 billion state and federal broadband funding, she said. Englin predicted a fight between digital equity advocates and the telecom industry, which is expected to oppose AB-2239. The California Broadband and Video Association is reviewing the legislation, said a spokesperson for the state cable group. USTelecom declined to comment. The Los Angeles City Council passed a similar law at the local level last month.