Kansas will consider non-fiber broadband networks “where economically and technically required,” the state said in a draft of volume two of its initial proposal for the NTIA broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Comments are due Nov. 12 on the draft, which includes information on objectives, subgrantee selection, eligibility, workforce and strategies for overcoming cost-related barriers to deployment, said Gov. Laura Kelly (D) Thursday. Kansas must prioritize fiber to meet its goal “to be among the top 10 states by 2030 in terms of the percentage of households able to access 100/20 Mbps service,” the draft said. To reduce deployment costs and barriers, Kansas “must incorporate, map, and leverage all existing infrastructure, including the reuse of middle mile facilities, where available,” it said. A review of permitting processes found “local and state [right of way] access permits are simple and fees are reasonable,” but time to secure state permits “can be excessive and efforts must be made to reduce permit approvals,” the draft said. The FCC regulates telecom pole attachment rates in Kansas, but most of the state’s pole owners are electric companies, “thereby leaving pole attachment rates unregulated for broadband use,” it said. “This lack of regulation can lead to excessive costs for broadband providers and cause delays in project deployment,” so the state broadband office “will work with electric distribution companies and electric co-ops to encourage reasonable rates for broadband provider use.” The office will also work with electric entities to smooth out make-ready processes, the draft said. Mississippi's broadband office released a draft volume one of its initial proposal Thursday. It includes details on the state's challenge process that starts Nov. 20. Comments are due Nov. 13.

A Wisconsin bill to exempt government broadband grants from state income and franchise taxes cleared the Senate Revenue Committee at a Wednesday meeting. The panel voted 8-0 to amend and report SB-266 to the floor. Under the substitute amendment, federal USF high-cost support would also be exempt.

The District of Columbia enacted a 911 transparency bill Wednesday without the signature of Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). The D.C. Council voted 13-0 Sept. 19 to pass B25-0375 to temporarily amend the law establishing the Office of Unified Communications. Bowser had until Wednesday to respond. The unsigned act requires the office “to collect and post publicly on the Office's website the number of calls eligible to be diverted to alternative responses, the number of those calls diverted, and data on daily call-taking and dispatching operations.” The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee mulled a permanent OUC transparency bill last week (see 2310050062). Some at the hearing claimed Bowser isn't taking seriously District 911 problems identified in an audit. The mayor didn’t comment by our deadline.

Veto of a bill meant to bolster digital equity in California’s video franchise law disappointed Assemblymember Chris Holden (D), the AB-41 sponsor said in a statement Wednesday. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) quashed that and a separate bill adding wireless eligibility for broadband grants earlier this week (see 2310110067). “California can be an innovator in creating digital equity,” and Holden will continue the work with colleagues and Newsom, he said. Broadband must be affordable and reliable in rural and urban areas, he added.

Defining project areas “is not for the faint of heart,” Washington State Broadband Office Director Mark Vasconi said. The office met virtually Thursday to start considering various ways to define them for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. “We have not made any decisions around what the form of project areas are going to look like,” said Vasconi. The state faces a “compressed time frame,” he noted. BEAD “has been characterized as a marathon, but I will tell you it’s a marathon with … timed sprints in the process.” The office probably will release a draft of volume two of Washington’s initial proposal in early November and seek comments for 30 days, he said. NTIA Federal Program Officer Tracey Blackburn said project areas are one aspect of BEAD planning that’s critical to get right. “This is a really hard one,” she said. “There are many different ways to think about doing this and there's no one right answer.”

The North Dakota Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny LTD Broadband’s application to be designated an eligible telecom carrier (docket PU-21-168). It’s another setback for the company that sought FCC reversal of its denied Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form application (see 2302160069). LTD didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to decide at its Nov. 16 meeting whether to resume proceedings on revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and whether to grant Minnesota Telecom Association and the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s motion to suspend LTD’s ETC designation in the meantime, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The PUC planned to decide last month but pulled the item due to a commissioner’s personal reasons (see 2309190068).

"Nothing in telecommunications regulation is ever easy,” said Regulatory Commission of Alaska Commissioner Robert Pickett Wednesday as he and four colleagues agreed to hit reboot on a proceeding to implement the state’s 2019 telecom deregulation law, SB-83. Commissioners agreed to close docket R-19-002 and open a yet-to-be-numbered fresh docket. The RCA had filed rules in 2021 but the Department of Law disapproved them and sought major changes, Pickett said. Commissioners agreed Wednesday to ask the department for permission to seek comment for 45 days on that disapproval memo. Pickett said legislation will probably be needed in the long run since the department’s memo puts the commission in a difficult position: "It will force us into a bit of sham regulation in certain areas."

The Texas Public Utility Commission granted a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. Dish will be a Lifeline-only ETC in all non-rural deregulated exchanges of AT&T and Frontier Communications and several rural ILEC exchanges, said a Texas PUC order Tuesday in docket 54475. Commission staff last month recommended granting the application (see 2309200060). Dish won a similar approval in Nebraska last week (see 2310030043).

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is seeking comment on a Dish Wireless application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation in areas where underlying provider AT&T has service, the RCA said in a Thursday notice in docket U-23-049. Dish is seeking ETC designation only to receive Lifeline service, the agency said. Comments are due Nov. 6.

Illinois is interested in funding “blended” broadband projects that bring service to both unserved and underserved areas, said the state’s broadband office director, Matt Schmit, on a Broadband.Money webinar Friday. Illinois is required to connect unserved areas lacking service with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds -- and must mind how far it can stretch federal dollars -- but the state hopes to upgrade many underserved places that have less than 100/20 Mbps, he said. Internet service providing 25 Mbps downloads and 3 Mbps uploads, the speeds used for the federal definition of unserved, is “wildly insufficient” in 2023, Schmit said. States will likely start sending NTIA final proposals for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program in spring 2025, predicted Schmit: Illinois aims to file its final BEAD plan in April that year.