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.

State broadband leaders should work with 811 call centers to avoid digging issues when deploying networks, said a Google Fiber open letter posted Wednesday by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. State 811 centers require utility companies to mark assets before excavation projects occur through a “locates” process, but the “current locates system is not designed to handle the vast amount of new project work anticipated in the next few years,” wrote Google Fiber. “It will be imperative to limit unnecessary locates as well as ensure locators are given additional time to prepare. We recommend updating the existing locates process to accommodate the increased construction activity and improving practices and processes to protect communities and maintain public safety.” Also, Google recommended state broadband leaders seek to streamline permitting processes, including by setting up one place online to submit permits and urging localities to choose a single point of contact to coordinate all approvals. States should restrict ISPs that have received public funding from the ability to make exclusive marketing agreements at multifamily buildings, it said. Designate a state liaison to coordinate with cities on broadband buildout, keep localities up to date on fresh deployment methods like microtrenching, and set up a state-county-city task force to share best practices, suggested the ISP.

Dish Wireless will be designated as an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) in Nebraska. The Public Service Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday for the order in docket NUSF-137. Nebraska commissioners voted 3-2 after a closed session to censure Commissioners Christian Mirch (R) and Kevin Stocker (R), the PSC said. The vote followed an independent investigation into alleged misconduct, the agency said. “We shouldn’t need a code of conduct to tell us that as elected officials we are accountable for our actions,” said Chair Dan Watermeier (R). “It is my expectation that by voting to censure, we are sending the message that as Commissioners we hold ourselves to the highest of standards and will not tolerate this kind of behavior.” Mirch and Stocker voted no. The PSC didn’t disclose the alleged misconduct. Mirch and Stocker in a statement denied misconduct allegations and slammed the other three commissioners’ decision: “Instead of waiting to obtain an official opinion on a matter of public concern from the Nebraska Attorney General, the Commission acted beyond its statutory authority, without just cause, and without having the benefit of a complete investigation.” The PSC should instead be investigating lengthy telephone and broadband outages, said the commissioners, calling the censure vote a “diversion.” The commission majority “remains largely silent” on recent statewide 911 outages (see 2309120046), they added.

T-Mobile data on California’s foster youth pilot program “was so flawed that Program youth and their social workers and caregivers may have been provided with wrong phone numbers and device information,” iFoster CEO Serita Cox told the California Public Utilities Commission in a Monday letter. “The T-Mobile data problem not only impacts the Program’s integrity, but has real life impacts on the foster youth who rely on their devices for their safety and vital communications.” T-Mobile recently reported data discrepancies with the pilot (see 2309130016). Due to the problems, iFoster will withdraw several active participant usage reports from February through August, said Cox. The nonprofit will put new orders on hold until it talks more with T-Mobile; validated applications received after Sept. 25 will be waitlisted, she said. “iFoster is frankly unsure when it can provide replacement Usage Reports, given the serious data issues from T-Mobile but iFoster will continue to work closely with T-Mobile to obtain accurate data to re-file its Usage Reports and keep the Commission staff updated.” The CPUC received comments last week on making the foster youth pilot a permanent part of the state LifeLine program (see 2309270021).

Wisconsin shouldn’t exclude wireless from state broadband funding, said the Wireless Infrastructure Association and other wireless industry groups in a Thursday letter to the state legislature’s Senate Utilities Committee. They opposed SB-325, which would limit future funding to fiber-only projects. “While fiber will be a critical component of every state broadband program, it is not the only technology capable of bridging the digital divide and comes with its own set of tradeoffs,” said the wireless groups: Adopt rules that allow the most applicants to compete for funds. Joining WIA on the letter was CTIA, Competitive Carriers Association, NATE, the Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association.

Dish Wireless may provide Lifeline service in Michigan, state commissioners decided Thursday. The Michigan Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to grant Dish’s application for eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation (case U-21382). “The Commission is persuaded that ETC designation for DISH promotes the availability of universal service and is in the public interest,” said the order. Also Thursday, the commission unanimously supported granting permanent licenses to Altafiber (case No. U-21449) and EarthGrid (case U-21417) to provide basic local exchange service statewide in areas served by AT&T and Frontier Communications. The PSC granted those companies temporary licenses last July.

Michigan could take a broader view of underserved locations as it looks to distribute money from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office posted the first volume of its draft initial proposal Thursday. The state plans to adopt NTIA’s model challenge process with some changes, including treating as underserved all DSL locations and places considered served on the national map where speed tests show service “materially below 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream,” the document said. Also, Michigan plans to treat as underserved multiple dwelling units with at least 20 units identified served on the national map “that are located in Census tracts that have high broadband availability but high rates of households reporting no internet subscription,” it said. It will also consider underserved those locations where fixed wireless is the only technology satisfying served requirements, the draft said. Comments are due Oct. 31. Also, the state broadband office said it seeks early feedback by Oct. 13 on the subgrant process it will describe in the upcoming volume two of its BEAD initial proposal.

The California Public Utilities Commission asked the public to talk Nov. 8 about lacking internet. The public participation hearings are to be at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. PST, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola ruled Wednesday in the CPUC's rulemaking to implement NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment program (docket R.23-02-016).

The South Carolina Public Service Commission seeks comments by Nov. 15 on edits to state USF guidelines proposed by the Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS), said a Wednesday notice in docket 2023-301-C. Parties seeking to intervene should file petitions by Nov. 1. ORS asked in a Sept. 1 petition to clarify certain USF procedures, including by specifically listing interconnected VoIP providers as USF contributors, incorporating a South Carolina confidentiality law and adding a deadline for contributors to dispute required contributions. In the same petition, ORS seeks a waiver of USF guidelines so it can provide a refund to Cox subsidiary Palmetto Net for overreporting assessable revenue in a 2022 worksheet, which resulted in an overpayment.

The California Public Utilities Commission’s top goal for transitioning its foster youth pilot into a permanent program "should be ensuring that few youth lose service during the program transition,” said iFoster, the nonprofit that led the pilot. In comments Tuesday in docket R.20-02-008, iFoster said it knows “many foster youth lose their service during transitions of service providers and program administrators.” For example, during the migration from Boost to T-Mobile, “only about 25% of the foster youth successfully transitioned,” it said. Major changes proposed by staff could make the transition complex, said iFoster. The plan “contains many fundamental changes,” including a transition of users to California LifeLine at age 18 instead of 26, more service providers and possible changes to eligibility requirements, said the nonprofit. Every transition from the pilot into LifeLine has failed so far, even when LifeLine approves foster youth as eligible, iFoster said. “As an example, a foster youth successfully transitioned to the LifeLine program, and received a new device. Two days later, the youth was notified of termination as the youth was deemed to already have [affordable connectivity program support] in the form of at-home Internet. This was not the case.” The Utility Reform Network supports making the pilot permanent to "reduce foster youth’s barriers to accessing LifeLine services, particularly for minors,” TURN commented. The CPUC sought comments earlier this month on the proposal to make the foster youth pilot permanent (see 2309050080). T-Mobile recently said it found data discrepancies with the pilot (see 2309130016).