Businesses said proposed California privacy rules are too restrictive, but consumer privacy advocates said they’re too weak, in comments at the California Privacy Protection Agency. The CPPA received feedback Monday on revised draft rules to implement the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), sequel to the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The CPPA board approved the revised draft rules last month (see 2210310074). The CPRA takes effect Jan. 1.
Arkansas filed two broadband fabric challenges at the FCC because it found about 12,000 unserved locations missed by FCC maps, State Broadband Director Glen Howie said on a Broadband.money webinar Friday. New York state earlier said it filed a challenge for about 32,000 locations it said were unserved but not included in the fabric (see 2210310068). Some states have more capability to file challenges than others, noted Howie. States unable to file challenges could receive less federal funding from NTIA’s broadband, equity, accessibility and deployment (BEAD) program, he said. “You don’t want to get shorted.” Howie said Arkansas broadband office staff is reviewing broadband availability maps released Friday (see 2211180062). “No map ever is 100% perfect or accurate, but it’s a great improvement from what we’ve had before,” said Howie, saying Arkansas looks forward to “investigating that further.” Howie declined to comment on his state’s status for receiving funding for BEAD or digital equity fund planning but said the state is ready to move forward when the shot clock starts running. Pennsylvania and Nebraska received planning funds last week (see 2211170032).
A New Hampshire panel approved revised draft rules for a one-touch, make-ready policy. After refusing to clear them last month due to concerns about ambiguous terminology (see 2210200016), the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR) cleared a second draft unanimously and without discussion Thursday. The New Hampshire Department of Energy (DOE) sent the revisions to the committee Nov. 2. The edits are “intended to address and resolve all of the comments and potential bases for objection identified by” the Office of Legislative Services, the department’s Commissioner Jared Chicoine said in a cover letter. The department next must adopt final rules, which most likely will take effect Dec. 1, DOE Legal Director David Wiesner told us Thursday.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to update rules for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant account (docket R.20-08-021). The changes are part of the CPUC’s implementation of California’s $6 billion broadband law last year. One significant change in the decision updates speed requirements for completed projects to 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, “which ensures that public funds support projects that deliver the speeds necessary for videoconferencing, streaming and supporting multiple users in a household,” said Commissioner Darcie Houck at the CPUC’s virtual meeting. Revising the definition of an unserved location to places lacking speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps will make more areas eligible for funding, she said. Also, the decision requires grantees to provide low-income broadband plans and participate in the federal affordable connectivity program. The changes are "vital in achieving the state's broadband objectives,” said CPUC President Alice Busching Reynolds. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen applauded the decision for recognizing that affordability continues to be a major issue for many Californians: "It's not just access.” Consumer advocates mostly supported the draft in comments last month, but telecom companies raised concerns with proposed changes to the challenge process in the broadband support program (see 2210210055). Also, industry expressed concern about the staff’s proposal to require applicants to freeze prices in project areas for at least five years.
Pennsylvania is seeking “equitable, affordable, and robust high-speed broadband infrastructure and services connecting Pennsylvania for the 21st century and beyond,” said a state broadband plan adopted Thursday. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority board approved the plan in a unanimous voice vote at a partially virtual meeting Thursday. Authority Executive Director Brandon Carson said the shot clock is now running to develop the plans required by NTIA to get Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) federal funding.
NEW ORLEANS -- State regulators’ telecom priority in the year ahead will be “trying to deploy where broadband isn’t,” said new NARUC President Michael Caron in an interview at the association’s conference here. Caron hopes new FCC broadband maps coming Friday will be more accurate and include more people who lack service, he said. On a Monday panel about the maps, state commissioners asked an FCC official if the agency is up to the task and what states can do to help.
NEW ORLEANS -- The NARUC Telecom Committee won’t vote yet on a proposed resolution to clarify state utility regulators’ authority to oversee networks that come from federal broadband spending. Members decided to wait after members raised concerns at the association’s conference Monday. "I don't think any additional clarity is needed,” said Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades (D). “We have the authority we need. We just fail to use it.”
Broadband ballot initiatives passed in Alabama, New Mexico and Colorado elections Tuesday. Alabama residents supported a constitutional amendment to allow the state or its counties and municipalities “to grant federal award funds or any other source of funding designated for broadband infrastructure by state law to public or private entities for providing or expanding broadband infrastructure.” It passed with nearly 79% voting yes, showed unofficial results Thursday from the Alabama state secretary. And 65% of New Mexico voters supported amending the state constitution to allow state funds to be used for “essential” services including broadband internet, showed that state’s unofficial results. In Colorado, one county and four municipalities voted to opt out of the state’s municipal broadband ban. About 71% of voters supported the ballot initiative in Douglas County, said Colorado Counties, Inc., Policy Director Eric Bergman Thursday. Douglas joins 44 of 64 other counties to opt out. With the addition of Castle Pines, Lone Tree, Pueblo and Trinidad, 123 out of 217 Colorado municipalities may now provide and fund high-speed internet in the state, the Colorado Municipal League said Wednesday. About eight in 10 Montana voters supported amending the state constitution to include electronic data and communications in search and seizure protections, showed Montana unofficial results. The change means law enforcement would be required to get a warrant before accessing a person’s digital information.
The much-scrutinized 911 center in Washington, D.C., has completed about two-thirds of the recommendations from a D.C. audit report since a follow-up audit said little progress was made, Office of Unified Communications (OUC) acting Director Karima Holmes told D.C. council members Thursday. At a three-hour Judiciary and Public Safety Committee virtual meeting, members picked up on concerns raised at a September hearing (see 2209280058), pressing Holmes on recent audits and specific incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication led to dispatching delays.
T-Mobile must pay a nearly $3.59 million penalty for misleading the California Public Utilities Commission about its CDMA transition, commissioners decided unanimously Thursday. The CPUC mostly rejected T-Mobile’s May appeal of two administrative law judges’ initial April decision, though it reduced the fine by about 33% from $5.33 million (see 2205260008 and 2204260061). The CPUC denied as moot the carrier’s June motion for alternative dispute resolution (see 2206090017).