Three coordinators of state and local 911 systems said they didn't get warning or immediate direct information from CenturyLink as a network outage last month disrupted such systems nationwide. Officials in Washington state, Colorado and Wyoming's state capital told us they relied on their own information, news reports and Twitter in the early stages as they decided how to respond to problems including static, loss of automatic location data and, in Washington state, hours-long 911 outages.
More net neutrality legislation emerged in states Friday, including Vermont and Connecticut. Maryland’s House Economic Matters Committee scheduled a hearing on HB-141 for Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. Two Vermont Democrats introduced HB-92, which would require broadband providers to get a certificate from the secretary of administration showing they comply with net neutrality rules when seeking approval for construction or installation of telecom facilities. Democrats have wide majorities in both Vermont chambers, but Gov. Phil Scott is a Republican. A Connecticut House Democrat introduced HB-6244 to restrict state contracts to providers that adhere to net neutrality. Connecticut, where Democrats have a trifecta, has three net neutrality bills (see 1901090008). Lawmakers in more than a dozen states introduced net neutrality bills this month (see 1901230008).
Frontier Communications pushed back on a scathing service-quality assessment by the Minnesota Commerce Department that said the carrier possibly violated at least 35 laws and rules, based on about 1,000 customer comments. "It maybe is not as large a crisis as the department has portrayed it to be," said Frontier General Counsel Kevin Saville at the Public Utilities Commission's livestreamed Thursday meeting.
Mississippi state senators supported electric cooperatives providing broadband, voting unanimously Wednesday for HB-366 after the House passed it 115- last week (see 1901160045). Gov. Phil Bryant (R) plans to sign the bill at his "earliest opportunity," he said in a statement. Public Service Commission Chairman Brandon Presley said the bill "will help improve the lives of people across Mississippi in many ways -- from education to medicine to economic development and beyond.” The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association "supports legislative efforts like this one that seek to remove barriers standing between rural communities and the economic benefits of broadband access," a spokesperson said. Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell praised the bill. “Cooperatives brought electricity and telephone to rural regions across the country and they are once again being called into action,” he emailed. “I hope the FCC notices and ceases its wasteful practice of subsidizing the biggest companies that have no intention of providing good services in states like Mississippi. It is well past time we redirect those monies to the cooperatives that will.”
Net neutrality bills are attempting comebacks in states that blocked measures last year, with lawmakers in more than a dozen states introducing net neutrality bills this month. States “have significantly more experience with the issue” after California enacted a strong bill and about 35 states at least proposed a measure last year, said New America Open Technology Institute Policy Counsel Eric Null. Pending legal challenges against the FCC and states could slow legislative momentum, some said. Federal legislators might try to preempt state actions (see 1901230046).
Connecting communities requires local action and adapting to each location’s challenges, local broadband officials said Wednesday as Next Century Cities, Neighborly and the Internet Society released a digital toolkit on how localities can increase internet access. With “unprecedented federal inaction,” it’s up to local communities to solve the homework gap and other broadband access issues, said Neighborly Director-Business Development Garrett Brinker at the livestreamed event.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission voted 3-0 not to take immediate further action on implementing a net neutrality law restricting government procurement (see 1901080049). Commissioners agreed to a staff recommendation for the PUC to weigh additional standards for what's reasonable network management in future proceedings about specific practices. Members voted 2-0 last month to implement information disclosure rules for ISPs (see 1812270046). At Tuesday's livestreamed meeting, Commissioner Letha Tawney asked if the commission had done enough to implement the law. Yes, replied Senior Telecommunications Analyst Stephen Hayes, warning about possibly exceeding the PUC’s role by stepping too far into the procurement process. Agencies are “a little bit concerned about being able to apply the new law,” but communications channels are open, he said. Chair Megan Decker asked staff to keep watch.
A West Virginia Senate panel raised maximum annual fees in a small-cells bill to $90 from $55 as it reported SB-3 Tuesday to the full chamber. After wrestling with the right amount, the Senate Government Organization Committee voted by voice for an amendment by Corey Palumbo (D) to increase a proposed cap on municipalities’ annual colocation fees to $65 from $30 in the bill that also caps yearly ROW access fees at $25. The senator initially suggested raising the colocation fee to $75 but reduced his proposal after some other senators raised concerns about chilling investment. When Palumbo asked how the original bill’s $55 total limit on recurring rates compared to other states, CTIA Director-State Legislative Affairs Beth Cooley conceded that most states had about $100. AT&T would still support the bill with such fees, said Regional Vice President Andy Feeney. The amount was lower in West Virginia only because that’s where negotiations ended, Feeney said. AT&T committed to spending $50 million there based on the original language and raising fees “potentially” means fewer small cells deployed, said its outside counsel, Andy Emerson. West Virginia Municipal League Executive Director Lisa Dooley said municipalities want higher fee caps but didn’t oppose the originally proposed amounts. The league is neutral on the legislation, she said. CTIA expects small-cells bills in about a dozen more states this year, joining 21 states with laws, said Cooley. West Virginia House members Monday introduced a small-cells bill to reverse pre-empt the FCC on pole attachments (see 1901140027).
Possible violations of Minnesota law by Frontier Communications have state legislators’ attention, they told us. Comments are due early next month to the Public Utilities Commission on the state Commerce Department finding the carrier may be violating at least 35 laws and rules, based on about 1,000 customer comments (see 1901040039).
A federal appeals court denied local governments a stay of the FCC’s September wireless infrastructure order that takes effect Monday (see 1901090033). In a possible setback for the FCC, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court separately in No. 18-9568 agreed with cities it's effectively part two of the agency’s August pole attachments order and should be transferred to the 9th Circuit, which is weighing a Portland, Oregon, lawsuit against the August order. Cities “failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm if a stay is not granted,” the 10th Circuit ruled (in Pacer) Thursday. Granting transfer (in Pacer), the Denver court concluded “the FCC’s August Order and its September Order are the ‘same order’ for purposes of § 2112(a).” The 10th Circuit was chosen by court lottery, but cities argued Portland technically was first to challenge if that order was considered part one (see 1811300034). Selection of the 10th Circuit was considered good news for the FCC because the court is split evenly between Democratic and Republican judges and considered more middle of the road, whereas the San Francisco-based 9th is considered the most liberal and activist (see 1811060046). Commissioner Brendan Carr tweeted that the order taking effect “will help every community enjoy the economic opportunity that 5G will enable.” The transfer is good news for local governments because historically the 9th Circuit “has taken a more narrow view of what qualifies as an effective prohibition on broadband deployment,” blogged locality consultant Tellus Venture President Steve Blum. The FCC and an attorney for San Jose and the other cities declined comment. Seeing the transfer order, the D.C. Circuit on Friday dismissed (in Pacer) as moot an FCC motion to transfer a similar case (AT&T v. FCC, No. 18-1294) from that venue to the 10th Circuit. The Washington court asked parties to show cause why it shouldn’t move petitions to the 9th Circuit. In a separate infrastructure case, the National Resources Defense Council urged the D.C. Circuit to reject the FCC’s March wireless order in United Keetoowah Band v. FCC, No. 18-1129 (see 1812050010). The commission “overlooks the additional responsibilities that the National Environmental Policy Act ... imposes on it independent from the Commission’s obligations under the Communications Act” and “the continuing federal role it plays in overseeing the conduct of those it licenses to provide wireless service,” the council replied (in Pacer) Friday.