Connecticut’s net neutrality bill returned from the grave and cleared what may be its toughest hurdle, as Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman (D) Friday supported the bill to break an 18-18 partisan stalemate with all Republicans opposed. The evenly divided Senate sent the bill to the House where Democrats have a 79-71 majority. Elsewhere in New England, a Rhode Island state senator said he conformed his net neutrality bill to match an April 24 executive order by Gov. Gina Raimondo (D).
Efforts to write state “right to repair” laws for consumer electronics won’t die, despite running into walls in many jurisdictions, said lawmakers and consumer groups who support requiring manufacturers to share more information about hardware to product owners and third-party repair shops. Opposition lobbying was “bigger and stronger” than supporters', with many bills “quietly stashed away,” but the number of states with bills is growing, said Justin Brookman, director of Consumer Reports’ advocacy arm, Consumers Union. The bills have good intentions but would produce unintended consequences, said Josh Zecher, executive director of industry coalition Security Innovation Center, with partners including CTA, CompTIA and CTIA.
Lawmakers in longtime 911 fee diverter Rhode Island now seek to end that practice and direct support to the state’s emergency-number program. Tuesday, the House Finance Committee heard testimony on five 911 bills sponsored by Republicans and Democrats: HB-7289, HB-7313, HB-7847, HB-7896 and HB-8091. Activity on the issue ramped up after FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly visited the state, and Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) staff's said she's receptive to updating state law to end such moves (see 1803200052). “There’s at least five, six initiatives on the table,” said Rep. Robert Lancia (R), who sponsored three bills, including one to require such fee revenue to be used only for 911. “We need to address this in some way, shape or fashion.” It’s a “people issue,” he stressed. Call centers are understaffed, while 911 workers are underpaid at about $16 per hour, he said. Lancia described poor lighting and old, uncomfortable chairs in a 911 center he visited. Rep. Robert Phillips (D), sponsoring a bill to repeal fees and replace them with a budget appropriation to fund the E-911 system, said “a lot of people are upset” about fees being used inappropriately. “We need to address this really rapidly before … we have an incident where the 911 personnel cannot get there quick enough so they can save a person’s life.” The committee held all bills at the hearing for further study, a common procedural step in Rhode Island that doesn’t imply the demise of legislation.
The Hawaii State Legislature passed a small-cells bill, and the San Jose City Council OK’d a small-cells deal with AT&T, in votes Tuesday. The Hawaii Senate voted 22-3 and the House voted unanimously for HB-2651, which aims to streamline 5G deployment by pre-empting local authority in the right of way (see 1804300034). Meanwhile, the San Jose City Council voted 9-1 to approve the AT&T small-cells agreement for the carrier to install 170 small cells on light poles across the city in its first phase. AT&T may install 1,000 more in a subsequent phase, San Jose Smart City Lead Dolan Beckel said in the webcast meeting. The deal also sets up a digital inclusion fund using revenue from lease agreements. AT&T will make an $850,000 up-front permit payment and $1,500 per year per small-cell site license for the first five years, with an annual inflation escalator of 3 per cent starting year six. Also, the carrier will make a $1 million grant to help the city speed permitting processes for small-cell deployments. The city felt it got a fair price for its assets, considering what else it got in the agreement, said Deputy City Manager Kip Harkness. Mayor Sam Liccardo (D), who resigned in protest from the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (see 1801250049), supported the accord in an April 27 memo. “These new broadband deployments offer the opportunity to create more equity in our city -- both through incentivizing the private sector to provide more balanced deployments across historically neglected areas of the city … as well as providing much needed funding to close the digital divide.” AT&T California President Ken McNeely emailed: “The public private partnership between San Jose and AT&T will help the community become safer, more sustainable, and more digitally inclusive. This investment in mobile infrastructure will also enable technologies for smart city solutions that can help reduce traffic congestion, enhance public safety response, and increase online educational opportunities."
Electronics manufacturers would have to include “reasonable” security measures on internet-connected devices under a California bill advanced by the Assembly Privacy Committee. At Tuesday's hearing, members also OK’d a bill to penalize social media companies that don’t adequately prevent sale to minors of guns and other age-restricted items. Manufacturers opposed the security bill, while internet companies resisted the parental-consent bill.
Many communications outages may have been prevented during 2017 severe storms in California if wireline providers had more reliable cable facilities and wireless providers more widely used backup power, the California Public Utilities Commission reported. Staff analyzed carrier reporting data to examine causes of 911 call failures and network outages from January to February 2017, when California experienced the most rainfall in recorded history. Carriers said it was an unusually bad storm, and a former commissioner said companies must do better. Meanwhile, in the District of Columbia, the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) urged the Public Service Commission to reject Verizon’s dismissal of proposed rules for more detailed outage reporting.
As the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee prepares to harmonize its working group reports, some members said the final act isn’t fully worked out. Local and utility members raised concerns about the state model code approved at Wednesday’s meeting with seven nays (see 1804250064). Some members in interviews cited collegiality and genuine efforts for consensus.
Oklahoma is the 18th state to make a small-cells law after Gov. Mary Fallin (R) Thursday signed SB-1388 to streamline 5G deployment by pre-empting local government authority in rights of way, as some expected (see 1804260071). “By modernizing rules for small cell deployment, Oklahomans will be ready for 5G,” said CTIA Senior Vice President-State Affairs Jamie Hastings. “In Oklahoma City alone the industry will invest $525 million to deploy 5G.” Hastings cited a CTIA map based on an Accenture report. The Oklahoma Municipal League supported the final bill, said Executive Director Mike Fina in a Friday interview. Municipalities worked with telecom companies from day one and it was "a long struggle" to get to the end agreement, he said. Companies at first sought an unconditional right to be on poles, but by the end of the process local governments felt they still had control, Fina said. The league official wasn't totally happy with the rate caps, with the law setting annual attachment fees at $20 and application fees at $350, but "it's a give and take" and the industry gave in to localities on other issues including placement of auxiliary equipment, he said. The bill is effective November and the league plans to spend the months ahead preparing members for implementation, Fina said.
Utah Public Service Commission staff is pleased with early results of changing state USF to a connections-based contribution from the earlier revenue-based model, said PSC Telecom Manager Bill Duncan in an interview this week. The change to 36 cents per line took effect Jan. 1; PSC telecom staff released its first status report taking connections into account on April 19. CTIA opposes the change and its lawsuit created legal uncertainty for Utah's pioneering shift away from revenue-based contribution, the method used for federal and other state USFs (see 1804120046). Separately, industry supported an Idaho Public Utilities Commission staff finding that revamping state USF requires the state legislature to act.
The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee cleared model codes for state and municipalities for a later reconciliation process, amid a flurry of questions on what that process might entail, at a daylong Wednesday meeting. Model Code for Municipalities Working Group Chair Douglas Dimitroff presented what he called a “consensus” final draft. On the state code, local officials continued to resist proposals they said are tilted toward industry, and members from various backgrounds clashed on definitions and other details. Some committee members called for more data about pole attachment rates’ actual effect on spreading broadband. BDAC overcame electric utility concerns to agree to an addendum to a previously adopted report by the Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure Working Group.