New York will continue defending its broadband affordability law, with a pact between the state attorney general and ISP plaintiffs a procedural step on the way to appeal, said an AG office spokesperson Friday. New York reserved appeal rights while agreeing not to enforce its law, in the agreement with ISP associations including the New York State Telecommunications Association (NYSTA), USTelecom and CTIA. See our bulletin. “The parties have conferred and agree that the Court’s holdings on preemption” in its June 11 preliminary injunction order “resolve the substantive legal issues in this matter and render the entry of final judgment appropriate,” said the stipulated final judgment (in Pacer). New York reserves the right to appeal the stipulated final judgment, declaration and permanent injunction, it said. “Defendant expressly reserves all appellate rights in this matter.” Assistant AG Patricia Hingerton asked (in Pacer) Judge Denis Hurley to order the proposed stipulation be filed by the parties Friday in case 2:21-cv-02389 at U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York. Hurley ruled last month that ISPs would likely succeed on conflict and field preemption arguments, and granted the motion for preliminary injunction by NYSTA, CTIA, ACA Connects, USTelecom, NTCA and the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (see 2106110064). New York appealed June 30 to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2106300071). “It looks like the parties agreed to take steps to move the appeals process forward,” emailed New York Public Utility Law Project Executive Director Richard Berkley. “This case would never have ended after a decision by the trial court; it was always going to be appealed. So this would save the time of having to fight it out in the lower court, then start moving it up the appeals courts' ladder.” ISP groups declined to comment.
It's not just congressional Democrats upset about wireless industry lobbying and other efforts to keep a lower lid on customer surcharges for mental-health services related to hotlines, we found. State legislators are also irked, they said in recent interviews. Federal lawmakers continue to be upset, they said.
New York wouldn't enforce its cheap-broadband law as part of a settlement with ISP associations including the New York State Telecommunications Association, USTelecom and CTIA.
State telecom commissioners seek smart broadband spending in a federal infrastructure package, they said in virtual and in-person interviews during NARUC’s Denver conference this week. COVID-19 highlighted broadband gaps and will forever change how policymakers look at internet issues, they said. “One of the only good things to come out of the pandemic is the realization that we need broadband,” said Alexandra Fernandez-Navarro, Puerto Rico Public Service Regulatory Board associate member.
The NARUC Telecom Committee advanced proposed resolutions on the emergency broadband benefit, outage and disaster information sharing and recommendations by the association’s broadband task force. At the panel’s partially virtual Tuesday meeting, members revised the EBB measure’s language on how long to extend EBB, after South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairman Chris Nelson objected to NARUC seeking the benefit’s renewal. The proposals still require OK by the NARUC board Wednesday.
NARUC won’t remove from a draft resolution on the emergency broadband benefit a clause asking Congress to phase bypassing the state eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation process, said measure sponsor Crystal Rhoades on Friday. NCTA unsuccessfully asked to remove that clause Thursday at a NARUC Telecom Subcommittee meeting (see 2107150056). The EBB resolution and two other drafts are up for vote at NARUC’s Telecom Committee meeting Tuesday in Denver.
The New York Public Service Commission agreed 6-0 to a $2.7 million Frontier Communications settlement for the carrier’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias, at a Thursday meeting livestreamed from Albany. Members also unanimously cleared a $425 million investment by Searchlight Capital Partners in Consolidated Communications to enhance customer service. The Frontier settlement resolves a notice of apparent liability against the carrier for failing to keep a critical central office operating and not providing timely, accurate notices to the Department of Public Service (see 2102110066). The pact will increase redundancy and ensures continuous 911 service in future severe weather, said DPS Assistant Counsel Nicholas Forst. This includes reporting requirements and a Frontier promise not to pass costs to customers, the official said. PSC Chair John Howard asked if staff is “satisfied that Frontier’s 911 systems are fully operational” and can be relied upon by customers. “We are very confident,” replied Forst, saying redundancies from the pact will “not only provide Frontier benefit but also other 911 service providers.” Commissioners praised the speed of the one-year investigation into energy and communications providers. “Utilities need to know that poor performance will be met with swift and effective regulatory action,” said Howard. Rory Christian, one of three new commissioners at the meeting, applauded getting new infrastructure and resiliency investments amid “increasing severe storms and operating conditions.” The PSC earlier adopted a $72 million settlement with Altice for Isaias response failures (see 2103180022). Frontier didn't comment.
NARUC's Telecom Subcommittee advanced three draft resolutions to the full committee for a Tuesday vote at the state regulators' policy summit in Denver. The proposals relate to Broadband Task Force recommendations, the emergency broadband benefit (EBB) and disaster outage reporting (see 2107070053). At Thursday’s virtual meeting, the subcommittee’s staff-level officials declined to vote on proposed amendments by industry to the EBB draft. NCTA suggested removing a clause recommending that Congress, in any EBB extension, “phase out the current partial bypass” of the state eligible telecom carrier designation process. Changing course now could disrupt service for customers whose EBB providers don’t yet have ETC status, said NCTA Vice President-State Affairs Rick Cimerman. TruConnect asked to add clauses urging the FCC to allow Lifeline ETC requests to use an alternative verification process in California, Texas and Oregon for EBB enrollment, and asking Congress to give money to states that haven’t been able to connect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program databases to the Lifeline national verifier. About 15 states haven’t connected SNAP databases, with most saying it’s because they lack funding to update interfaces, said TruConnect attorney Judson Hill. The full committee could still take up industry’s proposed changes at its business meeting, said Subcommittee Chair Joseph Witmer, counsel to Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown.
Oklahoma could soon join a small and growing list of states adopting USF connections-based contributions. In Oregon, parties are discussing other rule changes, and in Texas, small rural LECs are taking the Public Utility Commission to court for not fully funding USF. Other states mulling changes include California and Kentucky.
California's legislature could be close to finalizing billions of dollars for broadband deployment and related bills to update the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), stakeholders told us. Three preemptive telecom bills also are sailing toward passage despite warnings by some local governments.