Frontier agreed it will pay California $3.5 million in penalties to settle an investigation of illegal disposal of hazardous waste, Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Friday. "For years, Frontier's careless and unlawful hazardous waste disposal practices jeopardized the health and environmental well-being of California communities," Bonta said. Inspections of more than a dozen facilities found in excess of 300 "potentially hazardous items" in regular trash dumpsters. Under the settlement's terms, Frontier will pay $2.8 million in civil penalties, $1.6 million to the AG's office, $450,000 in attorneys' fees, and $250,000 for "supplemental environmental projects." Frontier will also pay "at least $500,000 toward supplemental environmental compliance measures," Bonta's office said.

BEAD policy revisions by President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration are inevitable, but any significant changes would disrupt timelines as states incorporate those changes into their awards process and final proposals, consultant Terry Chevalier wrote last week on LinkedIn. Policies not explicitly in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act -- such as the fiber preference, the need for affordable options and workforce or environmental regulations -- could be revised or changed, he noted. Those areas were magnets for criticism when BEAD rules were announced. As such, they are "logical targets" for changes, he said.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FCC concerning the use of cellphone jamming technology, Carr said Thursday. The move comes after the agency denied Georgia's June request for information on cellphone jamming in certain federal prisons, the AG said (see [Ref:2406040043). "Law enforcement is struggling to combat contraband cellphones due to an outdated policy that the federal government refuses to address or reconsider in any way," Carr said. The FOIA request included all documentation related to the FCC's response denying the state's initial information request. The FCC didn't comment.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4-0 Thursday, approving an order updating the state LifeLine program to adopt an enrollment path for individuals without Social Security numbers. The PUC delayed the item in September (see 2409250016). Commissioner Matthew Baker abstained from the vote.

More than a quarter of states and territories are allocating BEAD money toward broadband workforce development, NTIA Senior Policy Adviser Will Arbuckle blogged Wednesday. That spending -- in excess of $300 million -- includes $30 million by Louisiana toward its community technical college system for scaling up broadband workforce training programs and $50 million by Ohio toward such efforts as establishing workforce training programs at local colleges, he said. States should engage today with workforce partners such as employers, training academies and two- and four-year schools, he added. In addition, they should assess state and local broadband workforce needs by talking not just with ISPs but also with pole owners and broadband construction firms.

Frontier's proposed sale to Verizon "will further the public interest in several material respects," the companies said as they defended the deal before the California Public Utilities Commission (see 2411250045). In a joint filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-10-006, they said the "protesting parties advance unsupported procedural arguments and urge the commission to endorse inapplicable legal standards and requirements." The carriers urged that the PUC "establish an efficient schedule for this proceeding," resolving the proceeding "no later than the third quarter of 2025."

Kansas will open a second application window Dec. 12 for funding through the state's advancing digital opportunities to promote technology (ADOPT) program, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said. The additional $10.7 million will help organizations expand access to public Wi-Fi and devices. The state Office of Broadband Division will also host a webinar on Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. to "discuss funding priorities and application guidelines."

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation arguments against publicly owned broadband networks (see 2412020039) reach a "laughable conclusion" that such systems don't address market failures, American Association for Public Broadband Executive Director Gigi Sohn said Monday. "Tell that to the tens of millions of U.S. households that cannot access, afford, or use a broadband connection," Sohn said. "Community broadband networks have arisen because big cable and telecom companies refuse to serve some communities with affordable and robust broadband." Sohn said ITIF's report is "full of weasel words and meaningless phrases" and ignores the huge public spending and in-kind contributions that have benefited those companies.

The California Public Utilities Commission will consider a proposed decision Thursday to temporarily freeze the state LifeLine specific support amount (SSA) for wireline and wireless providers. AT&T and others didn't persuade the CPUC to set the freeze at a higher amount if it ultimately adopted the freeze. The SSA for wireline and wireless providers would be frozen at $19 per month for two years beginning Jan. 1 or until a new methodology is adopted (see 2411220031).

Local governments should reject calls to establish government-owned broadband networks (GON), said a new Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) report released Monday. The group evaluated the "finances, regulatory status, and economic sustainability" of 20 GONs and found that favoring these networks "wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run." Local governments "are not well equipped to build and operate broadband networks and are likely to waste the resources they employ," ITIF said. Although acknowledging GONs have a role in broadband deployment, the group urged that officials refrain from "selective deployment or cherry-picking" GONs over private ISPs to prevent overbuilding.