The Texas Public Utility Commission ruled it has no authority over wireless network nodes under the Texas small-cells law that took effect Sept. 1. At the PUC’s livestreamed Friday meeting, commissioners voted 2-0 to adopt an order with similar language to a chairman’s memo last month (see 1710260023). It was Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea’s first PUC meeting, so he abstained. D'Andrea replaced Kenneth Anderson, who last month concurred with the chairman's memo. The PUC said it has no authority over network providers' access to municipal rights of way (ROW) for network nodes, node-support poles or transport facilities. ExteNet declined comment Friday on what it meant for its ROW compensation complaint against Houston. Crown Castle last month withdrew its similar complaint against Dallas.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission sought comment on a status report about relieving provider-of-last-resort requirements for the former FairPoint Communications under a 2016 state law (see 1708020049). The PUC expects FairPoint to seek relief in five remaining Maine counties in January, the report said. Comments are due Dec. 18 in docket 2017-00070.

Georgia said yes to FirstNet, with Gov. Nathan Deal (R) the 32nd governor to opt in and the seventh to accept the AT&T radio-access-network plan after exploring alternatives through a request for proposal, FirstNet said in a Friday news release. Still undecided, Colorado selected an alternative FirstNet state plan developed jointly by Rivada and Macquarie Infrastructure Developments in the state’s request for proposal, the Colorado Office of Information Technology said in a Friday news release. The conditional award is contingent on a recommendation from the FirstNet Colorado Governing Body to opt out, OIT said. Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) will decide on opt-in by Dec. 28, it said. The decision came amid disputed claims about alleged FirstNet efforts to dissuade states from opting in (see 1711150047).

Consumer advocates objected to deregulating CenturyLink in Wyoming. The carrier asked June 6 for a finding its basic residential and business Zones 2 and 3 service areas are effectively competitive. In Wednesday comments in docket 14742 at the Public Service Commission, AARP consultant Susan Baldwin said CenturyLink hasn't shown the burden of regulatory oversight outweighs benefits of consumer protection or prevents the company from competing and investing. “Other providers have expanded with various services within CenturyLink’s voice market,” but the ILEC “continues to dominate and enjoy a monopoly in the wireline market in rural communities,” she said. Deregulating could lead to price increases, the AARP official said. Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) Administrator Bryce Freeman said it’s true the carrier lost many landlines, but functionally equivalent alternatives aren't available at prices or terms and conditions offered by the telco. Granting the petition would leave the PSC no authority to enforce a pending service quality investigation in docket 14475, where OCA testified the telco's service is inadequate in three counties, Freeman said.

NARUC's board signed off on an E-911 resolution passed earlier this week by the Telecom Committee at the state regulators’ annual conference in Baltimore, said a Wednesday news release. The resolution supports requiring direct dialing of 911 in hotels and other enterprises (see 1711130035). NARUC formally installed Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority Vice Chair Jack Betkoski as new president. Betkoski in August succeeded Robert Powelson, now a federal energy regulatory commissioner (see 1708160015).

CTIA asked the Utah Public Service Commission to reverse its decision to adopt a connections-based contribution system for state USF. CTIA filed an application Monday for hearing and request for stay in docket 17-R360-01 that would hold back the new method and return the state to a revenue-based mechanism. The effective rule isn’t competitively neutral and non-discriminatory between prepaid and postpaid providers, doesn’t comply with Utah law and would burden the federal USF, CTIA said. CTIA on Monday also asked the Nebraska PSC to reconsider its decision to adopt a connections-based contribution method, but the filing isn’t yet online, a PSC spokesman said Wednesday. The state chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service said this week that state members agreed to a recommendation on revamping USF contribution systems but are waiting for federal members (see 1711130035).

"State regulation does not stifle growth and innovation,” the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday at the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The PUC replied (in Pacer) to an FCC amicus brief saying that allowing Minnesota to regulate Charter Communications' VoIP service would disrupt the market, stifle competition and hurt consumers (see 1710300036). “The suggestion that state regulation, the status quo prior to the district court’s decision, hamstrings the growth and proliferation of VoIP, is a non sequitur, plainly contradicted by the rapid transition to VoIP technology across the telephone industry,” the PUC said. “The 1996 Act is resilient to this transition. Changed technology may displace old networks but it does not upset the rule of law.” The state commission wants to apply CLEC regulations only to Charter, it said. “These competitive carrier regulations do not regulate a competitive carrier’s rates, nor require Commission review and approval of the carrier’s tariffs,” the PUC said. “The regulation is substantially less than the legacy regulations applicable to incumbent local exchange carriers with whom Charter also competes.”

CEO Terry Gou personally would be liable for repaying 25 percent of the cash Foxconn collects in state incentive tax credits from a company he controls in the Cayman Islands if Foxconn defaults on its agreement to build a plant and hire a big workforce, with the electronics maker paying the rest, said the signed contract. A copy was furnished to us by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC). Foxconn would collect up to a maximum of $2.85 billion in cash credits, equaling 15 percent of what it spends on construction and 17 percent of its payroll costs. Gou, Gov. Scott Walker (R) and WEDC CEO Mark Hogan signed the contract Friday at a ceremony in Racine. "The ‘pay as you go’ nature” of the agreement “guarantees” Foxconn gets paid cash credits only after “jobs are created,” said the accord. A news release from Walker's office called it "pay as you grow." The contract sees Foxconn reaching full employment in 2022, two years later than forecast by the Wisconsin Department of Administration (see 1708040056). WEDC can inspect “operations and documentation" with 48 hours’ “advance written notice.”

Las Vegas will continue testing an autonomous shuttle in a 12-month pilot, despite a fender bender involving a delivery truck with a human driver, it blogged. The autonomous shuttle was in a test when it was nicked by a delivery truck downtown, it said. The shuttle "did what it was supposed to do," with its sensors registering the truck and stopping to avoid an accident, said the post. "Unfortunately the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle," it said, saying if the truck had the same type of sensing equipment as the shuttle, "the accident would have been avoided." The shuttle was taken out of service for the rest of the day, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department issued the truck driver a citation, it said. The shuttle is the country’s first autonomous shuttle to be fully integrated with “smart-city” infrastructure, designed to communicate with traffic signals to improve safety and traffic flow, said the post. The shuttle is operated and maintained by Keolis, in partnership with the city and French autonomous driving company Navya.

Communications infrastructure providers would have to patrol and inspect overhead facilities more frequently in California areas with an elevated or extreme risk of utility-associated wildfires, under a proposal by the California Public Utilities Commission. The commission Wednesday posted the proposed decision, which has other rules for electric utilities, in docket R1505006. The CPUC said it plans to release a final draft of a fire-threat map by Nov. 17 and commissioners may vote on the proposal at its Dec. 14 meeting. Comments are due Nov. 28, replies five days later. Also, the CPUC Thursday approved an emergency resolution ordering telecom and other utilities to implement protections for consumers affected by the October wildfires. Communications companies in fire-affected areas must refund customers for periods the users had no service due to the fires, and carriers of last resort must waive connection charges for those affected, said a news release. California LifeLine providers must suspend de-enrollment for non-usage rules and delay the renewal process for affected consumers, it said.