The FCC Public Safety Bureau designated for hearing before an administrative law judge a dispute over parts of costs of the 800 MHz rebanding in Indiana the state claims weren't fully reimbursed by Sprint. The company agreed in a landmark 2004 800 MHz rebanding order to pay costs of moving public safety users to other spectrum to alleviate interference. “This cost reconciliation is required by the Commission’s orders governing the nationwide 800 MHz rebanding initiative,” said an order in docket 02-55 in Wednesday's Daily Digest. “Indiana and Sprint were unable to resolve disputed issues during mediation.”

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly called "unconscionable" state diversion of 911 fees. “We should call this practice what it really is: stealing,” O’Rielly said Wednesday to the New Jersey Wireless Association: “State governments are stealing their citizens’ hard-earned incomes under the premise that they’re being used for public safety officials.” O’Rielly said some downplay the practice, but it has a cost for consumers. “Even if a state is just diverting current collections because it maintains positive balances in an existing account, the diversion generally prevents new investment in costly, future networks, as states don’t want to deplete their accounts in total,” he said. “Significant investment -- not just maintenance -- is going to be necessary to develop and implement NG 9-1-1.” O’Rielly backed a unified alternative wireless emergency number for all of the U.S. People have to use #77 in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, *47 in North Carolina, *77 in Massachusetts and *11 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he said. “Why do we force the American public to remember these different numbers or read a roadside sign while driving along the highway?” he asked. “Are these numbers being used effectively to shift some vital mobile emergency traffic away from the 9-1-1 calling centers?” O’Rielly is eager for the FCC to move forward to expedite the siting of small cells and other new facilities needed for 5G. “Sadly, the real loser in all of this is the consumer, who must wait longer for access to new technologies,” he said. “If this situation is not resolved quickly and satisfactorily, the Commission must be willing to use its preemption authority against those governmental entities.” The FCC posted the text of O’Rielly’s speech.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission asked local governments for pre-applications for Nebraska Internet Enhancement Fund grants. The NIEF uses a share of proceeds from public entities leasing dark fiber to fund grants -- usually $50,000 each -- for broadband infrastructure projects in unserved and underserved areas, the PSC said in a Tuesday news release. Pre-applications are due by Nov. 10, with the formal application period starting Dec. 11 and final awards announced in March.

The Missouri Public Service Commission sought comment on proposed changes to the state USF. The Tuesday staff request in docket TW-2017-0078 outlined several proposed edits, including to definitions and rules on support, assessment, administration and eligibility. Comments are due Monday.

Union workers suffered no injury -- nor is injury “certainly impending” -- from West Virginia’s one-touch, make-ready law, the state said in a Monday response (in Pacer) at the U.S. District Court in Charleston. The Communications Workers of America, intervening in the lawsuit by Frontier Communications, argued the law endangers workers’ livelihood and integrity of their bargaining unit (see 1710100023). CWA lacks standing, West Virginia said. Since the law took effect, “not once has CWA suggested that the parade of horribles it trots out has commenced," the state said. “CWA has not yet actually suffered any injury in fact.” Gov. Jim Justice (R) has sovereign immunity to the claims, the state added.

A Michigan bill banning municipal broadband networks drew outrage from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. HB-5099, introduced last week by Rep. Michele Hoitenga (R), would ban local governments from spending any federal, state or local funds or loans to pay for internet infrastructure. It would allow a locality to partner with companies to provide internet service of “at least 10 Mbps upstream and 1 Mbps downstream,” the reverse direction of what’s common. The bill “would leave many communities without any hope of better Internet access, leaving their businesses less competitive, children disadvantaged, and property value declining,” said ILSR Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell in a Tuesday news release. Hoitenga didn’t comment.

Verizon said it can’t give more detail in service-outage reports to the District of Columbia Public Service Commission. In Monday comments in docket RM27-2017-01, the carrier opposed the PSC’s Sept. 15 proposed rules requiring Verizon to include street names and neighborhoods affected by an outage in the company’s reports. Verizon can't provide street-level detail for outages caused by damage to outside plant facilities, it said. Nor can it name affected neighborhoods: "Verizon DC’s network and associated inventory records do not correlate to neighborhood boundaries so such a requirement would be even more difficult to meet,” said Verizon, saying its "record systems do not even contain information regarding neighborhood boundaries in the District.” But Verizon can provide location of a damaged facility and the affected wire center, it said. “Reporting specific streets and neighborhoods subject to an outage to the Commission provides very little -- and declining -- public benefit to District customers as more and more District households have cut the cord altogether or have wireless phones that can be used in the event of an outage.” The D.C. Office of the People’s Counsel urged the PSC to quickly adopt the proposed changes, saying the enhanced detail will help OPC adequately advise consumers about outages and assist them to find alternative service arrangements. The proposed rules don’t place unfair burdens on Verizon, OPC said.

Rivada is heating up its pitch to build alternative FirstNet radio access networks for states. A Monday news release revealed a partnership with U.S. Cellular on a plan for Wisconsin, one of several states that collected alternative plans through a request for proposal. Rivada submitted its plan to Wisconsin July 6, it said. Thursday, Rivada Interoperability Director Ed Vea plans to testify for opting out at a Pennsylvania legislative hearing, said an agenda. Other witnesses include FirstNet Consultation Director Dave Buchanan, AT&T Vice President-Public Safety Solutions Jim Bugel, Verizon Vice President-Public Safety Policy Don Brittingham and public safety and state IT officials. The hearing is at 9 a.m. in Harrisburg (see 1709260020).

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed small-cells legislation that was opposed by local governments. Like bills in other states passed this year, SB-649 aimed to streamline 5G wireless infrastructure builds by pre-empting local jurisdiction. “There is something of real value in having a process that results in extending this innovative technology rapidly and efficiently,” Brown wrote in a Sunday veto message to the Senate. “Nevertheless, I believe that the interest which localities have in managing rights of way requires a more balanced solution than the one achieved in this bill.” The Wireless Infrastructure Association “is disappointed that Gov. Brown decided to veto this important piece of legislation, which would have spurred the widespread deployment of the wireless infrastructure that is needed to improve network capacity in the near term and provide a foundation for the deployment of 5G networks,” WIA President Jonathan Adelstein said. Local officials and others applauded. "Veto of this bill puts the telecom companies on notice that they have to sit down with local governments and address this issue fairly, and in a way that recognizes local government authority," said California State Association of Counties President Keith Carson. It’s unlikely the California legislature will override the veto, but Brown “is setting the stage for another attempt next year” and it’s a “safe bet that it’ll happen,” blogged Tellus Venture Associates President Steve Blum, who advises local governments on telecom issues. “Getting access to street light poles and traffic signals, among other things, and rolling back the ability of local governments to manage permits for wireless infrastructure is a top priority of telecoms lobbyists.”

The FCC received Office of Management and Budget approval for information collection requirements about procedures for reviewing states that decide to opt out of FirstNet, said a document to be in Monday's Federal Register. OMB approved the information collection Oct. 6 for six months, and those rules are effective Nov. 6, it said. It follows up on another notice about the opt-out procedures published Oct. 6.