CTIA said a proposed consumption tax increase in Connecticut, which would also apply to wireless services and products, would hurt consumers. State lawmakers are to consider a budget Thursday that would close a two-year $3.5 billion budget deficit. Jamie Hastings, senior vice president-external and state affairs, said Wednesday that “wireless service is already highly taxed.” Consumers there face a $1 surcharge per subscriber per month.

American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Shane Tews said local governments have a role to play in furthering 5G deployment. The FCC is looking at speeding up deployment of wireless infrastructure, with action likely this fall (see 1705230057). “Potentially the most important catalyst for the implementation of 5G will be the cooperation of local governments for the approval of equipment placement on utility poles and streetlights,” Tews blogged Monday. “Those who restrict access to 5G deployment through excessive municipal fees and arduous permitting processes will be blocking the opportunity to improve their local information infrastructure.”

Level 3’s $34 billion sale to CenturyLink “has merit and should be approved,” the California Public Utilities Commission said in a proposed decision released Friday. The CPUC said it may vote as soon as the commissioners' Oct. 12 meeting on the draft order approving a June 30 settlement agreement between the companies and some consumer groups (see 1708170022). The settlement "meets the requirements for approval in that it is reasonable in light of the record, consistent with the applicable law, and in the public interest,” the proposed decision said. "The combined company will be enabled to offer wholesale and enterprise customers a broad range of services that they currently provide individually.” Customers will benefit from settlement conditions including “the commitment for California-specific capital expenditures over the next three years of at least $323 million,” it said. The companies should invest more because the committed amount is less than what the companies invested earlier, said California Emerging Technology Fund CEO Sunne McPeak: CETF wants the CPUC “to require fair, reasonable and comparable public benefit contributions from CenturyLink-Level 3 as has been committed by all other companies doing business in California and seeking approval for a corporate consolidation that reduced market competition.” The Utility Reform Network, one of the consumer groups that signed the settlement, supports the proposed decision and urges quick approval, Managing Director-San Diego Christine Mailloux said: "While TURN does not like to see further consolidation in the wholesale market, we think that the settlement terms and the companies' commitments to continue offering middle mile and backbone services means consumers will see broadband deployment and advanced services throughout the state." California is the last state OK that CenturyLink and Level 3 need; the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities said yes last month (see 1708230044). The FCC’s 180-day shot clock Friday remained paused at Day 170. CenturyLink didn’t comment.

Tennessee will accept applications for broadband accessibility grants until Nov. 17, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) said in a Thursday news release. The first round of the program established by a state law enacted in the spring (see 1704110014) will award $10 million to projects expanding broadband to unserved areas, it said. Projects must provide speeds of at least 10 Mbps for download and 1 Mbps up. After the application period ends, TNECD will take public comments on applications for three weeks, it said. The state agency said it will announce awards in January.

Sprint will continue to provide telecom relay service in Florida to about 3 million deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people, under a three-year contract revealed Thursday, the Public Service Commission said in a news release. The PSC issued a request for proposal in May and got responses from Sprint and Hamilton Relay, it said. Sprint’s proposal earned a higher technical rating and the company proposed a lower per-minute price, it said. The contract includes options for four one-year extensions.

States and consumer advocates supported Minnesota regulation of VoIP, in an amicus curiae brief (in Pacer) filed Wednesday at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission asked the court to reverse a federal district court ruling that Charter’s VoIP service is an information service the state may not regulate (see 1708290028). “Charter’s service competes directly with TDM-based telecommunications services,” said NARUC and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates: “Even the FCC readily acknowledges that consumers cannot distinguish between competing retail phone service offerings provided via TDM technology” and interconnected VoIP. The lower court’s conclusion was inconsistent with 8th Circuit and FCC precedent, NARUC and NASUCA said. “If upheld, the Order’s finding will eviscerate specific roles Congress assigned States, eliminating not just the MPUC’s authority to protect its citizens, but also sparking litigation over State operations across the country.” The AARP supported the PUC in another amicus brief (in Pacer), saying state regulation is critical to protecting the older people it represents.

California legislators shouldn’t rush a vote on proposed ISP privacy rules because AB-375 hasn’t received “full policy vetting,” California Cable & Telecommunications Association President Carolyn McIntyre told us. She said CCTA supports holding AB-375 in the Senate Rules Committee, which would prevent a vote by the Sept. 15 legislative deadline. The bill was amended last month to align it more closely to the FCC rules that President Donald Trump repealed but “the legislation completely disregards the 170 page order that provided guidance and detailed explanations, analysis, and clarifications of how the rules are to be interpreted and applied,” McIntyre said. “The legislation would be open to broad interpretation that could only be resolved through costly litigation.” The California Chamber of Commerce also supported holding the bill, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy advocates seek a vote because they said the majority of the California legislature supports the bill (see 1709060053).

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will take public comments on telecom and other regulated utilities Sept. 12 at its annual general consumer session, the PUC said in a Tuesday news release. The session is 6 p.m. PDT in Las Vegas.

Many U.S. cities lack funding and other support for advancing broadband, said a Strategic Networks Group report released Wednesday. About 63 percent of some 100 cities surveyed don’t have broadband funding, a city broadband office, and broadband adoption and training programs, the report said. About half the cities said lack of funding is the main thing stopping them from moving forward with broadband network investments, and 36 percent blamed a lack of political leadership. More than 80 percent said they had a utility or network asset that could be used for the buildout of a municipal network. Half the cities said they considered their broadband speeds excellent or very good, while two-fifths rated their city’s broadband value for money as such, it said. “Leadership, investment, and strategies need to be put in place at the municipal level to ensure the competitiveness and effectiveness of today’s American cities,” said President Michael Curri in a news release. SNG surveyed 103 U.S. cities in 38 states, plus one Canadian city. Corning, Henkels & McCoy, Fujitsu Network Communications, and Power & Tel underwrote the report.

With Utah on the cusp of a state USF overhaul, the Public Service Commission sought comment on how to handle assessment of prepaid wireless services. In a Tuesday request in docket 17-R360-01, the PSC asked which prepaid services are assessable and which should be exempted in the commission’s proposed connections-based USF contribution mechanism. Comments are due Oct. 4. Also, the PSC asked for reply comments by Oct. 17 on possible rule language for Utah USF assessment of prepaid wireless. If the PSC makes a rule, it will file a proposed rule Nov. 1 with the state Division of Administrative Rules to be published Nov. 15 in the Utah State Bulletin, the PSC said. Comments would be due a month later and the rule could take effect Dec. 22, it said.