Cleveland urged a state court to rule Ohio's small-cells law unconstitutional because it violates the Ohio Constitution’s one-subject rule. The city filed a motion for summary judgment Monday in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas (docket CV-17-877584). The bill (SB-331), enacted last year, included rules on animal cruelty in addition to wireless infrastructure. In June, an Ohio court in Franklin County agreed with a group of Ohio local governments that the law failed the single-subject test (see 1706050052).

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities members plan to vote Wednesday on CenturyLink’s $34 billion buy of Level 3, as expected, said an agenda released before their meeting. The only other state OK needed is California, and its Public Utilities Commission is expected to vote later this year (see 1708170022). The FCC’s 180-day shot clock to review the deal remained suspended at Day 170 on Tuesday. CenturyLink targeted closing for the end of Q3.

Frontier justified suing the West Virginia Public Service Commission over a state law requiring one-touch, make-ready on utility poles. Earlier this month, the PSC urged the U.S. District Court in Charleston, West Virginia, to dismiss the Frontier challenge because it said the carrier failed to state a valid claim against the commission. The challenged law doesn’t require the PSC to enforce it, nor has the PSC taken or threatened enforcement actions, the state commission said in an Aug. 7 motion and memo (both in Pacer). Frontier replied (in Pacer) Monday that its challenge is “justiciable, ripe, and fully exempt from sovereign immunity protection.” Frontier may sue the PSC because the state agency regulates pole attachments, the carrier said. Supporters and opponents of one-touch policies disagree how a recent court decision on a similar lawsuit in Kentucky might affect the West Virginia case (see 1708210045).

Industry clashed with consumer groups on classification of text messaging, in comments at the California Public Utilities Commission released Monday. Text messaging is an information service that doesn’t pay into state USF and other programs, said CTIA and the California Cable and Telecommunications Association in separate comments on a CPUC rulemaking that responded to a CTIA petition (see 1706290049). Like email, another information service, text messaging is a store-and-forward service, meaning carriers' servers store messages before delivery, CTIA commented in docket R17-06-023. Text messaging requires “extensive information processing, including protocol conversion” and allows users to retrieve data by querying electronic databases, for example when a user sends a text to a short code and receives movie listings, it said. Also, it would be unfair to assess charges to carrier-based messaging but not internet messaging services like WhatsApp and iMessage, CTIA said. Determining that text messaging isn't subject to the charges won't affect funding of the programs because the top four carriers always have treated SMS as an information service not subject to the fees, CTIA said. CCTA supported CTIA in comments, saying the CPUC also should rule that voicemail and directory listing services are information services. But the Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network and the Center for Accessibility Technology said text messaging is a telecom service that should pay into the USF and other public programs. "Even though the FCC has not directly ruled on the service classification of text messaging, FCC precedent and federal law properly classify text messaging as a telecommunications service,” said the consumer groups’ joint comments. The FCC ruled in 2004 that services involving net protocol conversion aren't necessarily information services, they said. “Applying the FCC’s test in the IP-in-the-Middle proceeding, text messages are properly telecommunications services. Text messaging uses ordinary customer equipment with no enhanced functionality and texts originate and terminate on the public switched telephone network. To end users, text messaging does not undergo net protocol conversion and provides no enhanced functionality. Additionally, customers generally do not subscribe to a service separate from, or pay rates that differ from, telephone services.”

California Public Utilities Commission staff recommended support for proposed FCC rules requiring providers to monitor rural call competition performance of their intermediate providers and hold those providers accountable. Commissioners plan to vote Thursday on the proposed CPUC staff comments to the FCC, due Aug. 28 on the federal agency’s second Further NPRM on proposed changes to rural call completion of long-distance calls (see 1708150014). Also in the staff comments posted Friday, the CPUC partly supported an FCC proposal to eliminate existing rural call completion data collection and reporting rules. “Similar to the approach taken in other recent dockets, in this FNPRM the FCC provides clear indication of the rules it proposes to remove, but does not simultaneously offer new rules it might adopt in lieu of those eliminated,” the staff wrote. “The draft proposed rules are unclear, and leave wide room for varying interpretations that would make monitoring and enforcement problematic. Instead, the FNPRM poses detailed questions about what the rules should be.”

Legislation cleared the Assembly Thursday 59-30 authorizing Wisconsin to pay Foxconn up to $3 billion in cash incentives to build an LCD display fab (see 1708040056). The only three Democrats joining Republicans to back the measure -- Minority Leader Peter Barca and Reps. Cory Mason and Tod Ohnstad -- represent districts in southeast Wisconsin where Foxconn likely would build. Rep. Adam Jarchow (R) of the 28th district in Balsam Lake in northwest Wisconsin, was the only Republican voting no. The Senate and Joint Finance Committee, composed of members from chambers, must approve the legislation, but Republicans hold majorities. The legislation is based on a memorandum of understanding signed July 27 by CEO Terry Gou and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) that self-imposed a Sept. 30 deadline for bill enactement.

The Alabama Public Service Commission lacks authority​ to revise price caps on inmate calling service single-call usage fees, Global Tel*Link commented last week in docket 15957. The PSC may vote Sept. 12 on ICS rule changes including revising the price cap so users pay for actual minutes used, rather than a $6 flat fee based on an average 12-minute call duration (see 1708150047). “The Commission’s authority over ICS providers is limited to their utility ‘rates and charges’ and their ‘public duties,’" GTL said. “Neither the ancillary service fee caps nor the single payment call rule relate to charges for ‘utility’ services. These charges relate to financial services or billing and collection arrangements by which ICS customers will choose to pay or be billed for services.” The PSC has no jurisdiction over financial services or billing and collecting, the company said.

A federal court ruling upholding a Kentucky city’s right to require one-touch, make-ready on utility poles “affirms that the citizens of Louisville still have control over the roads and rights of way that they own,” said Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, representing Louisville. U.S. District Court in Louisville rejected AT&T’s challenge to a Louisville ordinance requiring one touch, saying in a Wednesday opinion the ordinance isn’t pre-empted by any law (see 1708160052). “We believe the decision is well-reasoned and trust it will survive any potential scrutiny,” O'Connell said. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering called the ruling “a win for competition, consumers and local communities who have been leading the fight against broadband monopolies who are blocking faster speeds, better service and lower prices.” The FCC should adopt one-touch policy nationally, he said.

California lawmakers should keep a proposed ban on pay-for-privacy plans in state ISP privacy legislation (AB-375), Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon blogged Tuesday. Several state senators are asking sponsor Assemblymember Ed Chau (D) to “further amend the legislation to more tightly conform to the FCC’s rules” that were repealed by President Donald Trump, Falcon said. But the only major difference is that the bill bans ISPs from asking customers to pay for privacy, he said. “Since the FCC decided to not ban pay-for-privacy schemes outright and Congress went further by impairing the agency’s ability to protect consumer privacy, AT&T appears to be contemplating bringing back its privacy tax on already high subscription fees,” Falcon said, citing a recent C-SPAN interview with AT&T Senior Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Bob Quinn (see 1706220053). “If A.B. 375 becomes law though, those plans will never hit Californians.” The Legislature must pass the bill by Sept. 15 (see 1707240033).

A bipartisan coalition of 50 state and territorial attorneys general is urging lawmakers to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to clarify that state officials have authority to investigate and prosecute online child sex traffickers. In a letter from the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), the state officials said federal enforcement alone can't stem such online activities and they want Congress to consider the proposed change. House and Senate lawmakers proposed bills that essentially would eliminate federal liability protections for websites that help violate federal sex trafficking laws and also empower state law enforcement officials to take action. tech and civil society groups said the proposed changes to Section 230 are too broad and would curb free speech (see 1708010011 and 1708110022). The NAAG letter was addressed House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. AGs from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all states, except for Connecticut and Massachusetts, signed.