A bill amending utility pole attachment rules passed the Indiana House of Representatives on Monday with a 444-93 vote. The bill, SB-502, would set a 60-day shot clock for attaching entities to execute contracts if the attachment request is for at least 300 poles. It would also establish a "rapid response mediation process" for any pole attachment disputes. The Senate, which also passed the bill in February, received an amended version Tuesday.
Hawaii legislators voted Monday to request that the state comptroller cooperate with the state public library system, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, and Hawaii Broadband and Digital Equity Office to increase resident participation in the state legislative process. The resolution, SCR-53, would shift the responsibility of coordination from the Legislative Reference Bureau to the comptroller. The offices would be tasked with identifying rural and underserved communities "with a need for better telecommunication access."
Montana lawmakers voted last week to eliminate the state's USF. The Senate voted 48-0 to also repeal the Public Service Commission's rate regulation authority and the prohibition on cross-subsidization, forbearance of rate regulation, and discounts for schools, libraries and health care providers. The bill, HB-45, was introduced by Rep. Katie Zolnikov (R). If enacted, it would also prohibit the PSC from regulating IP-enabled services.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission wants comments by May 6 on "appropriate modifications" to the Nebraska USF, said an order Tuesday in docket NUSF-139. The PSC will meet May 14 at 10 a.m. CT to consider the changes, which include transitioning the NUSF to "competitive carriers who have deployed broadband and offer services at speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps to rural subscriber locations." It also wants comments on whether the commission should use a "carrier agnostic cost model" to determine relative costs for high-cost support.
A bipartisan group of 51 attorneys general warned nine carriers Wednesday that they were responsible for transmitting high-volume robocall campaigns. All Access Telecom, Lingo, NGL Communications, Range, RSCom, Telcast Network, Voxox, Commio and Global Net Holdings received letters from the multistate anti-robocall litigation task force warning them of legal action if they fail to stop transmitting the unlawful call traffic. The letters also said the task force shared its findings with the FCC Enforcement Bureau. The robocalls included government and financial impostors, credit card interest rate reductions, Medicare scams, political impersonations, cable discount scams and utility disconnect scams.
A proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision would require AT&T to pay The Utility Reform Network (TURN) $259,173 following the carrier's failed efforts to end its carrier of last resort (COLR) and eligible telecom carrier obligations (see 2502050049). The decision, written by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola, may be considered at the CPUC's May 15 meeting. It noted that AT&T failed to meet its legal obligations or burden of proof to support its request "multiple times during the proceeding." AT&T's request was "effectively an overhaul of the Commission’s COLR rules" and "would have had significant and possibly detrimental impacts on disadvantaged communities throughout California." The proposed decision also noted that TURN's involvement in the proceeding "resulted in a unique contribution to the record about the availability and viability of alternatives to AT&T, which was a central issue and finding of the commission's final decision dismissing the application."
Metronet has settled litigation with Colorado Springs in which it claimed the city was denying it access to public rights of way that it was allowing for other fiber operators, including the city's municipal fiber system. The suit was filed in March with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (docket 1:25-cv-00191), but Metronet filed a notice of dismissal Monday.
During the past 45 months, the number of unserved or underserved broadband-serviceable locations in South Carolina has dropped from more than 300,000 to 28,724, the South Carolina Broadband Office said Tuesday. Its $546.5 million BEAD allotment will address remaining unserved and underserved locations "and permanently solve the digital divide," it said. In the interim, it will use money from the state’s original $400 million American Rescue Plan Act funding to reduce the number of locations that will require BEAD funding.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission wants comments by April 10 on Ziply Fiber's application to be designated as an eligible telecom carrier. If approved, the carrier will be allowed to offer Lifeline services. Comments are due in docket ZWL-T-24-02.
A bipartisan Colorado bill (S-213) introduced Monday would allocate $842,346 for broadband to serve the Buena Vista Correctional Complex, San Carlos Correctional Facility and Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility.