A New York bill proposes to establish a statewide "do not disturb" registry to address unsolicited telemarketing calls and texts. A-9029, which Assemblymember Clyde Vanel (D) introduced Friday, would direct the Department of State to establish and maintain the registry, barring unsolicited communications to consumers who have been listed on it for at least 31 days. Violations would begin at fines starting at $1,500. The bill notes that adopting a registry could also reduce businesses' marketing calls, as they "will be aware of consumers who have a lower likelihood of positively responding to their commercial marketing communications."
Brightspeed has been preliminarily awarded an additional $110.7 million in BEAD funding to expand fiber throughout four states, the company said Thursday, bringing its total BEAD allocation to about $332.8 million. The company won more than $90 million in North Carolina, $14.3 million in Tennessee, $5.7 million in Louisiana and $37,500 in New Jersey. It previously won funding in Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin (see 2508260059). "We are committed to pursuing even more BEAD funding," said Brightspeed CEO Michel Combes.
Maine expects to have 100% broadband coverage for all its eligible locations, spending about $48 million with an average subsidy of $2,080 per location, the state's Connectivity Authority announced Thursday. NTIA allocated $271.9 million to the state. About 85% of Maine's awards will go to fiber, 14% to low earth orbit satellites and 1% to hybrid fiber-coax services.
GCI is seeking FCC approval to end its local exchange service in Cordova, Alaska. In an application posted Wednesday, GCI said it's not the dominant provider in Cordova, with local telephone exchange services also available from incumbent local exchange carrier Cordova Telephone Cooperative. It said it anticipates ending wireline service there on March 1, citing "the financial and competitive environment associated with offering the services."
California lawmakers advanced a bill that would expand the state's LifeLine program to include stand-alone broadband internet access as an eligible service for the monthly subsidy (see 2506050055). Assembly Appropriations Committee members voted 11-4 on Friday to approve the bill, SB-716, which would also bar the California Public Utilities Commission from increasing the LifeLine surcharge "above the highest rate collected within the previous four years."
High-speed service for Quintillion customers has resumed following subsea cable repairs over the weekend, the company said Tuesday. Customers in the North Slope and northwest Alaskan communities have experienced service disruption since a fiber cut in January (see 2501220001). Quintillion said the next step is cable burial, which could take an additional two weeks. "With cable repair behind us, Quintillion’s No. 1 priority is now fortifying our network to mitigate the risk of future outages, even those that can be caused by Acts of Nature." That mitigation work will include burying cables deeper and creating more redundancy and resiliency in the company's system, it said.
More states released their revised final BEAD plans in recent days ahead of NTIA's Thursday deadline. In North Carolina, which released its plan Friday, about 67% of the state's funding will go to fiber, 30% to low earth orbit satellites, and the remainder to either wireless or a combination of fiber and coaxial services. Tennessee's plan showed more than 75% of its funding going to fiber and about 12% to LEO satellites. The rest will go to either cable or a hybrid fiber-coaxial service.
Montana will award $308 million of its BEAD funding to support 32 projects reaching nearly 72,000 locations, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) announced Thursday. NTIA had allocated the state nearly $629 million in BEAD funding. The state's Communications Advisory Commission submitted its proposal to Gianforte earlier last week. The projects will include fiber, fixed wireless and low earth orbit satellites.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved a three-year home broadband pilot program during its meeting Thursday (see 2508150055). The pilot, funded by the state's LifeLine program, will provide a $20 monthly broadband subsidy for eligible households and $30 for bundled services. The program "will play a key role in achieving the goal of connecting Californians," said commission President Alice Reynolds. The agency established 100/20 Mbps speed standards with 1,280 Gbps monthly usage, except in areas where it isn't feasible. The voluntary program took effect immediately.
The Trump administration and NTIA are "in a difficult position" over whether to approve certain states' final BEAD plans under the agency's revised rules, wrote Jeffrey Westling, director of technology and innovation policy at the American Action Forum. In a Thursday blog post, Westling said that in New Mexico, for example, some locations cost as much as $40,000 to connect, and the "staggering figures raise questions regarding whether the state fully considered its options." Noting the administration's shift from a fiber-first preference, Westling said NTIA will need to "carefully scrutinize" each plan while ensuring that states' plans aren't blocked "just because fiber won a bid."