NTIA awarded New Jersey more than $18 million in digital equity capacity grant program funding Friday. The state will use the money to implement its digital equity plan, which includes a competitive subgrant program to increase digital literacy skills. NTIA also awarded Kentucky more than $12 million to implement that state's plan, which includes investing in digital navigator programs and an affordable device effort.

New York made $644 million in BEAD funding available under its ConnectAll municipal infrastructure grant program, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Friday. Proposals are due by Feb. 7. Hochul said the funding is the largest portion of the state's BEAD allocation. "High-speed internet is as essential as electricity in today's world," Hochul said: "This funding is another crucial step in connecting every community across our state." New York anticipates making awards available for public comment in the spring before submitting them to NTIA for final approval.

A Missouri bill would authorize a sales tax exemption for certain broadband equipment. Pre-filed Thursday by state Sen. Mike Cierpiot (R), SB-185 would exempt wires, cables, fiber and other equipment used for providing broadband. The exemption would begin no sooner than Jan. 1, 2026. To qualify for it, a provider would need to present the seller with a written certificate stating an exemption applies to the equipment being purchased.

Bills governing social media and wireless providers' use of renewable energy were delivered to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) Thursday. SB-895, which passed the Assembly in June, adopts stronger disclosure requirements for social media companies' terms of service. AB-4098, which New York's Senate approved in June, directs wireless carriers to report on their current and future plans to use renewable energy technology to power macrocells.

NTIA awarded more than $105 million in digital equity capacity grant program funding to seven states Thursday. Grants went to: Kansas for $8.2 million; Mississippi $10.7 million; North Carolina $22.5 million; Pennsylvania $25.5 million; and Virginia $18.3 million. Massachusetts received $14.1 million, Hawaii $6 million.

NTIA awarded Rhode Island in excess of $4.5 million in Digital Equity Act funding on Wednesday to implement the state's digital equity plan. The state's plans include investing in covered populations to expand access to digital inclusion services and exploring new "family-sustaining career opportunities" for residents.

The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) proposed $17.4 million in grant funding for Comcast and Verizon to deploy broadband throughout the state, Gov. John Carney (D) said Wednesday. The funding will come from NTIA's BEAD program and help the ISPs expand access to more than 5,600 unserved and underserved homes and businesses. Delaware "remains on track to be the first state to connect every home and business," Carney said. Comcast is "a long-term partner to the state and proud to help close the digital divide," said Ray Roundtree, senior vice president-beltway region. Verizon applauded Delaware for "leadership in implementing the BEAD program," said Vice President-Deputy General Counsel Katharine Saunders. DTI will allocate the remainder of its BEAD funding for "eligible uses" following a public comment period and final NTIA approval.

Attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia warned four companies Tuesday that they have been transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic on their networks. KWK Communications, Inbounc Communications, AKA Management and CallVox received letters from the bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, informing them that it shared the findings of its investigation with the FCC Enforcement Bureau. An investigation into KWK found that it received at least 129 traceback notices from the industry traceback group between 2020 and 2022 regarding calls associated with the federal government, auto warranty and utilities scams. Inbound was estimated to have "routed more than $28.4 million DirecTV and cable discount scam robocalls in a single month in 2022." AKA allegedly routed about 12.1 million Amazon and Apple-related robocalls in a single month. CallVox received more than 47 traceback notices between 2020 and 2022 concerning unlawful or suspicious robocalls to people who were registered on the do not call list. “These phone companies let robocallers on our networks, and they plague North Carolinians with illegal scam calls,” said the state's attorney general, Josh Stein (D), who co-chairs the task force. “These companies need to act now to stop these robocalls from inundating people’s phones.”

The California Public Utilities Commission should proceed with its proposal to lift its carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations, carriers said in reply comments posted this week in docket R.24-06-012 (see 2410020037). Several commenters backed AT&T's proposal for identifying areas throughout the state where lifting the commission's COLR rules is justified. For example, COLR obligations aren't necessary in competitive markets, said Frontier. The carrier urged the commission to prioritize COLR relief in urban and suburban areas to "avoid ongoing competitive disparities" between incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) and rivals. Frontier was among the commenters that backed AT&T's proposal. Consolidated Communications agreed, adding the PUC should reject calls to expand the proceeding and examine the merits of the COLR rules. A coalition of TDS carriers also backed AT&T's proposal. The first phase of the proceeding should consider areas that are well-served before addressing "not yet well-served" areas in the second phase, they said. Should the commission include broadband within the scope of its rulemaking, the carriers will seek a separate, third phase. The commission should request additional comments on issues that "have not been adequately addressed yet are critical to understand in order to revise and update the COLR rules," said The Utility Reform Network, Communications Workers of America and the Center for Accessible Technology in joint comments. The groups urged the PUC to clarify that rules updates don't allow the withdrawal of a COLR solely based on a community's U.S. Census Bureau designation as an urban area. "The mere fact that a community is designated as an 'urban area' within the Census Bureau data should not justify the diminution or elimination of a COLR obligation," they said.

A coalition of attorneys general from 14 states and Washington, D.C., asked the FCC to adopt rules requiring providers to improve their customer service practices, in a letter Tuesday. The coalition, led by Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry (D), said they regularly hear complaints from consumers about "deceptive, confusing, and unfair interactions with service providers." The AGs urged the commission to adopt rules that "make it quicker and easier for consumers to reach live agents" and provide automatic credits for service outages or missed service appointments.