Michigan released its draft final BEAD plan for public comment Thursday, with comments due Tuesday. The state was among 20 entities to receive an extension of NTIA's Sept. 4 deadline to submit revised plans (see 2509080012). Michigan awarded about $924 million to 30 providers with $547 million in matching funds from subgrantees. Included among the providers selected were Amazon's Kuiper, Brightspeed, Comcast, SpaceX's Starlink and Spectrum.

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved Verizon's acquisition of Frontier on Thursday. The agency also adopted a recommended decision to approve the deal "without modification." Commissioner Kathryn Zerfuss cited Verizon's commitment to ensuring that Frontier customers continue to have phone and internet access following the close of the transaction. The company will offer discounted broadband to eligible low-income households in Frontier's service territory for "at least four years" and provide tariffed rates for residents and small businesses until January 2028, the commission said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) warned older residents Wednesday of a three-part scam targeting individuals' bank and retirement accounts. James said the scam, known as "Phantom Hacker," is targeting individuals by either call, text or email, claiming their account was hacked. The campaign is in three steps, James noted: First, a victim receives a call, text or email instructing them to contact a customer service phone number. Then, a new caller claiming to be the individual's financial institution contacts them. Finally, another scammer may impersonate a government agency to "lend legitimacy to the prior two phases," said a news release. More than $1 billion has been stolen since 2024 from individuals "nearing or over their retirement age."

Pennsylvania lawmakers on the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would bar telemarketers from spoofing phone numbers. Sen. Michele Brooks (R) led a group of eight other bipartisan lawmakers in introducing the bill, S-992, earlier this year. The legislation, which now goes to the full state Senate, would prohibit telemarketers from using phone numbers that appear as though the call is coming from the same area code as the recipient. Calls could also be banned between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m., expanding on the current prohibition of calls between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Wisconsin submitted its revised BEAD plan to NTIA with the majority of its funding going to fiber, said Gov. Tony Evers (D) (see 2509050028). Wisconsin PSC Chairperson Summer Strand criticized the Trump administration's changes to the program, noting the effect that NTIA's revisions had on its final plan. "Due to the regressive changes made by the Trump Administration in the eleventh hour, the Final Proposal submitted last week does not reflect all aspects of Wisconsin’s carefully crafted BEAD Program developed through a robust and inclusive public and stakeholder engagement process to ensure the deployment of reliable high-speed internet throughout the state." Still, Strand applauded the state broadband office's efforts.

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."