Pioneer Telephone Cooperative launched its first two projects in rural Oklahoma, the state Broadband Office announced Friday (see 2503250035). The projects, totaling $878,000, were funded by the Department of Treasury's Capital Projects Fund and will connect 86 homes and businesses with fiber. A third infrastructure expansion program will be awarded "in late summer," the Oklahoma Broadband Office said. "Today’s launch is about more than just laying fiber -- we’re laying the foundation of opportunity, growth and connection for the entire state of Oklahoma,” said Executive Director Mike Sanders. “Rural Oklahomans are no longer being left behind, and we’re getting it done one community at a time.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Thursday announced nearly $50 million in additional funding for broadband infrastructure throughout the state. The latest round of funding expands New York's ConnectALL program to nearly $300 million, which includes an infusion from the Department of Treasury's Capital Projects Fund. "Phase 4 of the municipal infrastructure program builds on our ongoing efforts to address broadband gaps in areas that have been overlooked and underserved by traditional internet service providers," Hochul said. Applications are due April 25.

Connecticut reached an agreement with Verizon and Frontier as part of their $20 billion all-cash deal, the state's Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) said Thursday in a letter to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (see 2409050010). The office asked that the agreement and joint application by Verizon and Frontier be approved. "OCC fully supports the Authority’s approval of the settlement agreement in its entirety," it said. The agreement included several consumer protections, including the elimination of junk fees, expanding low-income broadband discounts, and other public safety measures. "At a time when the federal government is dismantling protections for telecommunications consumers, it is up to states to step in and protect the public," said OCC Counsel Claire Coleman.

North Carolina lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would establish a broadband assistance program similar to the FCC's affordable connectivity program. S-551 was filed by Democratic state Sens. Natalie Murdock and Joyce Waddell and proposes a minimum monthly credit of $15 for broadband for low-income families. It would allow the state's Department of Commerce to adjust the benefit "according to family size." The department could also remove recipients from the program if an ISP informs it that the recipient's account is more than 45 days past due. The bill notes that $250,000 was appropriated for the program from the department's general fund for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Every Maine resident "who wanted a connection could get one" by the end of 2024, the Maine Connectivity Authority said in its annual impact report. Released Monday, the report found that 3% of locations have slow or unreliable internet, while 1% could connect only through the state's working internet ASAP program. The report said that BEAD funding will upgrade the remaining 26,000 broadband serviceable locations whose service is at less than 100/20 Mbps. "We have made great progress, but the work is not done," wrote MCA President Andrew Butcher, adding that the agency will launch a $15 million digital opportunity campaign to expand digital equity initiatives. It will also "begin construction on a state-owned middle mile network" and launch a "wireless and cellular initiative" to improve mobile service.

Oregon lawmakers will consider a bill that would repeal the sunset of the state's Lifeline plan. The House Economic Development, Small Business and Trade Committee will consider the bill, HB-3148, at 8 a.m. Wednesday. If adopted, the bill would make permanent a plan for low-income consumers to access telecom services. It would also repeal the surcharge requirement but still allow the Public Utility Commission to use part of it for marketing and outreach for the program.

Brightspeed announced Thursday that it received a $1.5 million grant to deploy fiber to nearly 2,400 additional locations in Trumbull County, Ohio. The company previously received more than $12.3 million in local, state and federal funding to connect 5,900 homes and businesses throughout the state. “We are excited to see years of hard work pay off with this partnership and to have Trumbull County residents who have traditionally been unserved or underserved receive a broadband connection directly to their front door,” said Trumbull County Planning Commission Director Julie Green.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities unanimously approved a notice of funding availability for the BEAD program during an agency meeting Wednesday (see 2409090009). It also approved the grant application submission process. "I know everyone's eagerly awaiting this, so just a reminder, it still has to get published in the Federal Register, so don't start submitting your applications just yet," said board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. Also approved was an amendment to the state's contract for administration of federal broadband programs. The board modified the scope of work for the contract and reduced the proposed funding for consulting services associated with the programs' administration.

The failed legal challenge to New York's low-cost broadband law (see 2412160039) provides a route for California to adopt similar laws and policies, the California Public Utilities Commission's Public Advocates Office wrote Tuesday. It said a New York-like affordability requirement of $15 per month for low-income consumers would save such subscribers of the state's four largest providers -- AT&T, Comcast, Cox and Charter Communications -- close to $100 million annually. A low-cost broadband requirement "would effectively cut these broadband bills in half," it said. The financial impact on broadband providers "would be minimal," since low-income consumers represent a small part of their overall revenue, it said, adding that a $15 requirement would reduce the California-based revenue of the four companies by less than 1%.

Maryland's law establishing a digital ad tax is "facially unconstitutional," the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and NetChoice told the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a reply brief Monday (see 2411010020). The groups challenged the law's pass-through provision (docket 24-1727), saying businesses can't communicate with consumers about how the tax may affect their services or operations. "A government cannot evade First Amendment scrutiny by defining what a statute makes unlawful as speech itself," the groups said. The law "attempts to bar businesses from telling the truth about what this tax means for consumer prices," said CCIA Senior Vice President Stephanie Joyce in a statement: "This kind of statutory muzzle has been rejected by the courts as an unconstitutional infringement of speech.”